A lunch to remember!

“French cooking?” he puckers his lips, frowns, and blurts out, “outright boring.”  He is staring into my eyes. I let out an awkward giggle that comes out more like a stifled grunt.

Star of the show! 

He is a burly man with handsome features,  sports a stubble, speaks in a somewhat  gravelly voice , and with an unmistakable French accent . You can’t miss the tattoos peeking from underneath the sleeves of his immaculate, white chef’s coat and a cool pair of shades sits on his head . And he has magic in his fingers.  

I am talking about Toronto based chef Marc Thuet, a Frenchman who finds the severe traditions of French cooking boring, insists on having utmost fun with his ingredients, enjoys cookinG, hates routine and if you don’t find him at home or in his restaurants, he is, perhaps, off hunting bears in the Canadian wilderness.

This afternoon I had the good fortune of tasting a few of Chef Thuet’s signature dishes at Le Thuet, a special gastronomic experience hosted by the Taj Bengal and I can’t quite stop drooling over the mere reminiscence of the superlative meal that I was served.

Chef Thuet and wife Biana Zorich 

Just the other day a fellow food writer popped a question at a similar lunch to the group eating together. He asked which was the last memorable meal we had and where? To our dismay not one of us came up with the likeness of a concrete answer. I wish I was asked the question now.  I can say without a hint of doubt that it was the best meal I have had in a long, long time.

When Chef Thuet and his wonderful wife and business partner Biana Zorich, the duo is a part of Canada’s culinary elite and runs some very successful restaurants in Toronto, left Canada, the temperature was a freezing -20. Imagine there predicament landing in Calcutta and having to surf a few heat waves. One they had to tackle the heat and two, Chef Thuet had to make a few changes to his menu. Of course, the local produce and ingredients available also urged him to tweak the menu. However, the first thing, he introduced his cold cucumber soup to the menu, perfect for the summer heat, just what you need to cool if off. “The cucumbers here are lovely and I had to make this soup,” he says.

For the soup the chef seasons the cucumber and leaves it for about 48 hours so that the water runs out and then he blends the cucumber with thick hung curd, a few spices and some beautiful, fragrant Israeli mint. It does have a faint resemblance with the our raita but then in it go chunks of goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.  Subtle on the palate, refreshing, with the burst of tang from the goat cheese and the tomatoes, this one made for a promising beginning. I hear, the chef also makes a non vegetarian version of the same soup with poached scallops and prawns. Hear seafood lovers!

With the soup came a hunk of Baguette Traditional, a traditional French sour dough bread had rolled just like olden times. It’s soft yet chewy, very light and fluffy. “The dough for this classic French baguette  is fermented 4-6  times,” says the chef.  Tear off a chunk, dip it in the golden green olive oil that comes along, and relish its goodness.

The main course comprised, Cured Quebec duck magret, sweet water prawns, black cumin caramel and mango followed by Gremolata crusted lamb rack, basil and goat cheese mashed potato.

Cured Quebec Duck Magret with Roquette, Parmesan and a drizzle of Olive oil

Interestingly, the Cured Quebec duck magret accompanied the chef all the way from Canada. Magret basically breast of ducks specially treated, read force fed, to produce fois gras. Fois gras, made of fattened liver of duck or goose, is of course France’s most famous delicacy.  Now the breast is question is super meaty, the size of a brick, and Chef Thuet cures the meat in his signature style – first the meat is seasoned with grey sea salt and left for 4-5 days, then the chef prepares a rub with 14 special spices, rubs it on the meat and hangs the meat for 7 days. “You can hang it for as long as you like but I want my duck to be meaty rather than dry like prosciutto,” says the chef. 

Cured Quebec duck magret, sweet water prawns, black cumin caramel and mango

The dish is question had a generous cut of cured Quebec duck wrapped around prawns in a subtly sweet, slightly tangy and perfectly creamy sauce with pickled ginger and bits of mango. Perfectly executed, the dish is light on your palate and a perfect balance of subtle flavours. The best part:  the duck definitely enjoys the glory pot in the dish. Better still, just so we could savour the duck with  out any trimming, the chef sent to the table a platter of finely cut duck meat topped with Roquette, Parmesan shavings and a drizzle of olive oil. 

The second dish, Gremolata crusted lamb rack served on a bed of basil and goat cheese mashed potato, baby carrots, mushroom and asparagus. The meat was perfect, done rare, the perfect dark pink inside and the fatty juices dripping crazy.  And the delicious;y creamy mashed potato with the basil and the goat cheese brilliantly complemented the gremolata crust of the lamb. I sure hope no one noticed while I was shamelessly scraping away at the last dregs of meat.

Wild mushrooms risotto with Parmesan shavings

Next in line was the Wild mushroom risotto generously topped with Parmesan shavings. Now I have spent almost a month in Italy (three weeks to be precise) and I have had some great risotto there but none quite like this one. This risotto is by far the best I have had. “Great rice and great wine make for the secret behind a good risotto,” says the chef. Biana, laughs, “He is French with no love lost for Italians and he makes this brilliant risotto.” I agree! It was definitely a stunner, thearborio perfectly cooked, al dente, creamy but no too much, a little smoky from the Shiitake and truffles that the Chef uses in his recipe. It was very very difficult to be polite with that dish around, is all I can say.  

 Chef Thuet is an emotional man. His wife Biana and he appeared in the award-winning reality television series Conviction Kitchen, where ex convicts  were trained to run a restaurant. But two seasons later the chef refused to continue with the show. “During the course of the show these people you train and work with become extremely attached to you , dependent on you. Once the show is over we cary on with life and they are left on their own. It is very difficult for them. It was painful for us. So we decided no more!” he shares. And I have no doubt that a person as emotionally charged should make such great food.

In front: Saffron Tartlet with golden peach and Alphonso compote, maple syrup and walnut rumble; Behind: Chocolate caramel Mousse Verrine with sea salt crumble

Anyway, so finally it was time for desserts, something I look forward to and wait for, even before a meal commences. For desserts there was a gorgeous Saffron tartlet, light and buttery, filled with golden peach and alphonso compote, maple syrup (trust the Canadians with maple syrup, the Canadian province of Quebec alone produces one third of the world’s total produce of maple syrup) and walnut crumble. Now at any other point in time I would go crazy over this dessert, but this time something else claimed my attention and affection, completely. A Chocolate Caramel Mousse Verrine topped with sea salt crumble. I cannot but not use the word orgasmic when I am talking about this bite of unadulterated Sin. The gooey dark chocolate laces your mouth with its bitter sweetness and just when you are least expecting it a burst of salty distraction bowls you over. This one  is a winner, the star of the show. And I will go back, just for this, one more time.

Crazy thing I did: Popped a anti allergy and dug into the prawns anyway. This one time I couldn't resist and glad I didn't.

PS. The food festival Le Thuet exhibiting Chef Marc Thuet’s signature dishes will be open for lunch and dinner till April 18, 2014 at The Hub, Taj Bengal.

Mediterranean Flavour Fest at Souk, Taj Bengal

Talk of the Middle East and I think of a souk. A thousand images, vivid and wonderful, flash across my mind’s eye – stone walls and flamboyant arches, winding alleys lined by shops selling raw silk and dyes, beads and ornate clayware, bejeweled vases and silver teapots…and  then the spices, familiar and exotic, the aroma exciting and soothing all at once. Knolls of colourful spices and herbs and beans – from Iranian saffron to sumac to lavender and rose petals – it’s a feast for the senses. In fact, I could almost imagine the teasing aroma of a myriad spices mixed with the heady scent of burning incense fill my nostrils as I enjoy a leisurely stroll in a faraway souk in Northern Africa, perhaps. Wishful thinking, I say.

        

 But recently I landed at a souk of another kind. I had the wonderful opportunity of dining at the Taj’s specialty Mediterranean restaurant SOUK and to guide me through the lavish fare was none other than Sujan Mukherjee, executive chef, Taj Bengal.   

       

And the spread chef Mukherjee brought to the table proved to be an interesting display of the diverse flavours and the mindboggling variety that is Mediterranean food. From Egypt to Israel and Turkey to Morocco, the menu included a wonderful assortment of dishes from across the region that left me drooling. 

 

The meal kicked off with an amuse bouche that was not only pleasing for the palate but also a treat for your eyes. A dice of fresh, juicy watermelon topped with a cube of feta. The burst of sweet freshness that was the watermelon did a little tango with the salty treat that is the feta right inside my mouth. And my heart did a somersault. 

 

Next came the Mezze. Mezze (an assortment of bite sized appetizers quite like the Spanish tapas platters) is by far my favourite part of a Mediterranean feast. And while mezze could be as simple as stuffed olives and fresh vegetables and hummus and some bread, there is no end to the range. But I was quite impressed by the Mezze selection on the table. 

Of course there was the ubiquitous hummus (who could ever think of a mezze platter without this mash of chicpeas and tahini and olive oil?) but not just regular hummus – there was Hummus Turki, hummus topped with a blob of finely chopped Piri Piri chilies and olives, and Hummus bil Lahm, topped with tiny, deep-fried morsels of lamb, an Israeli specialty I hear. Now, easy as it might sound the perfect hummus is not child’s play. But chef Mukherjee has nailed it. Chef Mukherjee is known for being fastidious and rumour has it that he personally supervises and carefully sieves the chickpeas that go into his hummus. Not just any chickpea can make it in there. Reminds me of the Bourneville advertisement with that wailing and whining cocoa bean in it, yeah the one tossed into oblivion. However, of his two variations I was a little more impressed with the Hummus Turki, the burst of tangy heat simply sent the taste quotient shooting, at least for me, this despite my obsessive penchant for meat.

About the tabbouleh, a typical salad made with cracked wheat and parsley with a fresh lime dressing, what strikes you first is the kick of the lemon and then you fall in love with the freshness. We were treated to tabbouleh done the way it is done in Tripoli. Somehow that made the dish seem all the more exotic, or I was just romanticizing. And yes, the parsley, the main ingredient, wasn’t just regular parsley either. What does the trick for an authentic version of the tabbouleh is flat leaf Italian parsley and chef Mukherjee insists on using just that.

Tabbouleh evokes a few fond memories for me and has a special spot in my heart.. I had bonded with one of my dearest friends for the first time, though we are not in touch for a while, over a bowl of tabbouleh she had made. It was also the first time that I had tasted tabbouleh. She was an Arab and a great cook. But her version of the tabbouleh had couscous in it, instead of bulgur (cracked wheat) as in this version I was savouring just now.

And it was just the right accompaniment for deep fried delights like the falafel, an iconic Middle Eastern chickpea cakes, flavoured with herbs and spices like cumin, coriander and parsley, and deep fried. I am not a huge fan of falafel but during my year and a half in Brighton, I used to often visit a Lebanese joint which made an excellent falafel roll. And though chef Mukherjee’s falafels were neat enough, crusty and flavourful, it missed a little something.

What I was impressed by however was the subtly spiced Lahm Kibbeh, torpedo-shaped croquettes made of minced meat, pine nuts and cracked wheat, typical of the region, known to be of Levantine origin… that is from Eastern Mediterranean region. The kibbeh has a nice crust while inside its loosely packed minced meat that’s crumbly but not dry, in fact it was quite moist, it simply falls apart with a soft poise. That’s how a kibbeh should be, says chef Mukherjee. I agree. To get the right kibbeh you need the right meat...lean, without a trace of fat. And chef Mukherjee gets his lamb for the kibbeh all the way from Rajasthan. “You get the best meat there,” he says.

Tabbouleh

Now I am a huge fan of Mediterranean food because of its freshness and the subtlety of its flavours. What I really appreciate about cuisines from this part of the world is the fact that though there is an extensive use of spices, there is a poised restraint in the use of spices. So, while each dish promises a flavour fest, none overwhelms your taste buds. And the mezze platter i had just devoured celebrated that subtlety of flavours. Oh! Another interesting item on the mezze platter was the Swada Dijaj, marinated bits of chicken tossed in pomegranate molasses and fresh coriander. I think I detected a hint of lime too. I was not particularly crazy about it, but that could be because I couldn't get over the kibbeh and especially the Hummus Turki I was scooping up with my za'atar smeared pita. Zatar by the way is a mix of spices and herbs  used extensively in Middle Eastern and Med cooking.

Next in line was a platter of grilled meat and fish comprising Adana Kebab, a spicy minced meat kebab from Adana in Turkey ( you can also see my recipe of the same here), Tavuk Yogurtula Bitlis, another Turkish speciality, chicken marinated in special spiced and grilled, a recipe from Bitlis in Eastern Turkey, and Samak Meshwi, grilled fish with Turkish spices. Now, while the Adana Kebab was moist and juicy what it missed was the fiery kick it should have had. The chicken failed to impress me, and the fish...I loved the spicy and tangy marinade that laced the fish. The  grills came with a light truffle pilaf loaded with berries and it was quite the treat.

For the main course, there was the typical Moroccan Lamb tagine that came in the traditional clay pots called tagine (hence the name). The lamb, tender, melt-in-the-mouth, came in a subtly spiced sauce that had preserved lime, olives and chickpeas was served on a bed of perfectly steamed couscous.

Lamh Tagine

Now if you thought pasta was a monopoly of the Italians, think again. The Middle Easterns love their pasta too and the chef gave us a taste of it. Loaded with preserved limes, olives and prunes, the Middle Eastern style pasta was a little too tangy for my taste, but I sure did appreciate the distinctly different taste. 

By the time I reached the Samak Moroccan, pan fired fish fillets flavoured with pickled lemon, cayenne pepper and parsley and the Moussaka, I was too full to savour the flavours. In fact, the fish was a tad overdone and hence stringy and quite bland really failed to make a mark really, in fact far less. It  I had the desserts to accommodate.

Samak Moroccan

Moussaka

For desserts, we were served Omali, a dessert made with filo pastry and condensed milk and topped with pistachio. In loved scooping up the creamy Omali, cutting through the soft, golden crust. It is not too sweet and has a soothing effect on the palate. Then there was the refreshing rose petal ice cream, the chef’s signature dish. It is indeed the best summery treat around. But what came as a delightful surprise for me was the Baklava. I have never warmed up to the Baklava, greasy and dripping sugary sweet syrup. But this time around the Baklava, neither too sweet nor too greasy and chockfull with chopped pistachio warmed the cockles of my heart alright....ah I am exaggerating just a little bit. Let's say I could have had another helping. 

From left: Omali, Baklava and Rose Petal Ice Cream