Mumbai local, truly

Devi Poojari

With the tag of “India’s Best Restaurant” of 2018, The Bombay Canteen comes across as a fascinating melting point of diversity in food from across the country. At its helm is Thomas Zacharias, the executive chef-partner whose smile lights up the newly renovated space as he invites us to have a chat about his culinary journey. “I’ve heard of chefs who aren’t big eaters but they tend to fall in love with the craft of cooking. It is then perceived as a mechanical act where one is tied more to the ingredients than to the final result. That does not hold true for me because my love started with food itself,” he says before the conversation begins.

For someone who has managed to make locally grown, seasonal ingredients like karande, shevla and kantola the new cool for metropolitan crowds, he asserts that it all started when he paid visits to the local market once a month to understand the range of produce that was in season. As he continued to explore this avenue, he realised there was plenty of scope for him as a chef to play around with flavours and ingredients and re-interpret tastes familiar to the Indian palette in a more ‘glamorous’ fashion. The initial response was lukewarm, but Chef Thomas persisted by ensuring that the produce was cooked well and showcased in a novel way.

Speaking about his inspiration behind the largely seasonal menu, he quips that the root of an idea can be anything he comes across — an ingredient, a dish... He shares an example of the Hara Chana Hummus on the Canteen menu that he developed after spotting a vendor selling roasted green chickpeas on the streets of Mumbai. Another example he gives is his take on the popular street food from Indore called bhutte ka kees, a corn porridge of sorts that was adapted at the restaurant in the form of corn fritters and garnished with some locally foraged moras bhaji.

“There are different levels to which an inspiration is stretched to ensure that it is as close to the original as possible. It is usually very serendipitous how an idea translates into a dish. Unless certain factors line up, they wouldn’t turn out to be how they are; like the Eggs Kejriwal which only features on the menu because of the man by the same name who won the elections the year The Bombay Canteen opened its doors”, Thomas states.

A significant part of Chef Thomas’ process is ideas that come to him at random, sometimes even from memories of food he tasted years ago and then figuring out the balance between textures and flavours. “With time, I have been able to compose recipes even without testing the combination of ingredients in the kitchen! I conditioned myself to taste a dish at every step so that the memories of those flavours are ingrained in my mind.”

In its nascent stage, a dish might not be exactly how he envisions it but a few tweaks later, it is as close to perfect as he imagines it would be. Thomas emphasises on the importance of being consistent in comparison to being creative, but says: “You can be the most creative chef and come up with the most innovative ideas but if one fails to translate that into every plate that goes out to the diners, the purpose is redundant.”

In a career spanning seven years, Chef Thomas seems to have cracked the code to maintaining a successful run in the business. “The food has to be delicious, no matter how creative the idea is. It is equally important to me how the kitchen is run and how we organise ourselves and make sure that every opportunity is one that helps you learn,” he says.

Before the conversation wraps up, we ask him what continues to keep his excitement going and he asserts that despite his multiple trips across India. He is sure surprised by what various regions have to offer in terms of culinary diversity. “Inspiration is a constant but it’s what we do with it that truly matters,” he signs off.

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