Green pepper chicken piccata

Some people like the sight of daffodils swaying in the fields; I go all moony-eyed when I see a waiter approaching my table with a steak knife in hand. Cuckoos tell you about the advent of summer; a serrated knife tells me that a juicy steak is around the corner.

Steaks make me really very happy. When I pierce one with my fork and cut a piece delicately with the steak knife, I start to drool. And when I pop a succulent piece into my mouth, I am in seventh heaven. I like my steak a little raw, so the reactions across the table are not always in sync with mine. But I don’t care: as I learnt from my Hindi proverb book many moons ago, dress to please others, but eat to please yourself.

And a steak, clearly, pleases me like no other. When chef Sharad Dewan, the director of food production at The Park in Calcutta, told me he was working on different kinds of steaks to serve in the coffee shop, The Bridge, my ears perked up like those of a Chihuahua. And when I realised that these weren’t the regular steaks but quite out of the box, I was even more fascinated.

Tofu steak with lemongrass

What the chef likes to stress is the fact that there is a world beyond a nice juicy beef steak. Beef carpaccio, for instance, is a kind of steak, just like a plump piece of a Chilean sea bass, which he serves with a cilantro, orange and walnut sauce. A steak is the best chunk of flesh —lamb, chicken or fish — which comes to you with just the right sauces. The Brazilian beef carpaccio, for instance, uses the thick piece of the centre cut.

For beef, the best cuts are the T-bone, the tenderloin, and the sirloin. The tenderloin leads to cuts such as tournedos, filet mignon and chateaubriand. And while these are the most tender pieces of meat, the rib steak and sirloin cut are considered to be more flavourful. If you are cooking a lamb steak, go for the ribs. Remember, he says, to cut your meat with the grain. That preserves the juices of the meat.

For a chicken steak, the breast is the best. That’s what chef Dewan uses in his green pepper chicken piccata with stir fried spanakorizo, which is a Greek dish of spinach and rice.

He cuts a chicken breast into two horizontal halves, “butterflying” them open. If they are still thick, he suggests that you put them between two pieces of plastic wrap and then pound them with a meat hammer. When the thickness is about 1/4th of an inch, make a mix of flour, salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. Puree and strain half of a green pepper. Dunk the chicken pieces in the green pepper juice and dredge them thoroughly in the flour mixture. And then cook them in hot olive oil and butter on medium high heat for about three minutes on each side. When both sides are brown, the chicken is done.

The chef also believes that you shouldn’t really marinate steaks, because the flavour of the marinade would come in the way of the actual juices of the meat or the fish (or the taste of tofu — which he presents as a steak with lemon grass and cilantro). For a meat or a fish steak, lightly rub with salt and pepper and perhaps a bit of garlic about three minutes before you start cooking it.

Veal eye round steak

A steak is best seared — cooked on high heat for a few minutes. But there are other methods too. Chef Dewan cooks his veal eye round steak (served with wilted greens and a buttery mash) by using a Hibachi grill, which is a traditional Japanese way of grilling now much in use in the rest of the world. It gives you an option of cooking on charcoal — which, as we know from our kababs, adds a lovely smoky taste to your meats. But whatever you do, don’t press your steak too much on the heated pan while cooking. That drains the juices out of the meat, he warns.

Steaks, of course, have to come with sauces. I have always liked my meat with a basic peppercorn sauce, or perhaps a chateaubriand sauce, usually prepared with shallots, garlic, Dijon mustard and wine in hot butter.

Chef Dewan prepares quite an interesting sauce for his green pepper chicken piccata with chicken stock (or white wine), lemon juice, diced peppers and capers. He cooks this in a pan, scrapes the brown bits with a spatula, and then reduces the sauce by half. Finally, he whisks in some butter, and then pours the sauce over the chicken breasts and tops the lot with sprigs of parsley.

All in all, steaks are good news. They give you protein; they are not deep-fried; and they taste like heaven. Let others smell their daffodils — I would rather breathe in a juicy steak.

Photographs by Subhendu Chaki

Brazilian beef carpaccio crudo (serves 1-2)

Ingredients

• 250g beef fillet • 150g rocket leaves • 150g freshly shaved Parmesan or Grana Padano • 2 egg yolks • 100ml virgin olive oil • juice of 1 lemon • ½tsp English mustard lsalt and freshly crushed pepper to taste

Method:

Put the beef fillet in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm it up and make it easier to slice. Meanwhile, to make the dressing, put the egg yolks in a blender or mini processor (or use a hand whisk) and add the olive oil in a steady stream. Season with lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. Take the beef out of the freezer. Use a very sharp knife and cut it into the thinnest possible slices. Lay these on a plate and cover them with cling film and keep chilled. You may even flatten the meat mildly with a meat hammer.

To serve, plate the beef slices on a platter or individual plates, heap some rocket leaves in the middle and drizzle the dressing around the edge. Finish with cheese shavings.