Growing fascination for raw food

At the Wasabi at Delhi’s Taj Mansingh Hotel, I had one of the most mind- blowing carpaccios I have ever tasted.  It was a white fish carpaccio, a Japanese fish which was flown from the great fish market in Tokyo, Tsukiji. It was sliced like all good carpaccios, gossamer thin. It was white and translucent so you could see the plate, exquisitely dressed with hot oil and yuzu soy sauce. 

This is an example of cross cultural fertilisation: carpaccio, a Venetian dish, served in a Japanese restaurant in New Delhi. This was followed by yet another example of the excellence of innovation – there was a toro tartare, the toro being the belly of the tuna. The tartare is another example of the way a classic French bistro dish has been adapted to new-age cuisine. Both these European examples are those of food which has not been cooked, but served raw. 

The meal I had at the Wasabi in Delhi – much superior to the one in Bombay – demonstrates the growing fascination for raw food.

According to the eminent English restaurant critic, Terry Durack, we are moving from different ages of cooking, ultimately ending up in an age where cooking is not at all required. In the late 1970s for example there was this passion for the mousse, where according to him, “teeth ceased to be a prerequisite for eating and the digestive system had nothing to digest”.  Lovely description that. After several other periods, we come to the cappuccino or foam period, where the Spanish inspired spumas flowed like frothy tainted shampoo lather. Ever had a mushroom cappuccino? 

But now we appear to be in an age where cooking is deemed to be unnecessary, and many of the proponents of raw food movement are not people you would necessarily seek guidance on matters gastronomic, Demi Moore, for example. She has an amazing figure for her age and with her toyboy, God knows she needs it. Liz Hurley went on the caveman diet, restricting herself to raw food to fit into her Versace wedding dress. These people subscribe to the belief that food is best had uncooked, unpasteurised and without being refined. 

In fact, the Japanese cuisine derives its popularity from this fascination for food that is natural, fresh and raw. Consider eating the toro tartare: it was velvety smooth, melted in the mouth and a delight with the wasabi. After such an orgasmic experience, it is not difficult to understand why cooking is seen as the ruining of pure perfection. This is food at its peak, freshest and most flavourful, and by applying heat you only accelerate the process of decomposition. 

In India we have no tradition of eating raw food. Perhaps our climate precludes this.  In fact, one of the criticisms of our cuisine is that we tend to overcook it as well as over spice food which is best served simple. Maybe so, and perhaps the high regard enjoyed by sushi and sashmi (which I sometimes regard as cat food for the catwalk), is a beneficiary of the desire to eat healthy, fresh and natural.