Chef Michael Swamy was recently in the national capital to bring us a unique culinary extravaganza from Bhutan. SHOBORI GANGULI recounts her experience of the royal tastes from this remote Himalayan kingdom

Bhutan has been sitting in my travel bucket list for years. Unfortunate not to have found the time to soak in one of the world’s most bountiful wonderland, on top of the Himalayas, I was naturally excited to settle for the next best option — Honk at the Pullman, Aerocity, Delhi, when they decided to celebrate a wholesome culinary journey through Bhutan with itinerant Chef Michael Swamy of Cottage Chef Culinaire.

The incredibly gifted Chef, fondly known as “The Historian Chef”, has an impressive repertoire of cuisines. From Indo-Portugese to Bhutanese, right down to the remotest of India’s wildlife reserves and sanctuaries, he keeps travelling from his base in Mumbai across the length and breadth of this country to bring the secret kitchens of India and its neighbourhood to mainstream fine dining tables.

Chef Swamy is associated with the Bhutan based VEEN natural mineral water company. Although originating in Finnish Lapland, it was in the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2014 that the company found the purest waters in the world in the region’s natural water springs located in the upper reaches of the Khana Bharti River in the foothills of the Himalayan district of Samtse.

Chef Swamy had especially curated a seven course Royal Bhutanese meal for us though he admitted that he had to tone down the spicy accent of authentic Bhutanese cuisine to suit the north Indian palate. I was a wee bit disappointed because we in the South or the East of India love our spices. Anyway, what unfolded was a delectable culinary journey across the Himalayan kingdom.

Unforunately, for reasons I shall detail later, the first on the Chef’s menu, a beverage called Top of the Mountain, a concoction of orange, fragrant mint leaves spicy jalapenos, herby coriander with lime and VEEN sparkling water never really reached my table.

Anyway the soup, Ema Datshi, Chef Swamy’s version of Bhutan’s national dish, served in a fresh baked bun, and topped with native red rice crisps was absolute heaven. This certainly would be one of the rarest soups I have ever tasted. The oven fresh bun sat dry in the centre of the soup dish, with a generous filling of finely chopped fresh vegetable in a creamy sauce. Then a delicately flavoured steaming hot creamy soup was gently poured over the bun as it flowed out into the soup dish, like lava erupting from a volcano. Awesome is too weak a word for Chef’s Ema Datshi.

For Appetizers we had Chapale, fried flour and buckwheat pastries filled with lamb. Served a with a spicy chilly relish, the lamb was just adequately spiced to make it a light starter, then came the Momos, spicy yak milk cheese stuffed dumplings, steamed and drizzled with freshly made Himalayan morel oil. While all of us here in the north think of momos merely as stuffed and steamed dumplings, vegetarian or non vegetarian, Chef Swamy’s momos were a work of art, the cheese and chicken stuffing simply melting in one’s mouth.

Then there were Chicken wings, crispy chicken tossed in a selection of North Eastern peppers and Himalayan honey. Although served again with a spicy relish, this tilted towards the sweeter side, courtesy the honey. Among the appetizers, Chef Swamy’s momos were the clear winners.

Yet again, unfortunately, the next on the Chef’s menu, a Palate Cleanser of Gondhoraj Sorbet never arrived on my table. Then there was an inordinate silence from the Chef’s kitchen for about 25 minutes, reasons for which I shall detail soon.

The main course followed shortly. There was Bak Thuk noodles with warm cherry tomato, potato beans and radish salad. Alongside came Butter Poached Himalayan Trout, the tender mountain fish poached with butter and spiced with mustard and Bhutanese podi. The butter and spices made this Himalayan delicacy really stand out.

This was accompanied by Doh Siyar Nei-Iong, a chicken curry with ginger, garlic, chilli and black sesame paste served with short-grain black and white rice. The woodiness of the sesame stood out, embracing the succulent chicken with an outstanding flavour.

Chef Swamy played the perfect host, pacing from one table to another through the evening, serving one royal Bhutanese dish after another.

As someone closely following the F&B industry’s journey of innovative ideas to increase footfalls, I felt an airport hotel does not quite have the ambience required to curate a Roving Chef yet. At Pullman for, instance, while we were treated to a unique dining experience, there was a constant rush of passengers, national and international, jet lagged individuals dragging themselves to the coffee shop. Then there were conferences and events all over the place.

Although the staff at Pullman’s Honk was extremely polite, courteous and responsive, taking care of each and every guest, Chef Swamy’s Bhutanese fare did get overwhelmed by some regular orders being thrown into the kitchen like egg fried rice and dimsums at some tables. As mentioned at the outset this explained the oversight on the Chef’s VEEN sparkling water concoction of orange and lime as also the Palate Cleanser Gondhoraj Sorbet.