Foodie fundas

Master classes by Master Chefs
This year the food industry, apart from organising their usual food festivals, brought a unique twist by introducing special cooking classes by top chefs for the public. Indigo had their Executive Chef Jaydeep Mukherjee teach a master class on how to prepare a 4-course classic Christmas meal. Popular Chef Nikhil Chib arranged for a live cookout with him at Busaba, where he created some of his signature dishes, in a session that blended interactive cooking with sheer artistry and panache. Svenska Design Hotels also announced the launch of a series of cooking classes on Spanish-Mediterannean cuisine by chefs of Miro who were taught by Michelin-star chefs from Europe.

When Europe came to Mumbai
This year saw European cuisines descend on Mumbai and provide gastronomical delights. Spanish cuisine seemed to be the most popular one. Starting from the Spanish Consulate organising a special dinner kicking off the Spanish food festival at Amadeus, followed by The Olive Bar and Kitchen presenting their ‘Amo Espana’ week-long food festival. The highlights of this gourmet festival were a special Spanish menu created jointly by the Executive Chef of The Olive Bar and Kitchen, Manu Chandra and Spanish Master Chef Guillermo Hidalgo, along with flamenco performances. Pali Village Cafe hosted ‘Banda Sonora’ from Spain. The Latino connection was forwarded through the Mexican food and Margherita festival at the Wedding Cafe & Lounge.  Spain’s neighbouring country Italy followed into the kitchens. At this year’s 20th Merano Wine Festival, Chef Rahul Akerkar showcased his culinary skills and gastronomic delicacies from his trip to Italy. In the gourmet arena, renowned international chefs displayed their gastronomic and cultural interpretations by creating live dishes like Roasted cod with panch amrut-inspired sauce, twice-fried potatoes and micro greens. Indigo crafted a special Italian menu using fresh white truffles from Alba, considered one of the most expensive and sought after foods in the world. The German connection came into the picture in October with the popular Oktober fest, which saw Mumbaikars binging on the best beer on offer.

The importance of Breakfast
The most important meal of the day — breakfast — saw a sudden rise in popularity as restaurants and cafes started their new breakfast menu. Silver Beach cafe offered scrumptious breakfast menu with items like waffles, pancakes, baked vegetables, bacon, ham and juices, basil upma. The most popular turned out to be the Pali Village Cafe who introduced a delectable wholesome breakfast menu on the requests of their patrons. Their menu included kheema with sunny side up and tofu with walnut bhurji, pancakes with maple syrup and compote, whole wheat and oatmeal waffles. Fat Cat Kitchen and Bar also introduced their power breakfast menu.

Turkey delight
Turkey meat was a hugely popular dish amidst the foodies this year, be it Halloween or Christmas, New Year. The dishes varied from Roast Christmas Turkey with mushroom and sausage stuffing, baby potato and red wine jus, Roasted American butterball Turkey with caramelised onion mash and cranberry jus, traditional Christmas Turkey with cranberry sauce and pan jus, and more.

Mix that cake!
Hotels arranged for the traditional cake mixing by calling in celebrities. Christmas cake mixing involved mixing huge quantities of fruit peel, nuts and spices into a mix that is marinated for over a month. Celebs who attended were Hollywood star Rob Schneider, musician Ayaan Ali Khan, foodie Rashmi Uday Singh among others.

Going organic
Mumbaikars have slowly started grasping the concept of organic food. This year especially the demand of organic veggies rose to a new level. Warden road got their first organic grocer, Organic Garden. Organic farmers started Hari Bhari Tokri, a veggie buying initiative that a consumers to eat healthy in much less cost.

sayantan.dalal@dnaindia.net