FOREIGN LEGION

They all came to India with a dream. But these expats ended up in Mumbai’s kitchens

TWENTY-FOUR years ago, at the age of 51, Italian textile engineer Giovanni Autunno came to India to set up the Benetton chain of stores. But things didn’t work out and after a business disagreement with the Indian partners, Autunno returned to Italy, only to come back to India to marry the Indian lady he had fallen in love with.

His early retirement was interrupted when Little Italy, then a single outlet in Juhu, asked him to be the face of their restaurant. What they didn’t count on was that the burly Italian, whose family had been in the restaurant business for generations and who maintains that tomato ragu, not blood, flows in his veins, would take over the kitchen.

Though Autunno was aghast at the idea of having to cook vegetarian food, he transformed Little Italy into one of the best Italian restaurants in the city. His contribution was duly noted, and in 1999 he received the Best Chef award from the Italian President in Rome while Little Italy won the Best Vegetarian award the same year . Today, his restaurant Don Giovanni is considered to be the best fine-dining Italian stand-alone restaurant in Mumbai.

ACCIDENTAL TOURISTS

Autunno’s story is the story of most foreigners who’ve entered the restaurant industry in India. Most came for a completely different purpose, but suddenly found an untapped market that was open to new ideas and influences. Yasser Ali for instance, an American of Indian origin, arrived in India with the intention of doing social work. When that didn’t work out and he discovered the potential for gelato, he and a few partners set up the gourmet gelato chain Amore.

Very few foreigners came to India with the intention of working in a restaurant. For Gianfrancesco Perrone, the move was planned but the position of General Manager of CasaMia serendipitously fell into his lap. The London-based journalist and his Indian wife had already decided to return to India when a friend offered Perrone a job. He was launching a new venture jointly with an Italian chain of restaurants. “Most stand-alones don’t have an Italian connection,” Perrone says explaining why he chose to get involved.

While many five-star hotels had started hiring expat chefs and managers by the ’80s, there were barely two or three foreigners working outside the hotel circuit even until the turn of the century. This was because most restaurants were run and patronised by families, and usually served Indian food or Indianised Chinese.

There was no need of foreign chefs, for there were neither international cuisines being offered nor was there variety in terms of the types of restaurants. When Autunno joined Little Italy around 1994, the only specialty Italian restaurant in the city was Trattoria at the Taj President, though continental restaurants would serve a few Indianised Italian dishes. Autunno’s culinary background helped him recreate non-vegetarian flavours using vegetarian ingredients without compromising on the traditional tastes and identity of the food. “What I wanted was to make real Italian food,” he says explaining that chopped brinjals were sautéed hard to recreate the taste of bacon in the Spaghetti Amatriciana and fried arbi was used to substitute the taste of beef marrow for the RisottoMilanaise.

What Autunno brought, and had been missing all along, was a deep knowledge and expertise in an international cuisine.

TASTING NOTES

By the middle of the last decade, however the stand-alone restaurant scene had changed completely. While most new restaurants chose to be within the safe mid-priced segment, a few had emerged that were sophisticated enough to be compared with five-star restaurants. The restaurant business had become mature enough to be differentiated and segmented not simply by cuisine, but also by price and experience and therefore by clientele.These high-end restaurants targeted the nouveau riche, a clientele that may not have known much about food but wanted beautiful places and food that came close to, if not matched, international standards.

But here restaurateurs faced a problem, as there was a huge gap between what was required and what was available in terms of talent. Family-run restaurants had never attracted trained professionals before, and students from hotel management institutes steered clear of such establishments as only hotels offered them reasonable salaries and an opportunity for career growth. When restaurants did find local talent, they discovered a second problem: their clients who were just about getting used to the new cuisines weren’t willing to accept Indian chefs.

Restaurateur AD Singh, whose Olive Restaurant and Bar was one of the first of the new wave of restaurants, says that at the time they opened, “Mediterranean was somewhat unknown. The consumer perception of an Indian chef doing western food was not really accepted.” It became easier to import talent, especially since stand-alone restaurants could afford to pay their expats substantial salaries.

While chefs Evan Gwynne followed by Massimiliano Orlati took over Olive, Chinese restaurants like Royal China were being manned by Chinese chefs. But it was not just fine-dining restaurants that required expat chefs to ensure that quality standards were maintained and come up with new menus. At Little Italy, Dario Dezio replaced Autunno and helped them expand their menu while at

CasaMia it’s up to Perrone to watch quality. Though the CasaMia kitchen staff has been trained by an Italian chef, Perrone is the only Italian and he makes sure that the food is good enough for him to be proud to bring another Italian to his restaurant.

Perrone may not have an industry background, but growing up on a farm where they produced their own olive oil and ate traditional food gives him a strong enough connection with the cuisine.

NEW FLAVOURS

Nitin Tandon, who runs Lemongrass Café at Bandra, provides an example of why having an expat rooted in the cuisine is important. One of the dishes on his menu is the Indonesian dish nasi goreng, the preparation of which requires the condiment kecap manis. An Indonesian guest noticed its absence and pointed it out to Tandon, who in turn queried his chef. The chef, an Indian, being unfamiliar with Indonesian food, had stopped adding the kecap as he believed that it didn’t affect the flavour .Which is why Autunno, who makes everything in-house at Don Giovanni, is at the restaurant every day checking up on everything from the bread to the desserts.

While culinary knowledge and skills have been their most important assets, they haven’t been the only contribution of expat professionals. What they’ve also introduced are new concepts and ways of running restaurants. Zenzi, for instance, which is partly owned by Dutch partners, boldly threw an unheard of work-in- progress party even before the restaurant was completely ready. Helmed by general manager Matan Schbraq and Mumbai’s first Nobu-trained chef Shahaf Shabtay, Zenzi also introduced Mumbai to contemporary Asian food and the idea of a sophisticated but casual lounge bar .What they also brought was a spirit of daring and adventure as Emiliano Collazo, the current general manager of Zenzi and Zenzi Mills, explains, “We hold art exhibitions every month and some of them push the boundaries. Recently we held a photography exhibition of an artist who had spent time shooting prostitutes in Laos. It was a tricky thing to do as it could have offended people. But since the message had a lot ofintegrity we decided to go ahead.”

Zenzi Mills was also the first to introduce the idea of a ‘crush bar’ to India. Collazo explains that while all of us have clear notions of public and private space, these distances get broken down when there is no choice. So just as you’re willing to accept someone’s armpit in your nose in a packed train, in a bar where everyone has no space, private groups dissolve and the entire bar turns into one party.

The idea based on the party bars of Amsterdam which are essentially places that people won’t enter until they’re packed and buzzing wasn’t received too well at first. “Initially people were uncomfortable but they kept coming back.”

BRIDGING THE GAP

Amore may not have been the first gelato chain in India, but it is one of the few businesses that stresses on corporate responsibility. It has tied up with Navdanya for organic ingredients, Under The Mango Tree for fair trade honey and uses eco-friendly cups, spoons, tissues etc.

Collazo points to two other interlinked roles that expats play on the scene.

Firstly he points out that in most Indian restaurants, the staff and guests come from two different classes. As a result, it’s not a relationship between equals. With expats however it is, because, “We eat and drink together with our guests and go to exhibitions together. Sometimes we party together, not just at our restaurant but at other restaurants as well.”

But expats can also act as a bridge between restaurant owners and their guests. The gap here is not between levels of wealth but between outlooks says Collazo. Many businessmen invest in the restaurant business because it’s considered to be glamorous, but not all investors come from the same background as their patrons. “Often there’s a gap between the mindset of the customers and owners,” finds Collazo, which the owners can’t overcome since they don’t have a hospitality background.

Tandon also believes that expats are slowly influencing back-end restaurant operations through the introduction of new technologies. One area where their presence has drastically changed the way we eat has been in the area of baking and patisserie. The surreptitious adoption of cost- and time-saving cake and bread mixes has resulted in a uniformity of tastes and textures even among competing products. “Today all the bakery products that we eat are of a very consistent quality comparable with those from Europe, but they all taste very unnatural and engineered,” maintains Tandon who also runs a large pastry business.

The number of expats in the restaurant business is as yet miniscule. Nonetheless, some like Autunno, whose high standards and pioneering work justifiably make him the father of stand-alone

Italian restaurants in Mumbai, have left an indelible mark. But as the number of restaurants continues to grow, expats may have a more significant influence.

Published HT Brunch June 13, 2010

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33361336/Brunch-Expats

Friend's Union Joshi Club

Mumbai's archival kitchens: When Dhirubhai missed Kokilaben's fresh phulkas

Before his wife returned from Yemen, the man behind the Reliance empire was once a regular at this 100 year-old Kalbadevi bhojanalaya. The Friends Union Joshi Club serves a homeflavoured unlimited veg thali, with the history of public dining in Mumbai, on the side

Na mat bolo, taste toh karo', the servers chide you, placing a teaspoonful of bhaji in your thali. It's difficult to say no when you see their warm smiles. And because the food tastes so great, you find yourself relenting, like Oliver Twist, asking for more. Simple food that tastes like what Gujarati wives churn out, has been the defining feature of meals at The Friends Union Joshi Club (TFUJC). One look at the establishment, and you know it's the food that's at the centre of the experience. The large and airy dining hall is bereft of embellishments; shopkeepers and businessmen drop by for an inexpensive,filling, tasty meal.

The ancient Kalbadevi establishment and its long winding name has roots in the history of public dining in Mumbai, when restaurants didn't exist and caste laws determined who ate where and with whom. About a 100 years ago, the only places where male workers employed in the city, living away from their villages and families, could have a meal were bhojnalayas or khanavals.

The men ate, and often rented sleeping space in these establishments usually run by a couple. They were exclusivelymeant for members of a said village or community. "These bhojnalayas came to be called clubs," explains Ashok Purohit, whose father bought TFUJC from proprietor Suresh Joshi almost 50 years ago.

In response to a query regarding his clientele, Purohit pulls out a battered laminated paper article that mentions late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani as a regular customer in the late 1950s before wife Kokilaben returned from Yemen. By this time, the demographic profile of Kalbadevi had changed and other communities had begun to patronise the eatery.

Clearly Ambani, like other customers over the decades, was impressed by the simplicity and freshness of the food. Purohit explains that the vegetables are cooked only an hour before mealtime, and supplies are purchased every morning.

Unlike the gleaming glass and steel kitchens of modern restaurants, at TFUJC, the kitchen looks like it hasn't changed in 100 years. In one corner, a cook grills rows of crisp, biscuit-like bhakris on a flat metal table-sized grill. Next to him, sits a bhatti on whose bed of blazing coals, a stream of thin phulkas are tossed to puff up and lend them a smoky lightness.

Though many of the Gujarati traders moved out of Kalbadevi once the wholesale markets shifted to Navi Mumbai, many still remain with Marwari businessmen filling in the vacuum. "The food now is a mix of Gujarati-Marwari, as the style of cooking is similar and both communities have fairly similar tastes," says Purohit. The thali (priced at Rs 100) includes unlimited servings of four vegetables, sweet and savoury kadhi and dal, chaas, a choice of phulkas, masala rotis, bajra rotis, bhakris, a variety of farsan, pickles, relishes and salad, and of course, rice or khichdi. A sweet dish comes for Rs 20 extra. "Where else can you find a light, fresh, unlimited meal at this price?" Purohit asks, not really expecting a reply.

At: 381-A, Kalbadevi Road, Narottamwadi.
Call: 22058089.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLel5gdKp94

Published 25-04-2010 Sunday Mid-Day

Bubble wrapped in Champagne

A moveable feast

Last year was undoubtedly annus horribilis for the hotel industry and fine dining restaurants through the country, especially Mumbai and Goa. Recessionary pressures were already surfacing towards the end of ’08 when the Mumbai attacks occurred, sending the industry into a violent downswing. Just as business was starting to pick up in the latter half of ’09, a 100 per cent increase in the price of raw ingredients cut profit margins to shreds. Restaurateurs are looking at 2010 with a palpable sense of gloom and a desperate optimism. The only segment that has not experienced a significant drop in business last year was the mid-level restaurant, though rising prices have been a concern. 

It’s quite clear that menu prices across the board will be raised early next year by at least 30 per cent. With large restaurants being occupied by servicing bank loans and repaying investors, there are going to be very few big-ticket restaurants opening next year. 

However, we will see the launch of a number of new chains as well as the expansion of established ones into new cities. The most famous of these and the most eagerly anticipated is the world’s largest premium speciality coffee bar, Starbucks. The caffeine king is set to kick open its first outlet by mid-2010 at an upscale mall in central Mumbai. Lamborghini, the guys who make fancy cars, are launching a cafe and a line of high-end branded chocolates in Mumbai, probably at the same mall.

Ice ice baby

Häagen-Dazs, the super-premium ice-cream brand, which recently opened its first outlet in Delhi, will probably also aim at opening in Mumbai. The other chains that have India in their sights don’t have the cache of a Starbucks, but even a small slice of the pie is a substantial serving for them. Dixy Chicken, a UK-based fast-food chain that offers a variety of chicken burgers, burger meals, chicken tortilla wraps, nuggets and peri-peri chicken, is preparing to set up 10-15 restaurants by 2010. The Pizza Company, a Thailand-based pizza and pasta restaurant chain, is preparing to launch dine-in restaurants, take-away outlets and delivery units in India.  

Chain reaction

But international chains aren’t the only ones in expansion mode. Nirula’s, beloved by Delhiwallahs, is hoping that Mumbai will embrace it with the same enthusiasm when they open up next year. The chain also envisions 140 outlets across Goa, western, southern and eastern India. 

Brewberrys, a small Vadodara-based cafe chain, having tasted success in Gujarat and MP, is gearing up to bring its interpretation of a cuppa joe to Maharashtra and Karnataka. On the anvil are at least 10 outlets with an additional 25 in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Cochin, Pune, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Lucknow. 

Meanwhile Barista Lavazza will take its menu forward in Bangalore and Mumbai by including wine and beer by March 2010. 

With small to medium-sized restaurants being the leitmotif for 2010, no new cuisines are likely to emerge next year. Italian and Japanese will continue to dominate and at best we’ll see newer dishes or products being introduced. Extra virgin olive oils from specific regions in Italy and top-quality dry pastas will become available while menus will start reflecting more seasonal and regional dishes. Though the re-introduction of Mexican is bandied about, there is still scepticism about its viability and one or two small restaurants might see the light of day. More dishes from cuisines like Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian will be introduced into pan-Asian restaurant menus, but full-fledged restaurants are out.

Supermarkets however are looking at introducing ready to cook and packaged foods from Australia, Turkey and South Africa and extending their offerings of Thai cuisine. Heat and eat Pad Thai noodles, Thai sauces and Thai curry pastes have proved to be popular as has baklava and Turkish Delight. Many European producers have turned their attention to India. Chocolate sticks that can be dissolved into hot milk and pre-prepared cocktail mixes are on the cards. 

Plated Indian food and molecular gastronomy have being doing the rounds but everyone agrees that neither offers much scope to base a restaurant on. At the banquet level, plated Indian meals have found tentative acceptance with corporates. Caterers believe that they might see more orders for plated Indian and Asian meals next year.

Published HT Brunch 27/12/2009

Culinary Extravagance

Exquisite tastes come at a cost. HI LIVING presents the 10 most expensive dishes created by top chefs at Mumbai’s most elegant restaurants. These cuisines extraordinaire prepared with the finest of ingredients are an epicurean’s fantasy

WASABI
When it comes to expensive restaurants in India, Wasabi, at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai, is in a league by itself. Wasabi by Morimoto, as the restaurant is properly called, is unquestionably the most expensive restaurant in the country, with its only competitor being Wasabi by Morimoto at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. Like most Japanese restaurants in the city, Wasabi uses imported ingredients; but unlike the others, it spares no expense in working with ingredients of only the highest quality. A diner can easily differentiate between the fish used for the sushi and sashimi at Wasabi and at any other restaurant. The fish is unquestionably more flavourful and delicately textured than anywhere else and the wasabi is made from freshly grated horseradish and not a commercial paste.
The Sashimi Platter consisting of six nigiri sushi, six sashimi and one tuna roll is priced at Rs 3,945, plus taxes. A Sushi Platter comprising eight nigiri sushi and one sushi roll will set you back by Rs 2,050, plus taxes.
However, the most expensive dish on their menu, and one which leaves all its competitors far behind, is the Wagyu Beef priced at Rs 10,500, plus taxes. Wagyu, a breed of cattle famously reared in Kobe and therefore often called Kobe beef, is the most expensive beef in the world and considered to be the ‘caviar of beef ’. Experts and gourmets consider Wagyu meat to be the most tender, most succulent and tastiest meat in the world. No wonder then that in India it is only available at Wasabi.

I
Sushi Platter Large
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 2,900
The platter of nigiri sushi, made with imported sushi rice, nori (seaweed) and wasabi (horseradish paste) and topped with a variety of the freshest local and imported seafood, includes crab meat, Norwegian salmon, fatty tuna, eel, octopus, sardines, Japanese sweet omelette and asparagus. The sushi is served along with the traditional accompaniments: wasabi, soy sauce and gari.

II
Sashimi Platter Large
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 2,500
One of the first restaurants to start a sushi and sashimi bar, Spices offers a varied sashimi platter. It includes raw cuttlefish, big eye tuna, sweet prawns, mackerel, Norwegian salmon and flying fish eggs and tuna lightly seared on the teppanyaki so the outside is cooked but the inside remains pink. The sashimi is
accompanied with gari and soy sauce.

III
Black Angus Beef Tenderloin with crispy potato cuts, cherry tomatoes, rosemary and jus
Stella, The Leela Kempinski
Price: Rs 1,900
Prized by connoisseurs for its beautifully marbled meat that produces the most tender and juiciest steaks, Black Angus Beef is also amongst the most expensive
grades of beef available. At Stella, the tenderloin, imported from the US, is
cooked first on the grill and then briefly in the oven to the desired doneness. The seasoned steak is then quartered and served with potato wedges and candied tomatoes, along with a sauce made from the steak juices flavoured with rosemary, garlic and cherry tomatoes.

Singaporean King Crab or Black Pepper Crab
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 1,900
Though the restaurant specialises in black pepper sauce, the Singaporean king crab can be cooked in any sauce the guest prefers. The meat is removed from the shelled crab and steamed till it is tender and juicy. It is then filled back into the empty shell which is arranged on a large plate and floated in black pepper sauce. Along with the crab, Chinese steamed Mantao buns are served.

Wok Fried Scallops And Prawns With Asparagus In X.O.
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 1,900
An elegant, unpretentious Cantonese preparation made from Canadian scallops and three king tiger prawns from Scotland cut into half. The scallops and prawns are simply tossed in X.O. sauce in a hot wok along with juliennes of asparagus till just done and served immediately.

IV
Grilled Lamb Chops – Grilled with garlic and onion juice, originally from Athens
Souk, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
Price: Rs 1,825, plus taxes
In this very simple dish, typical of Greek cuisine, imported lamb chops are lightly seasoned, marinated with garlic and onion juice and grilled as per order.

Zafrani Lobster – Spit-roasted saffron and cream steeped lobster
Soma, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,800
Fresh lobster flown in from Kerala is marinated with soft cheese, fresh cream and saffron stigmas for about three to four hours. A very subtle blend of flavours, the marinade which is quickly absorbed by the fresh lobster ensures that the sweetness of the lobster flesh remains intact while imparting the right flavours. The lobster is then skewered and cooked on a charcoal tandoor, which imparts the right amount of smoky flavours. Once the lobster turns golden brown and the juices start to ooze out slowly, it is removed and served with a mint chutney, tossed Indian salad and yogurt chutney.

VI
Jhinga Dum Nisha
Dum Pukht, ITC Maratha
Price: 1,750
Loosely translated: Night-caught cooked prawns. The shellfish are cleaned with the tails left on. They are then marinated with salt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, yellow chilli powder and whole ajwain for about an hour. After this, a mixture of rubbed cheddar cheese blended with fresh cream mixed with chopped coriander stalks, white pepper powder, green cardamom powder and mace powder is applied, and the prawns are left overnight to absorb the flavours. The prawns are finally grilled in a tandoor, and just before they are ready they are glazed with saffron-infused fish stock, grilled once again and served.

VII
Costolette Di Agnello Australiano,Puree Di Melanzane, Lenticchie Di Castelluccio – Grilled Australian lamb cutlets with morel mushroom risotto and eggplant purée
Stax, Hyatt Regency
Price: Rs 1,680, plus taxes
Before being grilled, the Australian lamb chops are marinated for three hours in extra virgin olive oil, Sicilian sea salt and freshly plucked oregano. Once the flavours have been completely absorbed, three lamb chops are grilled as per order and served on a bed of risotto prepared from Carnaroli super fine rice braised with sliced Kashmiri morels and Col Di Sasso (an Italian dry white wine) and garnished with chervil,chives and parsley. Accompanying the lamb chops are grilled tender courgettes that have been infused in Tuscan olive oil and marjoram for 12 hours. The accompanying smoked eggplant sauce offers a refreshing contrast to the delicate flavours of the risotto.

VIII
Fugu – Lightly grilled globe fish with San-Qi, Four Seasons
Price: Rs 1,600
Fugu, a Japanese delicacy prepared from puffer fish – which, if prepared incorrectly, can be lethal – is prized for its texture and refined flavours. Because of the risks associated with it, fugu chefs have to undergo years of intensive training before they are licensed to prepare the fish. At San-Qi, currently the only restaurant in India serving fugu, Japanese chef Toshikazu Kato is a skilled practitioner licensed to serve it. According to Chef Kato, fugu has a “chewy texture with a sweet flavour that gets sweeter as you chew.” At San-Qi, thin slices of the fish are piled up on a perilla leaf, topped with sprigs of perilla flower and accompanied by spicy grated radish garnished with chopped spring onion greens.

IX
Aragosta Di Kerala Alla Griglia Poi Gratinata Servita Con Puree Di Patate Alla Rucola, Asparagi E Salsa Di Aragosta – Grilled Kerala lobster with rocket mashed potatoes, green asparagus and lobster sauce
Stax, Hyatt Regency
Price: Rs 1,590, plus taxes
Sourced from the Malabar Coast, the lobsters are split in the centre and sprinkled with freshly bruised tarragon leaves. Once the flavours have been infused, the lobster is seasoned and cooked in its own shell on a hot grill. Just before serving, it is glazed with a thin coating of a sauce made from crushed lobster head, carrots, celery, leeks, ripe tomatoes, dry white wine and seafood stock that is strained, thickened with butter and flambéed with cognac. The grilled lobster is placed on a bed of seasoned mashed potatoes blended with a fine paste of Italian wild rocket and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Tender Chinese asparagus tossed with extra virgin olive oil is served as an accompaniment and finally a balsamic reduction is drizzled on the side of the dish before serving.

X
Rosemary Flavoured Lamb Chops Wrapped In Parma Ham With Farm And Mint Stuffed Tomato Celini, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,500
Lamb chops imported from New Zealand are first seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and a little bit of olive oil for about three to four hours to bring out the flavours of the meat,delicately tenderising it as well. The lamb chops are then wrapped with Italian Parma ham and pan-seared till golden brown. After they have been seared well on both the sides, the chops are roasted in the oven on low heat to the desired doneness. Once perfectly cooked, they are removed onto a serving plate and each piece is topped with a slice of Fontina cheese immediately which melts over the chops. The chops are accompanied with blanched spinach sautéed with garlic and a mint-stuffed,oven-roasted tomato.

Steamed Sea Bass In Superior Soya Sauce
The Great Wall, The Leela Kempinski
Price: Rs 1,500
Thinly cut filets of Chilean sea bass are seasoned with only shredded ginger, salt and pepper arranged around the sides of a plate and then gently steamed for just about two minutes. Boiled bean sprouts are piled onto the centre of the plate, and both the fish and sprouts are coated with a sauce made from light and dark soy sauces cooked with Thai fish sauce, sugar, coriander stalks, Kikkoman, sesame oil and seasoning. This delicious Cantonese-style seafood dish is finally garnished with coriander, shredded spring onion and shredded red chillies.

PEKING DUCK
Peking Duck, or properly Peking Roast Duck, the national dish of China is an ancient and traditional Chinese delicacy. The dish is prized for its thin, crispy skin for which the bird undergoes a lengthy cooking process that takes up to three days. The specially imported Peking Duck is first flavoured with a hot water and sugar bath for over two days. It is then stuffed with a traditional mixture of Chinese spices, wine and stock and sealed with a cork from one end. The duck is cooked inside a special Peking Duck oven, where it is constantly rotated to get an even amount of roasting from the outside, making the skin crisp and evenly brown on all sides. There is no specific cooking time since each individual duck is unique and holds an amount of fat that differs from each individual portion. Finally, the bird is carved at the table by a chef and can be served in a variety of ways.

Beijing Capital Roast Duck
Pan Asian, ITC Maratha
Price: Rs 2,450
The duck is roasted in a gas-fired oven and served, by the chef at the table, rolled up in pancakes with juliennes of cucumber and scallion, with hoisin, chilli or any other sauce the guest desires.

Peking Duck
Ming Yang, Taj Lands End
Price: Rs 1,875, plus taxes
Roasted in a gas oven, the duck is normally served in the classical three-course format. First, the crispy skin and meat are served with pancakes, topped with scallion along with hoisin and plum sauce. This is followed by the duck soup made by cooking pak choi greens, Chinese mushrooms, hand-shredded white and brown duck meat, and a drop of soy sauce in duck stock. Finally, the meat is served cooked in the guest’s choice of sauce, with steamed rice. Guests also have the option of having the duck only with pancakes and need not follow the classical course.

Old-fashioned Peking Duck
China House, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,690
The duck is roasted in a wood-fired oven with apricot wood and served with crepes, sugar, garlic and some cucumber. The duck is carved at the table starting with the skin which is crispy and best savoured with some sugar and garlic paste.

Published Hi! LIVING DECEMBER 2009-JANUARY 2010

On The Vinous Trail

Wine production and its attendant tourism is unexpectedly growing in India. HI LIVING does the swirl, sniff and sip ritual at some of the best vineyards in the country.




Surrounded by nine hills and populated by a multitude of small lakes is a district that lies right at the heart of the wine revolution. A grape-producing region since the time of the Marathas, Nashik, the grape capital of India, has in the last decade acquired another moniker. The consistent flow of good quality wines coupled with the concentration of wine grape vineyards and wineries makes it compare favourably with another region across continents that share many of its characteristics. While qualitatively Nashik’s output cannot be compared with the superlative wines pouring out of California’s Napa Valley, its reputation and the tremendous energy flowing out definitely entitles it to be called the Napa Valley of India.

Much of the credit is due to Sula, which pioneered Nashik as the premier wine-producing destination in the country. Even today, Sula with its basket of wines and beautifully landscaped property is setting the standards for other winemakers to follow. Above its winery on a sprawling verandah is its wine bar overlooking the first sauvignon blanc vineyards in the country. While its proximity to neighbouring Nashik city makes it a popular evening destination for the residents, on weekends it attracts a large number of Mumbai’s denizens who like to drive down for a vinous getaway. A few kilometres away, at the base of a hill, surrounded by vineyards with the Gangapur Dam in the distance is Beyond, the deluxe three-bedroom cottage-resort with its private swimming pool that’s perfect for six.

Down the road from Sula, almost on the shores of the dam, is a small winery that holds big promise. Though its wines are currently not easily available in the metros, York produces two whites: a sauvignon and a chenin blanc, a zinfandel rosé and four reds: a regular cabernet sauvignon and shiraz and barrel-aged estate reserves of the same.

The vineyards lie on a gentle slope at the side of the winery which incorporates the gradient into its design.

Most of the wine thus flows from the rushing vats to the fermentation tanks by the gentler force of gravity instead of the harsher pressure of pumps. To ensure better quality, York has separate tank halls for whites and reds, and has invested in an underground cellar for the barrels.

About 40kms north of Nashik lies what many expect to develop into India’s first French-style appellation – a demarcated geographical region used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown. A region which, like

Champagne, will allow only wines produced in that region to carry its name on the label thus also, hopefully, guaranteeing a certain level of quality. Land suitable for growing wine grapes, Dindori, about an hour’s drive from

Nashik city, is the most expensive viticultural real estate in the country.

Sula’s marquee Dindori Shiraz is made from grapes grown in its extensive vineyards in Dindori. Wine, according to traditionalist winemakers, is produced in the vineyards and good wines can only come from good quality grapes, and to get the best grapes you need the right combination of soil structure and great weather. Unlike Nashik where the vineyards are on flat land, with soil containing a significant amount of water-retaining clay content, the vineyards in Dindori are generally on steep or gently sloping land and the nutrient-rich red soil is primarily composed of gravel. Water can be a vine’s greatest enemy, as high water content in the grape leads to diluted flavours in the wines that end up tasting weak and watery. The well-draining soil, moderate rainfall and the near 30 degree difference in day and night temperatures in Dindori helps vines produce wines of greater concentration and freshness.

Perhaps the secret of Château d’Ori’s wines are that its Bordeaux-style winery and vineyards, nestled on the slopes of the Nehra-Ohri hills, are located in such an exceptional zone. The huge circular winery, which sits at the apex of the triangular property, can accommodate 72 large stainless steel tanks for fermentation and storage and is an adaptation of the latest winery designs in Bordeaux. Even the grafts of its six varietals: the red cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah and the white sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and chardonnay were selected and imported from Bordeaux. In fact, Château d’Ori boasts of the largest merlot plantation in India.

Niphad in eastern Nashik, another important wine-producing area, boasts of at least four wineries. Apart from Reveilo, Sailo, the co-operative Vinsura Winery and the MIDC Wine Park are located here. Reveilo, whose reserve range is only available at premium hotels, restaurants and select retail stores, is the most famous and probably has the most impressive operation. Unlike most wineries, where only the production areas are temperature controlled, it is the only producer whose storage areas and trucks are also temperature controlled. Its three new wines from the sangiovese, nero d’avola and grillo grapes will make it the first company to produce wines from Italian grapes. By the time its wines hit the shelves later in the year, its tasting room should also be ready, giving visitors a chance to taste and purchase wines at the winery itself.

On the western edge of Nashik, closer to Mumbai are two new wineries just outside Igatpuri town. Indus Wines, the older of the two, which began operations about two years ago, is the only gravitation flow winery in Asia. At the top of the winery which is built into the hillside, the grapes are received and crushed, the juice flowing downward into the fermentation and storage tanks that are built on successive lower levels towards the base of the hill. Just about a kilometre up the road from them is the spanking new Valle de Vin. The beautifully landscaped facility is set against terraced young vineyards planted with chenin blanc, viognier, shiraz and grenache. Valle de Vin, which is the only winery offering conducted wine tours of its facilities, interestingly offers two spaces for visitors to try out their wines. A large table set up inside their barrel room is perfect for those looking for an atmospheric setting to do a serious tasting and the soon to be launched wine bar in the upstairs lobby area offering a panoramic view is ideal for drinkers who’d like a more relaxed ambience.

Nashik may be the most famous wine producing district, but it was certainly not the first, nor is it the only one in Maharashtra. Narayangaon is a quiet village on the outskirts of Pune from where Château Indage launched its wines and Nandi Hills is the bastion of Grover Vineyards outside Bangalore where modern Indian wines were born.

The stories of both are well known, though in recent years Château Indage has developed a considerably large arsenal of wines. On its sprawling 2,500 hectares of vineyards, spread across various sites in Pune and Nashik, more than 20 varieties of grape are grown, all of which are processed at its winery consisting of three units at Narayangaon. Though a much smaller operation in comparison, Grover is the only company that shuns ordinary table grapes, using exclusive French wine grapes selected from 35 varieties of the Vitis Vinifera species.

However, one of the most expansive recent projects is the winery set up by UB Wines in Baramati about an hour’s drive from Pune. While finishing touches are still being given to the façade and the hospitality spaces, the well planned and designed winery is fully functional. Huge investments have been made to equip the facility with the most modern technology, which in time promises to become one of the largest wine companies in the country. Wine tourism is also clearly on the agenda, with a wine spa, deluxe rooms and suites, a swimming pool, restaurant, tasting room and conference room already planned. It is already the first winery with its own helipad.

As wine consumption continues to grow, many more new wineries are expected to open across the country with larger swathes of agricultural land coming under wine grape cultivation. Bangalore has already seen a new winery open, Big Banyan has started operations in Goa, Sangli and Solapur in Maharashtra, and states like Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are also likely to see the establishment of a new generation of wine entrepreneurs. ¨

Published in Hi! LIVING JULY-AUGUST 2009

Battle Of The Labels

Does the international label on a wine bottle affect our palate? Or are international wines actually much better than the Indian ones? LIVING compares the terroir and tastes of Indian and international wines.

Given a choice between a foreign and an Indian wine, most Indian wine drinkers would opt for the former. If the label read Chateau Blah de Blah or Domaine Hoity Toity, there would be no contest. While it is true that a lot of Indian wines can be quite guiltlessly poured down the drain, there are several that are not just pretty good but are even comparable with international wines.

Naturally, we’re not talking about comparing Indian wines with fine wines like the cru classés of Bordeaux and Burgundy or the big reds of Italy and Australia, but with simpler middle-level wines. It’s important to realise that not all foreign labels are of a high quality; wines, like any other product, are available at different quality levels and in different forms. For instance, cheap wine in Europe is popularly sold in the same type of tetra packs that in India are used to package fruit drinks. Wines for daily consumption or to be sold by the glass at restaurants do not have the complexity or ageing power by which expensive fine wines are characterised. This is a very acceptable standard of wine both in Europe as well as in the New World wine-producing countries outside of Europe.

Like many New World wines, Indian wines are best when consumed within a few years of being bottled. Stylistically, the wines are produced to accentuate fruity and floral aromas and a refreshing acidity on the palate, rather than a subtle balance of fruit flavours and earthy, mineral notes and the mouth-drying tannins that the European Old World favours. One of the most important reasons for choosing this style is that consumers in a young wine drinking country prefer wines that are simple and easy to drink. Considering that Indians are still getting used to the taste of wine and don’t have very seasoned palates, it’s understandable that most of our wines are somewhat obvious and non-challenging. This doesn’t mean they’re bad; it just means that they aren’t living up to their full potential.

Wines that do express the full potential of their varietal usually come from regions where the grape and the terroir are perfectly matched. An all encompassing French term, terroir relates to the complex combination of factors such as soil type, conditions and structure, exposure to sunlight, humidity, altitude and rainfall that affect a particular region. Certain wine regions have limited themselves either by law or voluntarily to producing wines from just a few varieties of grapes: Bordeaux is famous for cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc; Burgundy for pinot noir and chardonnay. Across the border in Italy, Tuscany’s Chianti from sangiovese is highly prized, as are Barolos and Barbarescos made from the Nebbiolo grape in Piedmont. America’s Napa Valley is reputed for chardonnay and zinfandel, Marlborough in New Zealand for sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, Barossa Valley in Australia for shiraz and Mendoza in Argentina for malbec. It is not that other grapes aren’t or cannot be grown, but that these grapes produce the best wine in that specific terroir.

India has not yet discovered which varieties are best suited for its terroir, but the most promising so far have been two whites (chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc) and two reds (cabernet sauvignon and shiraz). There’s much to choose from amongst these wines as every Indian winemaker has at least two or three, if not all of these varietals, in their portfolio.

Chenin blanc has adapted extremely well to Indian conditions, producing generous harvests of fairly good quality grapes. Sula’s straw-coloured chenin blanc intense with stewed apples and lychee on the nose and a pleasant sweetness cut with some sharp acidity makes it amongst the best of the crop. Another great and award-winning chenin blanc with a floral, grassy bouquet with a crisp and balanced acidity on the palate comes from Reveilo. Both Sula and Reveilo produce an excellent intensely honeyed, sweet dessert wine from chenin which can quite easily be substituted for liqueur. The crisp chenin from Indus Wines and the slightly sweet one from ND Wines are also very good.

Credit for first planting sauvignon blanc in India goes to Sula, whose wines while pleasantly fruity and a reliable safe bet are not outstanding. Indus Wines however produce a gem of a sauvignon which easily compares with the ones coming out of New Zealand. Amazingly crisp and refreshing on the palate, it has a wonderfully expressive bouquet that offers heady aromas of guava and cut grass on the nose. Additionally, by integrating the alcohol, fruit and acidity rather well, it has turned out to be a beautifully balanced wine, quite rare to find in India. York, a relatively young winery, will be releasing a nice sauvignon this year that has very balanced vegetal and fruit aromas and a nice palate cleansing freshness. Château d’Ori produces a very nice smoky, Bordeaux-style sauvignon blanc.

Some winemakers have been able to produce great white wines from other international grapes as well. The ones that stand out are Reveilo’s Chardonnay Reserve, Grover’s Viognier Clairette, UB Wines’ Viognier and Sula’s Riesling.

Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz (or syrah) are producing some great red wines in India that seem to be quite well-suited for the Indian climate. The varietals are often blended together, as which for the longest time was considered India’s best wine. While it still continues to be amongst the top, the best wines coming out from Reveilo are the Cabernet Reserve and Shiraz Reserve which are widely acknowledged as India’s best wines. They undergo about 11 months in French oak barrels, resulting in wines that are smooth and velvety, rich and deep, and have soft tannins that linger languorously on the palate and then elegantly fade away. Both wines are also very well balanced and they express the indisputable characters of the cabernet sauvignon and shiraz in a distinct yet subtle way that is a hallmark of any fine wine.

Despite cabernet sauvignon tending to be a bit dominated by aromas and flavours of capsicum, the list of good cabernet sauvignon and shiraz is quite substantial. The ones that stand out are Château d’Ori’s Cabernet Shiraz, the Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz, the Ivy Shiraz from Château Indage, Indus Wines’ Cabernet Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon and the Aryaa Shiraz from Mercury. York and UB Wines will be releasing their barrel-aged reserve cabernet sauvignon and shiraz later this year, and both are extremely promising. Though winemakers have produced red wines from other grapes and are experimenting with different varieties, none have produced anything noteworthy. The sole exception being Château d’Ori’s elegant cabernet-merlot that has a deep, rich, inky texture, and in which hints of oak can be discerned.

Despite producing some great wines, India is a relatively young wine producing country, and there are still many challenges that need to be overcome and many lessons that are yet being learnt. One of the most important disadvantages we face is the relative youth of the wines, which still have a long way to go before they reach their full potential. The shortcomings have been compensated by adjusting viticultural practices, importing world class equipment and consulting experienced professionals.

Internationally reputed winemakers like Bordeaux-based Michel Rolland at Grover, his protégé Athanase Fakorellis at Château d’Ori, American Kerry Damskey at Sula, Italian Andrea Valentinuzzi at Reveilo and Australian John Worontschak at Indus are making sure that Indian wines are keeping up to the international standards.
India is taking giant leaps forward, and it is only a matter of time before it is respected as a wine power house

Published in Hi! LIVING JULY-AUGUST 2009