WORLD REGIONS ON MY PLATE

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WORLD REGIONS ON MY PLATE

Friday, 28 December 2018 | Zorawar Kalra

WORLD REGIONS ON MY PLATE

A return to our roots and origins and the confluence of the days of the Spice and Sil Routes are back, says Zorawar Kalra

Every year, the food scene is hit by a number of trends that change the way we eat. These trends are everything — bizarre, health-conscious, those which celebrate farmers and producers while at the same time managing to look just so delectable on the plates.

Regional goes international

India is a treasure trove of food and, in my opinion, the only country in the world to have so many regional cuisines. While the Indian regional platter has mainly been represented by Punjabi cuisine to the global audience for over five decades, I see the coming years focussing on regional Indian fare from across the landscape, being taken forward to the international audience not just within India, but overseas as well. In every country across the globe perhaps, you will find an Indian restaurant or a restaurant that offers cuisine from a not so known part of India. Diners are willing to travel the world to taste a region on a plate. The chefs are reverting back to Indian local cuisine and cooking techniques to illustrate a region’s uniqueness.

 Culinary tourism

Food connects us with the land, our heritage and the people around us. In the recent past, we have seen many chefs of Indian origin being invited overseas to showcase Indian cuisine to the Western audiences and vice versa, the chefs of international origin being invited in India to showcase their cuisine during specially curated events. This form of interchange, although seen in ancient times as well as effectively done by people like Jiggs Kalra, late Tarla Dalal and Camilia Punjabi in the 70s, 80s and 90s, is seeing a surge in the form of culinary tourism. This  is set to become bigger and an effective way of showcasing authentic cuisines from various countries to the Indian audience.

 Cocktail connect

Cocktails take the centrestage, inspired from an amalgamation of different international cultures. From floral touches to smoke and fog, there seems to be a new trend in the world of booze but cocktails simply stand the test of time. Cocktail drinkers have much to look forward to in 2019 with many surprising ingredients and rare pairings in store. It’s time to bid adieu to your bottles of beer and let in some exotic cocktails, each aimed to make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

At one of my outlets, Bo Tai, the new menu of cocktails — The Gods Of Tiki In Thai promises to get you grooving to the beats. There is a medley of outlandish flavours and ingredients along with the taste. Thailand and the Polynesian islands of the South East Pacific have intermingled and influenced each other throughout history as the cultures share similarities and bloodlines through centuries of interactions. Mixing the cultures in a fun and playful way is where the new cocktail menu takes inspiration from. 

(The author is Founder and Managing Director, Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.)

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