In Chandigarh, chef Karl Whittaker talks about how just a little twist here and there makes any dish worth its while

Sheetal

It’s not every day that we look at food on our tables from a different perspective. What is considered as the basic necessity of life is so much more! Food is history, geography, culture, art, politics, trade, identity and also expression. As Olive Café and Bar’s head chef Karl Whittaker expresses his interpretation of ‘How India Changed the World: Global Journey of Foods’ through a five-course meal, we relished the experience!

Curated by the esteemed food columnist and historian Anoothi Vishal, complemented by Indri Trini, India’s first triple-cask single malt whisky, retraces the ancient routes between India and the Mediterranean world meticulously. Mind you, this is not Anoothi’s first time with this concept. She has conceptualised the whole idea, thanks to her thorough research on how Indian food and ingredients influenced global palate in more ways than we knew.

Anoothi doesn’t have a favourite pick as a dish because each serving blends, geography, history and trade. She explained, “We have collaborated with many big hotels and restaurants in the past, and each time I have been surprised by the chef. To be honest, I have been columnist for a long time and in this digital age when everything is about experience, I wanted to create such a food experience for people which is not just unforgettable, but also leaves you with a better knowledge of India’s rich food culture. There’s no better way than serving history with food and create a dialogue, as food is subjective to each person.”

Perfect recipe

Meanwhile, each course was dedicated to an ingredient or food item that’s global, but somehow traces its roots back to India. For instance, Karl’s most interesting dish, Pan-fried Chilean sea bass (for non-vegetarians) and caramelised cauliflower steak (vegetarians) included Vadouvan spice, a special spice mix from Pondicherry that travelled to France because of colonisation and trade. He created French Buerre Blanc recipe with Vadouvan spice calling the dish — Over the Pond (chierry)!

Then there was a tribute to rice and barley, ancient grains of Vedic Indian cultures, called Barley a Risotto, which was served with onion and sugarcane glazed chicken breast or grilled cottage cheese for non-vegetarian and vegetarian choices. Many do not know how rice and barley travelled the world to give us uber-trendy Buddha bowls, paellas and risottos.

For the dessert, Anoothi recalled a story of ‘amber coloured rocks’, aka world’s first crystal sugar discovered by Greek travellers in the wake of Alexander’s invasion. Karl interpreted this historical story by serving the dessert Mango Rum Baba, combining Indian seasonal fruit mango and rum. Just like crystal sugar, molasses, from which rum is produced, this was created from sugarcane. Karl explained, “We all know how gluten-free desserts are often dry. But creating Mango Rum Baba was pure delight as each bite would give an experience of rum-soaked gluten-free sponge. It has mango compote stung, mango cream coating, ginger crumble, mango sorbet, mango tuile and as if this wasn’t enough, thr topping was of fresh mango and mint.”

Mouth-watering fare

Talking of another special dish ‘Peposo for Pliny’, Karl was excited to see how they would enjoy this Italian dish, which make use of pepper, an ingredient traded from India in ancient times. He said, “I feel that here people like overcooked lamb, but it’s not how the lamb should be presented. This one is a typical Florentine dish of meat braised in red wine, stock and black pepper. The name Peposo means peppery in Italian. For the meat-lovers, I made red wine and black pepper braised lamb, topped with lamb tallow chimichurri, creamy white bean puree and fried lady finger, whereas for vegetarians, lamb has been replaced with oyster mushrooms.”