Dye another day..

As the world oscillates between goth and unicorn food and drinks, chefs back home seem to be going the all natural way, choosing to ditch artificial food colouring for hues that can be made from easily available spices, fruits, vegetables and even activated charcoal in some cases. The best part — it’s the kitchen pantry that has now become the chef’s palette for sourcing natural colours.

Spice is literally the colour of life...

Good old turmeric has always been our go to spice for its healing properties and it enjoyed its moment in the sun last year when turmeric lattes or golden milk became a rage thanks to Instagrammers who just could not get enough of this yellow spice. And while back home, we are used to using it to flavour dals and curries, chef Nishant Choubey of The Roseate, has actually managed to use it to create a turmeric ice cream. He says, “Every colour has a variety of substitutes. For example, you can extract the colour yellow from saffron, pumpkin and turmeric. The key here is to know how to use these ingredients. Always ensure that you do not overcook them, else the correct colour will not emerge. Additionally, roasting is a better process to achieve the correct shade as compared to boiling.” 

Indian spices and masalas are simply an addition to the already available ingredients in the kitchen pantry, which not only add flavour but also help you get a natural colour especially if you are looking to get a bright red, yellow or green hue. We have our degi mirch or beetroot that gives a vibrant red colour, turmeric that turns things yellow and spinach with its green tinge. The key is to visualise, text and experiment with different ingredients to get the right colour you are looking to achieve.

Taste and colour go hand in hand

That’s chef Subrata Debnath at Vivanta by Taj, Gurgaon’s advice. He feels that one of the most critical aspects of menu planning is ensuring the use of a spectrum of colours and hues across courses. He adds, “We therefore visualise and test the final hues expected out of natural colour extracts while designing menus so as to ensure effective presentation. I strongly recommend sticking to simple colours rather than exotic ones, which may not be effective eventually and may also impact the overall flavour profiles of the dish.” And in the current Instagram crazy world, vibrant colours can not only win you likes but also add to footfalls, with many flocking to the place just to check in and get their brag value up. This has resulted in many viral food trends associated with colours. Primarily rainbow food, unicorn/mermaid food, golden milk and more recently goth food.

Food gets the activated charcoal treatment

Say hello to Goth food, which is giving rainbow food lovers sleepless nights as it wins more and more people over to the dark side. And while some love or hate it, many are often left wondering how chefs have managed to go all black. Chef Piyush Jain of Molecule Air Bar, is one such creator of black food that he prepares with edible coal and lava ash. He reveals, “The colour black is usually prepared by using edible colour or squid ink, which is non-vegetarian. We however, choose to go with activated charcoal for our dishes as it’s a natural resource and is said to have many health benefits.” Rohit Malhotra, business head at Barcelos, who is also big on natural colours, says, “We love experimenting with our food and being able to achieve coloured food has been great for us. For black, we use burnt caramel, tomato for red and turmeric for yellow. We prefer to use natural ingredients, as they play a great role in how the food tastes.”

Desserts go violet

Violets and blues are harder to achieve, and that probably explains why they are not used to create starters and mains less they alter the taste, and are mostly found in desserts if ever, while black and white is also a unanimous choice with chefs as they are tricky colours to work with. 

All in all, going the natural way, may sound like the best thing to do but it comes with a set of challenges, clearly a gauntlet that chefs have accepted. So, colour me rainbow or colour me black, the creators of these dishes are prepared for both the praises and the flak.