Ni Hao - Chinese food festival at Sheraton

When you think of Chinese cuisine, if you even remotely know your geography, and club that knowledge with some common sense, then putting these two together, it wouldn't be too hard to deduce that given the vast size of China, there has got to be more than a few variations of 'Chinese cuisine'. And true to that, China can be divided in several culinary zones or regions, each one having something unique for the diners in terms of ingredients used, methods of cooking, as well as the history of the dishes. Although opinions may vary, Chinese cuisine can be divided into roughly 5 culinary zones: 

• Guangdong and Hong Kong , whose cuisine primarily can be called Cantonese or Yue
• Beijing and the northern areas, whose cuisine primarily can be called Mandarin
• Shanghai and surrounding areas, whose cuisine can be called Zhe or Zhejiang
• Sichuan, or Szechuan, where the cuisine is called Chuan
• Hunan, in the south-central part of China where the cuisine is called Xiang
• Cuisines like Jiangsu and Min (from the coastal areas of Fujian) among others

The Sheraton in Bangalore has flown down a Chinese chef, Chef Thi Giang, the Chef de cuisine at Li Bai restaurant at the Sheraton Saigon for 11 days. The fest, that started on the 4^th, will go on till the 14^th of October. Since Chef Giang is Chinese, the dishes were very much Chinese, not the Indianised version that's peddled at most other restaurants in the city.

Chef Giang is a small man...frail, like someone's skinny grandmother, but don't let those sayings of "never trust a skinny chef" fool you. For just like many a grandmother, Chef Giang has many a culinary trick up his sleeve. His diminutive probably affirms to the fact that good things come in small packages!

Chef Giang Thi

Wonton soup with seafood
The wonton soup with seafood was simply superb. A clear soup, with a sprinkling of scallions and fried garlic along with the wonton and some choice seafood - prawns, squid, and scallops - made this a clear winner. So good was the soup that I actually had two bowls, one at the start of the meal and one at the end.

Wonton soup with seafood along with some of the key ingredients

Cosmopolitan

French 75
One fantastic idea Sheraton came up with was to make drinks based on Chinese philosophy, specifically based on the year you were born in. Since I was born in '83, the year of the pig, my drink was a gin and wasabi drink, as well as a drink called French 75, another gin-based cocktail, from Sheraton's top 100 cocktails. It's really a great thing to see the kitchen team work this closely with the F & B team and implement such wonderful ideas. I think the fact that Sheraton is now experimenting with different ideas, especially on the drink front, is great news to the food scene in Bangalore, because usually everyone focuses on the food, and the drinks are relegated to a proverbial footnote. Apart from that, we were also told about the concept behind this, and how the hotel plans to take this forward based on its success.

The Executive Chef, Bela K. Rieck, came and had a nice, long conversation about food and his philosophy about how food and how he plans to take things forward. The man is a genius. His work ethic is so focused and 'logical', it appealed to the engineer in me.

As for the food, it was lovely, and the Chinese dishes are part of the regular Feast buffet (easily one of the best, if not the best, spreads in the city). Although I tried very hard to restrict myself to only the Chinese dishes, I did end up trying a few other dishes, that were equally good. The salads, chicken and cabbage, as well as the spinach with roasted garlic were good. The idea of supplementing the spinach with garlic was good because not only does it add flavour,, it also helps neutralise the sort of monotonous taste of spinach. Apart from these salads, there were the other salads that are a part of the buffet anyway.

Cabbage and chicken salad

Spinach and garlic salad

Some Chinese ingredients used during the fest
The fish poached in olive oil was light and this sort of cooking technique does justice to the fish and helps keep intact the 'flavour' of the fish. This dish though wasn't par of the Chinese dishes of the fest, and neither was the roasted chicken at the carving station.

Poached fish

Roast chicken
The beef braised and stewed along with mushrooms was divine. I mean, yes, the cow is holy and all that, and so to make sure it continues to remain that way, it needs to be cooked with a lot of care. Loved this dish as well, but again, this wasn't part of the dishes for the Chinese fest.

Stewed beef with mushrooms
The braised tofu in Szechuan sauce was silky and spicy - the tofu being silky soft and the sauce being spicy. The Kung Pao chicken with cashew nuts was nice (wok fried), but I so hoped that there would've been sweet and sour pork that evening.

Braised tofu in Szechuan sauce

Some veg dish with broccoli

Kung Pao chicken with cashew nuts
The steamed fish in broth with pork fat was mind blowing...simply fabulous! This was one of the other dishes that I had twice, and I think it was my favourite dish of the evening. That broth...oh man, pork fat does lend such a wonderful and magical flavour to everything. There was another soup on offer, a lotus root with sweet corn in a pork broth. Unfortunately I don't seem to have a photograph of it, but that soup was equally brilliant. Normally, I'm not a big fan of the lotus root (sorry, I hope some jobless person doesn't sue me saying I'm disrespecting the national flower's root!), but in this case, the soup was really very good. I think anything cooked with pork automatically tastes better.

For desserts, the Chinese dessert that was on offer was something that has an acquired taste, and so although I did try a little and didn't find it too bad, I didn't go for seconds. I did, however, make my way to the teppanyaki ice cream counter to have some ice cream mixed over a cold stone and served to me. I didn't want to sample the other desserts, because that would've spoilt the taste of the Chinese food I had, so I opted to play safe. So overall, excellent food and great service at Feast. Stay tuned for more such fests at Sheraton (there's an Italian food festival coming up in November that I am eagerly waiting for).

Steamed fish in broth with pork fat

The veggies for the noodles

My second bowl of soup, along with the noodles with the XO sauce

Dessert...very acquired taste :)
Last two days of the fest...go fast! :)

Sheraton Bangalore at Brigade Gateway, 26/1, Dr Rajkumar Road, Malleshwaram-Rajajinagar, Bangalore. Phone: +91 80 4252 1000

Suisse rendezvous - Mövenpick Swiss food festival

Last week, I was invited to Mövenpick Hotel and Spa near New BEL Road, for the Chef's Table at the start of the Swiss food festival. The Swiss food festival is on till the 14^th of October and will be at the all day dining restaurant My Place. The hotel has flown down their Executive Chef from the Moevenpick in Zurich - Chef Walter Wyssen to showcase Swiss food. "Swiss food is more than just fondue!" And I can attest that it certainly was.

Our meal started off with a cheese platter consisting of some very unusual and some very strong cheese, brought all the way from Switzerland. In fact, Chef Wyssen told us that he brought along close to 210 KG of produce from Switzerland for his food festival. There were hard cheeses, and there were soft cheeses, and even some creamy ones as well. The names are just as strong as the cheese themselves, so I don't quite remember the names of the cheeses now. However, one thing is certain, and you don't need a degree in food sciences - cheeses have an acquired taste, so don't be too gung ho about tasting cheeses unless you're prepared to do so with an open mind and an adventurous palate.

Cheese, glorious cheese!
Next stop, cheese fondue! For this, the chef took us to an area where other chefs were, in front of their burners, and used a heavy-bottomed pan to dunk some cheese into it. And finally, the fondue prongs that were on our table were put to good use, as can be seen in the snap below where the chef

Prongs for the fondue

Bread basket

Making the fondue

Chef Wyssen tasting the fondue
Onto the actual hors d'oeuvre! Fancy eh? Well, it's French, and one part of Switzerland is French. Well, it means 'first course', or the course you have before the main course...starters, in lay mans terms. Oh wait, there's more fancy jargon around the corner. We started off with a lovely beef tartare with bacon gugelhopf. A gugelhopf is a term used in southern Germany, Austria, the Alsace region, and Switzerland for a sort of marble cake. This one had bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon. That's a fact, so deal with it.

Beef tartare with bacon gugelhopf
The second snack was a dry beef slice, rolled and filled with cheese, on a slice of zucchini and a slice of toasted baguette. Red meat and cheese is a lovely combination, and still, this was probably the only 'boring' dish of the evening. Don't get me wrong, it's not that it was bad...it simply didn't measure up against its more illustrious, and tastier counterparts.

Dry beef with cheese
The next canape was interesting, and was my favourite. It consisted of Tete de Moine, a cheese that literally translates to "Monk's head", and combined with a plum and pear bread, this was a real winner for me. The pear bread is what actually stole the show - a fruity sweetness with the crumbly texture of the cake/bread and the cheese was simply fabulous.

Tete de Moine cheese on pear bread

All 3 hors d'doeuvres
We were also given a shot of cappuccino, but not the coffee kind. This was a special one, and used one of my favourite non-meat ingredient - mushrooms! It was a porcini mushroom cappuccino, and was lovely. The earthy flavour of the mushroom along with the light cream and minimal seasoning brought out the flavours to the hilt. In my excitement to down the 'shot', I didn't realise there was actually more than just one 'shot', and it was hot as heck. My throat burnt, I worried that I'd not be able to enjoy the main course, but thankfully it wasn't that bad.

Porcini mushroom cappuccino
 And finally, the main course. The menu given to us said there would be a vegetarian dish, a dish that's as much Swiss as the masala dosa is Indian - the Rösti. A common breakfast dish of the farmers, it consists of roughly grated potatoes mixed with butter and seasonings that is then fried after shaping it into a rough patty. This was served with a mushroom sauce. The other dish was a lamb chop served on an elder aceto sauce and glazed pumpkin. The lamb chop was beautifully medium rare, nicely seasoned, and very tender. By this time actually, most of the diners at the table were dropping like flies coz they were full, and I must admit, you eat a lot of cheese and then some more in the form of fondue, your stomach will need to have some serious capacity to pack away the carbs (Rösti) and animal protein (lamb).

Lamb chops with sauce and glazed pumpkin

Another shot of the lamb chop

Rösti, the unofficial national dish of Switzerland
And as if all this food wasn't enough, there was dessert. And one of the most famous desserts from Switzerland, the carrot cake from the Aargau canton. The Aargau canton is famous for carrots, and in the words of the chef himself "they make everything from carrot...cake, pies, casserole, what not!" A strong waft of cinnamon from the cake makes it way into the nasal cavity, but it doesn't offend the senses, but entices you to dig in. And dig in I did...with gusto!

Rüebli (carrot) cake
Overall, given that this was the first time I was actually eating Swiss food, I'd have to say that it was very good, and extremely interesting. And like India, different regions have different foods, owing to the influence from the Germans, the French, the Italians, and some dishes very native to the land itself. The Swiss food festival is on till the 14^th of October at My Place, the all day dining restaurant at Mövenpick Hotel & Spa, Bangalore. For more details and making reservations, you can check here.

Bow Barracks

Bow barracks is a region in Calcutta (now Kolkata) that has a predominant Anglo Indian community. Anglo-Indian cuisine has an almost mystical air about it. Traditional British dishes with Indian spices, as well as dishes with Indian sounding names would certainly get people new to encounter this cuisine put their thinking hat on - I certainly did!

And so when a place opens up in Bangalore claiming to serve Anglo-Indian cuisine, a cuisine that is on what seems like its last legs, then you want to make sure you get there. Bow Barracks in Indiranagar is run by Sujoy and his wife. Some may describe the setup inside as a little claustrophobic - the presence of a couple of pillars with a slightly low ceiling and the furniture 'just' fitting inside gives this impression. I, on the other hand, appreciated the ambiance and setup and would call it 'cozy' and more like a well kept home.

Melon amuse bouche

Gol guppa amuse bouche

Cold marsh melon soup
We started off with the cold marsh melon soup (which seems to have gone off the menu now - pity, because it was simply superb!) served in a cup and it was divine - cold, with a fruity sweetness to it and a hint of spice, and it was quite refreshing.

Noorani seekh kebab

Aubergine stuffed with chicken

Beef Pantheras
The Noorani sheek kebabs were very good - delicate, and most importantly, they weren't dry. The flavouring was again subtle, and it had a surprising coating of minced chicken around it - chicken and lamb combined well. The aubergine stuffed with chicken too was a nice dish - not overdone, with the smokiness from the aubergines nicely combining with the chicken. The beef pantheras was something I personally didn't like too much - it was a deep-fried dish and I didn't like the taste of oil that lingered on the coating.

Prawn cocktail

Another angle of the prawn cocktail
The prawn cocktail was decent, but nothing spectacular, served with a Marie Rose sauce, or maychup (combination of mayo and ketchup). Now that there's a Continental section, it's good to see that this dish has been pushed into that section. The atoorsi aaloo - baby potatoes with mango chutney and mustard was quite superb, so vegetarians, don't worry, they've got some nice things in store for you as well. The mushroom and paneer dishes from the tandoori section are decent, but nothing to rave about.

Fish bon femme

Pork vindaloo

Veg curry
For the mains, the pork vindaloo and the Hussain lamb curry along with the coconut rice is quite superb. The vindaloo, done the Anglo Indian way, isn't as spicy as the original Goan dish, and so is more palatable for those who don't like spicy dishes, and the lamb was beautifully flavoured with yogurt and was extremely tender - perfect! The fish bon femme - a grilled beckti on a bed of peas with bacon around it - was pretty nicely done. Pan-fried, with the skin made a little crisp, the beckti, a fresh water fish from the East, blended well with the peas and shallots, but was certainly not Anglo Indian (now this has been moved into the Continental section of the menu).

Chicken Kiev

Pork Chops

Duck confit
The pork chops on the menu are a must-try if you are a lover of pork, and the confit of duck was also done to near perfection. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try the beef jalfrezi, which is an Anglo specialty, but that's probably for the next visit. The veg curry along with rice is also quite a delightful curry, although I don't really know too many vegetarians who would walk into a fancy restaurant and appreciate a curry with rice! Well, I didn't ask them to act all pricey :)

For desserts, the honey lime pannacotta had an usual flavour combination that actually worked and worked well, and the amount gelatin used was about right (could have been a little less, but good all the same). Overall, good dish, and so was the chocolate mousse and the tiramisu, although I did not get the distinct taste of Marsala from the tiramisu.