Flavour of the season

Sun, May 4 12:35 AM

Popping a glossy yellow marzipan banana in your mouth, you wonder if it really tastes any different without the bright yellow coat and the delicate detailing with chocolate sauce. And all this while you lift a cheesecake that sits pretty beside a crystal showpiece.

"That's made out of bakery sugar", chef Kim Caula at Delhi's Taj Mahal hotel corrects you instantly. Really impressive, you think, plucking a thin branch out of a gum-based icing sugar tree for yourself.

You do the same with a chocolate showpiece - try to pull a piece as you marvel at the artwork - that executive sous chef Anurag Bali does at the lobby of the Claridges hotel. He hints that biting into it won't be appreciated, but that's exactly the point - placing it at the lobby to entice guests into visiting the hotel bakery.

That's what this is all about: food that's really a work of art. As aesthetics of food increasingly figure in dining trends, you are tempted to ask, does the proof of the pudding really lie in the taste anymore? "It's a clich and #233;, but people eat with their eyes.

So we have the concept of architectural food, where elements of design like the crockery is as important as what is served in it". Of course, flavours do come first, he insists.

With a rise in purchasing power in the 'new' India, chefs are striving to lend a differential factor to their food. Consequently, ambience and presentation then become markers of lifestyle and create aspiration value for the diners.

"Beautiful food has it own clientele. It isn't meant for the masses, so it has to have a delight factor", says executive chef Bakshish Dean of The Park hotel.

An extra effort means more money, something that the nouveau Indian diner doesn't mind, especially when it comes with a guarantee of exclusivity. "There's a danger of over-charging, but sometimes people don't know, so they don't mind.

In Arabian cultures they go only for fancy packaging, even if the food doesn't taste great", says Caula. In India however, beautiful, pre-plated food has had its own pitfalls.

Dean did try pre-plated small portions with Indian food but says he found no takers for it. "As a culture we like sharing.

So I retained the small portions for appetizer and dessert, but with main course we reverted to serving in bowls", he says. But even with Indian food, the 'wow' factor can be replicated.

This is where chefs are moving to serious innovation, replicating trends from abroad to get avantgarde. "Think tequila foam or a masala chai pancotta with cardamom caviar.

It looks different, the textures are mind-blowing and gives you a talking point at the next party", says Dean, with palpable enthusiasm. What Dean is referring to is molecular food - breaking down food to the molecular level and then reconstructing it - or the science of food pioneered by Ferran Adria of Spain's renowned El Bulli restaurant.

While the aesthetics of food started with the nouvelle cuisine in the 70s in France, where dishes were pre-plated with a clear emphasis on the presentation of each dish, it's now time for the Spaniards to wow the world of cuisine by combining aesthetics with flavours. "There's a play involved: there's a difference in the appearance and taste of teh food on offer.

A pure white tomato sorbet in a red tomato soup has contrasting colours, but the flavour in the sorbet is still more intense tomato than the red soup", says Bali.With competition, chefs are driven to shock and awe, even as they strive to keep the flavours intact.

But the fine print in the menu reads 'only classes, not masses.'.

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