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| Amuse bouche created by chefs Sujan Mukherjee at Taj Bengal, Sharad Dewan at The Park and Shaun Kenworthy Pictures by Rashbehari Das |
● Amuse bouche is a bite-sized portion, hailing from the French kitchen.
● It is sent to your table by the chef, complementary.
● It is your first real taste of the restaurant. Your first food experience. Till then, it was all about the sights, sounds and smells.
● It is like the trailer of a film. It has to make an impact in that one look and bite or sip. In short, it has to get the juices flowing in your mouth.
● It is pre-plated. Amuse bouche is not to be confused with the accompaniments on the table, like papad or bread or kimchi.
● You can’t choose your amuse bouche. The chef decides what you will get.
● It is served either before you place your order or after. It is the perfect stop gap as you wait for your first course.
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| Iced granita of phuchka water with lemon vodka by Shaun Kenworthy. Picture by Rashbehari Das |
● Amuse bouche serves the purpose of an appetiser, but an appetiser cannot be an amuse bouche.
● Since it works up an appetite, desi spices with appetite-building qualities like cumin, aniseed and asafoetida are used for seasoning an Indian-style amuse bouche.
● The ingredients of amuse bouche are quite fancy, unless of course the chef decides to impress you with a concoction made with ‘common’ ingredients.
● It is a design delight. The presentation is supposed to excite and intrigue you.
● The taste has to be neutral. Anything overpowering and you will feel its taste even after your four courses. Not a good idea.
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| Basil kulcha by Sharad Dewan. Picture by Rashbehari Das |
● t is a little teaser of what is to follow. So if you are served a kulcha topped with jeera-hinted blue cheese, it is safe to assume that the restaurant serves Indian food with a contemporary twist. Amuse bouche gives you an idea of not only what cuisine to expect but also the restaurant’s approach to that food.
● It is often the most experimental aspect of a restaurant. It can be changed every week, every month or even every day, depending on what the chef has in mind. It is his playground. It satisfies his creativity like nothing else.
● If by chance guests don’t like the amuse bouche on their table, they usually don’t mind since they are not paying for it!
So the next time you are at a restaurant, amuse (or not) the chef by asking for an amuse bouche!
Kanji
Ingredients
Red Carrots: 5
Chaat masala: 5g
Bhuna jeera powder: 5g
Salt: to taste
Method
Peel the red carrots and puree them with water. Now strain the puree and you will come up with carrot juice. In it, add salt, bhuna jeera powder and chaat masala. Chill it for half an hour and serve.
kharbuja with shaffa dip
Ingredients
Kharbuja (musk melon): 1
Honey: 10g
Lemon: 2
Black salt to taste
Method
Cut the musk melon into wedges and make perfect squares. With a small scooper, from the middle of the square scoop out the melon leaving the base. Make a dip out of lime juice, rock salt and honey.
Now pour the dip in the hollows of the musk squares. Chill it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and serve.
Other aspects of european cuisine that have trickled into into the desi kitchen…
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| Wine pairing | Palate-cleansing sorbets | Pre-plated food | Course-wise | After-dinner drinks |
