Gastro gnome
Fortunately, India is now emerging as an interesting place on the international gastronomic radar.
Perhaps, not only because of the range of our fine dining restaurants, but because of the increasing attraction of our masalas, our cooking methods, Indian cooking is becoming ‘sexy’.
This is the feedback one gets from visiting chefs — the need to get to the source.This week saw the arrival of a very significant chef from the US to Mumbai, Stephen Pyles, from Dallas, the chef of the landmark restaurant, Aqua Knox as well as the Pan-Asian restaurant known as Fish Bowl.
He has been conscious of Indian cooking for some time, having tried some in New York restaurants and was anxious to come and try some of the moreinteresting dishes and regional specialties.
Pyles is a reminder of the extent to which regions in the US do matter.He himself is a fifth generation Texan, and what he has done with what is termed ‘south-western’ cooking is, by all accounts, highly remarkable.
He is the author of The new Texas Cuisine, Tamales and New Tastes, and almost single-handedly brought together different traditions and flavours to create a subtle, creative and healthy cuisine.
When asked to describe what his food is, he started by stating the importance of maintaining the regional authenticity.He then pondered, “What is authenticity in American?It’s such a fusion of so many kinds of foods, from European to Mexican to Native American…”
I thought it best to press him on Texan cuisine, and he admitted that there was much influence from Mexico (Not, of course, the truly evil tex-mex), but the basics were there.As he elaborated, “I am trying to bring it up a level, though making it a little more sophisticated, a little more creative, a little healthier for today’s palate. Just because you do not find foie gras in tamales in Mexico doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work and you cannot fuse these flavours.”
The interesting aspect of his cuisine is theextent to which he feels the need to go back into history, involving himself into gastronomic archaeology of the grand era of Texas, and to recreate dishes with modern touch.
He confesses that if his cuisine is to be described in one sentence, “it is a cross between French and Mexican”.When I asked him where he would like to eat, his own favourite restaurant or chef, his icon is the technical wizard of French haute cuisine, Alain Ducasse, and, of course, the city is Paris.
The other place and restaurant he adores, is one in Lima in Peru, Rafaels (the ingredients are truly awesome), particularly the Ceviche.
What intrigued me most in discussing with Chef Pyles was his idea for creating Indian tapas, and I mean South Asian Indian as distinct from Red Indian.If Anthony Bourdain raved about vada pao as the great gastronomic experience of Mumbai, there are any number of items we take for granted, ranging from the iconic onion bhajia or pakora, to the kachori or chaat which can usefully be repackaged as a form of tapas.
The possibilities are endless.Chef Pyles agreed with me that we are witnessing the graceful demise of the entrée, and its replacement with finger food, tapas and all manner of lounge food.
Email: javed.gaya@gmail.com
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