When growing up in Colaba's Cusrow Baug, did Jehangir Mehta imagine that he'd be cooking in the fashionable kitchens of Manhattan's East Village and TriBeCa? "Not at all," laughs NewYork's celebrated chef, his white coat creaseless like his expression.
Nothing about Mehta's demeanour suggests that the evening we meet, he is readying to serve up a four-course meal to 140 guests at a pop-up one-night only restaurant at Mumbai's stylish European eatery The Tasting Room. He must live up to his culinary notoriety. Mehta's food has, after all, found a fan in American business magnate and cook Martha Stewart. But then, it's surprise moments such as these that he admits he lives for.
"I always go impromptu," says the owner of Graffiti, a shoebox-sized eatery where the chefs are the servers, and the no-cheese Zucchini hummus pizza has bagged serious press since 2007. "Even my marriage was spontaneous, though we did date for four years," he says of wife Hinata, who he married two weeks after being engaged to. "My parents hadn't even seen her!" Guests at the first birthday bash of their twins Xeara and Xerxes, 4, were treated to a menu of caviar and foie gras — hardly expected at a kiddy party, but then surprises are part for the course here.
The St Xavier's School student, who was seen more often in the kitchen than at the playground was supported by his parents. Even while pursuing a degree in sociology in Mumbai (because he liked studying people), he knew a career in the food industry awaited him. Nineteen years ago, he left the city for New York's Culinary Institute of America, and he's never looked back.
After taking second-place on The Next Iron Chef in 2009, Mehta set up his second restaurant, the namesake Mehtaphor which The New York Times says serves "straightforward pleasures", including cocktails that masquerade as desserts (Prosecco and litchi granite). Despite his acclaim as an unorthodox pastry chef at 3-Michelin-star Jean-Georges, Mehta doesn't have a sweet tooth. "I was drawn to desserts because they require structure and preparation; and that's how I think. Mismatch and madness is fine, but you can't be messy."
For him, it's textures and mouth-feel that decide the quality of a meal. "Consider the simple dosa — it's crispy, yet has soft bits and then there's the fluid coconut chutney and sambar.You're not inventing the wheel here, but it's a perfect dish in terms of mouth-feel," he says, giving away his weakness for South Indian fare. But in New York, it's Nordic food that's gaining favour. "Every aspect of that cuisine is suddenly being appreciated — flavours, combinations and even the look," he says of the cuisine that's evolved since 2004, building on the cooking traditions of Scandinavia that stress on the use of seasonal ingredients to maintain purity and freshness.
Although his catering unit is the biggest money-spinner, Mehta spends considerable time tutoring kids. "When I started the Candy Camp kids' cooking classes in 2003, there was nothing else like that. Today, you have them everywhere," he says of 4 to 14-year-olds, most of them contestants on cooking shows, who he trains in preparing simple savoury and sweet dishes. For adults, he has advice of how to shop and manage the kitchen. "People often don't realise that too much tamarind isn't good for you; that you can use kokum instead. Or that you should never refrigerate potatoes because the starch content turns to sugar."
This last bit is thanks to his training in nutrition at Dadar's Institute of Hotel Management, Catering, Technology and Applied Nutrition. And of course, conversations with his grandfather. "He'd tell me about herbs and leaves, and what each purpose each serves in a meal." In fact, the desserts in his cookbook Mantra: the Rules of Indulgence, are classified according to the greens they include. Methi in a dessert? We are going to have to try that one.
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