Thinking out of the cuisine

What is mash-up?” I prodded Chef Manu Chandra before we got to the gleaming stainless steel kitchen of LikeThatOnly, which looked like something out of a sci-fi lab. Here, at the chef’s latest entrepreneurial venture in Bangalore’s Whitefield, “cuisine parameters are junked in favour of a happy mash-up,” I had heard, arousing my curiosity. The chef wasn’t ready to reveal the secret so quickly though.

Instead he spoke at length about the evolution of cuisines across the globe. How, despite the hue and cry over what is “authentic” to a region or its people, there’s nothing carved in stone about it. “Culinary traditions have been constantly changing ever since man began to cook. For instance, today’s Punjabi food is barely anything like what Punjabis ate a 100 years back. So is it with every community.”

Trade, the availability of new ingredients, and other factors have been influencing and subtly transforming cuisines everywhere. So, Chef Chandra has only disdain for those who tom-tom about authentic food. “What period in the past decides authenticity?” he asked.

“So is mash-up like fusion food?” I persisted. “You’ll see,” he said. It was well past noon when we reached the restaurant after about an hour’s drive from central Bangalore. A little too late to cook and then eat, I thought to myself.

The chef wasted no time in niceties. He walked into the kitchen — me in tow — nodded to a few, scrubbed his hands, took out a knife and plate, and started to pick and choose ingredients that would go into my first mash-up meal. It took him two minutes to put together finely chopped lemon grass, garlic, fresh red chilies, galangal, and onion. Kafir lime leaves became deveined, paper-thin slices in mere seconds. By now the wok was hot. A spoon of olive oil went into it, and in quick succession, the ready ingredients. He stirred it for a bit, sprinkled salt and pepper, and added cubes of fresh basa fish, some mussels, clams and a generous splash of white wine. It sizzled, simmered, smelled delicious, and was done. Start to finish, it took him about five minutes.

That, entangled in boiled spaghetti tossed with kaffir lime and coriander, would meet me a little while later.

The chef now led me out to the open kitchen counter facing a dining space. I could hardly wait to eat, but wait I had to for another five minutes, as the chef whipped up a beef and jalapeño taco, complete with bean sprouts, fresh coriander and garlic chips. Who said Mexican taco means ‘small lunch’, I thought while chomping through the different textures and tastes of the tortilla, tender, juicy beef slices, crunchy sprouts, fresh Chinese cabbage and crushed peanuts. I could taste each one of them distinctly. “Was that authentic Mexican taco, one could argue. I put it together with the ingredients I knew could go together instead of blindly following a handed down recipe. Fresh local vegetables can add so much to a dish,” Chef Chandra made his point.

“I avoid staying strictly within cuisine parameters when it comes to ingredients since terroir should have some role to play in it too.”

 The seafood pasta came next. The juices of mussels and clams had coated the spaghetti well, and the flavour of kaffir lime and galangal (Thai ginger) gave this “supposedly” Italian dish — the Chinese were eating pasta well before the Italians, the chef had pointed out to me earlier — the perfect Eastern twist. And I thought cheese was must for pasta! “See,” the chef smiled. “I find taking out an ingredient rather than adding one usually improves the flavour of a dish.”

The menu at LikeThatOnly isn’t all mash ups from Asian and Western cuisines, however. For the sticklers who hate to experiment, Chef Chandra has some ‘authentic’ dishes too. In fact, to do a successful mash-up, you have to first master a variety of cuisines. Chef Chandra grasped the fundamentals of these cuisines at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, then honed his skills at famous kitchens around the world.

So there is nothing mishmashy or hodgepodgey about this chef’s mash-ups really. On the contrary, each ingredient that goes into a dish is by design to cajole a subtle flavour.

Mussels, Clams & Fish In Lemon grass, Chili And White Wine Butter Sauce
Ingredients

• Mussels 5-6 nos
• Clams 5-6nos
• Basa fish (Cut into cubes) 50gms
• Onion (Chopped 10gms
• Garlic (Chopped) 10gms
• Galangal (Chopped) 5gm
• Lemon grass (Chopped) 5gms
• Fresh red chilies (Thinly sliced) 1no, small size
• White wine 30ml
• Butter  20gms
• Olive oil 10ml
• Fresh Coriander 10gms
• Kaffir lime leaves (finely shredded) ½ no
• Salt and Black pepper to taste

Method

• Boil spaghetti following the packet instructions, and keep it aside.
• In a heavy bottom pan add olive oil, once hot add garlic, onion, lemon grass, galangal and fresh red chilies and sauté for a 1minute then add all the seafood and white wine. Cover the pan for 2 minutes.
• Check whether the seafood is cooked and then add the boiled spaghetti and butter.  Toss and finish with coriander and kaffir lime leaves. Serve

Beef and jalapeno taco
Ingredients

• Beef tenderloin (sliced)100gms
• Scallions (Chopped) 10gms
• Bean sprouts 20gms
• Fresh Coriander 10gms
• Jalapeno (thinly sliced) 5gms
• Tortilla base 2nos
• Roasted Peanuts (Crushed) 10gms
• Chinese cabbage 20gms
• Beef sauce 15 ml
• Garlic chips (Of 1 pod)
• Salt to tastelBlack pepper to taste
• Refined oil 10ml

Method

• Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan/flat hot plate. When the oil is hot, add the sliced beef tenderloin and give a deep sear on both sides of the meat, but make sure not to overcook the meat.
• Keep the prepared meat on the side. Into the same pan add cabbage, jalapenos and sauté for a 1-2 mintues. Then add the prepared beef, sauce, chopped scallions and add seasonings. To assemble the taco, take the tortilla and slightly warm it on flat pan. Put the prepared mixture in the centre of the tortilla base and top with bean sprouts, fresh coriander, crushed peanuts and garlic chips.
• Fold the tortilla into half and serve with fresh salad and avocado.

Recipes courtesy: Chef Manu Chandra