En route London from India, by road, is definitely the road least travelled. Spanning 18 countries in two months, what guided the 13 SUV-convoy apart from the navigation system was the sense of smell, followed by sight and, of course, the taste.
Food connected them at places where even language and culture was a bar and they were all too happy to play dumb charades. Laughs Dilpreet Singh, general manager, JW Marriott, who was part of the envoy, “It was a self-driven expedition across India, South-East Asia, China, Russia, Central Asia and Europe and we’d set out every morning exploring the culinary culture of these places.”
A few months after the journey, all comes together in the form of as many as 50 to 60 dishes in a food festival called Road to London. “We have kept the dishes on rotational basis so that they all can be served and at the same time variety can be maintained in the menu,” he adds.
Goes without saying, the journey was an exploration in the history of some dishes while many popular misconceptions stood debunked.
“While passing through the South-East Asian countries of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos and observing their culinary culture, we found out that oriental cuisine is not all about non-vegetarian food.”
What the chef recommends
The buffet sounds and looks like too much for the eye to take in at one go. Skip across the salad and soup station and there’s India, South-East Asia, China, Central Asia for you to choose from.
What the chef recommends is at least a dish each from each of the regions. “Chengdu Hotpot Live, the Sichuan whole roasted fish with flavoured herbs is a must try,” Naveen Handa, executive chef, points at a jumbo sized fish floating in curries and veggies. From Central Asia there’s Kiyma Shashlik, a lamb skewer with cumin and paprika from the land of Kazakhstan to go along with Tandyr nan (a form of nan that he really recommends. From Russia, there’s Chicken Stroganoff, chicken and mushroom stew with sour cream and from Europe, he gives his nod to Cepelinai. “It’s Lithuanian poached potato and mushroom dumplings with sour cream. We make the dough with raw and cooked potatoes and stuff it and then it’s covered and poached in water.” It wasn’t easy incorporating unexplored foods from countries like Latvia, Poland, Belgium and Lithuania. “They gave me the dish’s name and photograph and how it tastes.” We had to learn about the dish and test it before presenting it. Go test for your self now!
Brunch and dinner buffets priced at Rs 1550 and Rs 1950 per person (exclusive of taxes).
—Manpriya Singh
On till August 15 for brunch and dinner at The Café@JW
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