As chef Oscar Balcon goes against convention by pairing Italian cuisine with whisky rather than wine, he says that food connoisseurs should always be open-minded to give space to culinary adventures. By Team Viva

When you decide to indulge in authentic Italian cuisine, you have to pair wine with it. And it cannot be just ‘any’ wine. The idea is that the flavour of your drink should match the intensity of the meal’s sauce. However, ever heard of authentic Italian meal being paired with whisky?

Angad Singh Gandhi, Glenfiddich brand ambassador, celebrated the disruptive fusion of a fine single-malt whisky with modern Italian cuisine, prepared by Artusi Ristorante chef Oscar Balcon. The idea was to create an “unusual pairing for today’s consumers,” who are looking for experiences that are extraordinary, and such practices also pave a way for experimentation for both consumers and chefs.

Here’s a take of chef Balcon who has carefully handcrafted the four-course dinner, which married the flavours of the versatile Glenfiddich’s 12-year-old, 15-year-old and 18-year-old variants.

Tell us about the special four-course menu.

 The menu includes a journey that takes us through different time and places. Just like fine whisky, it has firm roots in traditional methods, a foundation that is built on the quality of natural ingredients. But at the same time, it has a bright-eyed glance of contemporary possibilities. It is a menu that showcases how wide-ranging the pairing options in Italian cuisine truly are.

How did you curate it? What inspired this special menu?

At the Artusi Ristorante, our culinary inspiration is always the traditional cuisine of the Emilia Romagna region in Northern Italy as it has a rich and incredible quality of natural products. But this time we chose to look beyond the borders and the quality of some of the finest whiskies from Scotland, such as Glenfiddich, fascinated me and inspired this spirit-paired dinner.

Just like fine wine, the tasting notes of fine whisky also guide us in understanding its aroma, taste and finish. Hence, we will deduct that smokey elements that pair well with grilled meats, while more mellow, round and sweetish notes might make a match with the dessert. And thus, layer by layer, we have curated a menu that marries cheese, vegetables, home-made pasta and flaming desserts with the corresponding notes of peat, smoke or round honey. We were indeed very pleased with the resulting symphony.

What has shaped your food logic while growing up? Any anecdotes to share...

Family, traditions and good fortune. My food logic has been shaped with the fortune to be living in the vortex of the “age of great food” (nowadays, you can get great food anywhere in the world) and the good fortune to have had the possibility to experience the best dishes both in my home country as well as with extensive travels and living all over the world.

Which cuisine in the world would you say comes closest to the perfect sensory and nutritional balance?

Apart from our own, perhaps the traditional Japanese cuisine is the one that perfectly balances the nutrition and sensuous elements.

How do you source your ingredients?

Mostly from Italy but also other great sources of top-notch ingredients globally. Also, from the small farmers in India who are growing and creating a market for high-end specialist produce, when in season.

European and Italian cuisines are known to be blended or tasted with wine. But here, you have blended your menu with whisky. Why? What was the idea behind it. Did it turn out to be as amazing as the regular menu tasted with wine?

Wine is the traditional pairing beverage for a fine Italian meal and I believe that will never change. However, every now and then, I think we should be open-minded enough for culinary adventures. And, more often than not, we end up with a positive surprise and great memories, much like the innovative partnership with Glenfiddich.

How do you think such experiments can help bring a change in the way people look at the Italian cuisine?

Like often in life, an individual act rarely propels a long-lasting change, yet we know that repeated adventures are the spice of life and as humans, we become richer with each new one. So, I would say, it’s a toast to breaking barriers and to new and exciting discoveries.