Chef Gaurav Sircar was literally cooking up a storm when we walked in. He stood there with a mere number of assistants, insisting on the dishes being cooked by himself. What came to the plate was a rich, yet uncomplicated palate, with a Hyderabadi twist to it. In Hyderabad for his collaboration with Mazzo rooftop bar to create a fine dine experience, the acclaimed chef sat down for a heart-to-heart with Deccan Chronicle. Excerpts: Why is the pop-up event named GOAT? For me, the idea of having a novel meal during the week has always been mutton. So when someone says meat, the first thing that comes into my mind is mutton. It’s not the so-called ‘Greatest Of All Times’, but the literal goat I wanted to keep in focus in a fine dining experience. With all due respect to the vegetarians in the world, including my parents, who recently turned vegetarian, I am biased towards serving meat. For me, the most comforting thing is cooking and grilling meat. My staple meal has to be chicken or fish curry rice, or a rich mutton curry. Although I do have a couple of vegetarian items included in the menu. So, what is the process you undergo for a pop-up like this and when do you start the prep work? I’ve been preparing for this in my mind for a month, but the real work began yesterday. Most of it happened this morning. The chicken requires 8-9 hours of slow cooking, while the mutton ribs take 7-8 hours. Even the beetroot in the salad is slow-roasted on a bed of salt for 6–6.5 hours. That’s the kind of complexity I bring to my food, and in the end, the dish should be simple.I think it also came across that way… Lately, I’ve realised that most of our favourite dining places are those that serve us simple dishes. That one place which is the easiest to approach, and non-intimidating. Nobody will immediately name a fancy restaurant as a favourite eat-out. You will always go back to the places where we get Vada Pav or your Tandoori chicken place, and the end result for me is simple food.Have you explored Hyderabadi food? Which is your favourite restaurant that you liked? I really like Hotel Nayab near Charminar, though you might expect me to say it’s my favourite biryani spot in the city. Truth is, I’m a little biased toward Kolkata biryani. For me, a biryani isn’t complete without potato, and I can’t handle too much masala. So it’s like the ongoing debate that non-Hyderabadi biryanis are just pulao, which is like the Rasgulla war between Bengalis and Odias. Apart from biryani, I enjoy Bun Maska, though I am not very comfortable with gluten. Haleem is another thing which is a comforting food for me, though.Have you tried Haleem during the Ramzan season? Not during the Ramzan season, but I have eaten Haleem quite a few times at other places while in the city.Ramzan is coming soon, and the food scene in the city is going to be different in a few weeks. Yes, I have heard, and I’ve seen Ramzan in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, which is really a hustle I enjoy. But I’ve never explored Hyderabad’s Ramzan. I really wanted to be here during this season, but my schedule won’t allow me this time as well.What is the craziest thing you have cooked? Craziest thing I have cooked? I did cook alligator meat once. But the outcome was not great, probably because I didn’t know how to cook it. But I have eaten quite weird meats. But for someone who is really intrigued towards cooking and eating meat, I have tried the meat of many animals from head to tail. It may sound weird, probably in this part of the world. But what is weird to us may be normal in other places, like frog legs, turtle meat, porcupine meat, wild boar, venison, yak meat. Porcupine meat and goat meat are common here as well. However, people in the urban areas don’t eat, and in the rural parts, it is common. When I was a kid, I once ate a turtle egg in my relative’s village near the Bangladesh border without my knowledge. As I was eating, I tasted something dense and egg-like in my curry and found out that it was a turtle egg after eating it. I was around 8-10 years old at that point in time Do you still remember how it was?Yes, I remember the tastes of all my food!Have you tried Telangana food? Not Hyderabadi, but authentic Telangana food. I will tell you. If I am not able to name them well, pls pardon me. When I was in Chennai, I had a roommate who was from Vijayawada who was also a chef, and he was the one who introduced Telugu food to me. At that time, I couldn’t handle it because of the spice levels. Telangana and Andhra share a lot of common dishes, but also have a lot of differences in terms of cuisine. Since you said you are more into non-veg, I was wondering if you tried the blood curry, brain curry or boti? I haven’t tried those, and I am not aware of these dishes. I haven’t found these on any menus either when I visited restaurants. I suppose it’s hard to find in restaurants for these kinds of dishes, you have to go to a marriage to eat them. I’ve never had the chance to attend a Telangana wedding, but I’d love to explore the kind of food that defines the region. Telangana cuisine is quite niche and caters to a relatively small consumer base.There are dishes prepared with clotted blood, blood pudding, blood meat, and blood curry, which is common in several cultures, like the Agris in Maharashtra. Himachal Pradesh is known for blood sausages, and the British have black sausages. Across the North-East region, smoked blood sausages. Also, foods involving the stomach, spleen, or testicles are also not universally appealing.In the Instagram promo, you said you have something special for Hyderabad. The usual feedback that comes when I cook in Hyderabad is that it is not spicy enough. This time, the sauces used in different dishes have been ramped up with a decent amount of heat to cater to the locals. If I were going to Hyderabad, I must have brinjal dish, or baigan, specially for the city.You are aware of how we use the word baigan in our conversations, right? Yes, I am aware, which is why I included it in my menu list. I could have done something as basic as a halloumi or cottage cheese cake or something. But I thought no, baigan it is.Are you planning to start a restaurant of your own? Currently, I am still trying to figure this out. Do I want to serve exactly the same way when I have pop-ups or special events, when I have my restaurant? I am still not sure. I don’t want to make complex or fancy food. I just want to cook tasty food, where the end product has to be absolutely non-intimidating. I am not even going to use ceramic crockery. My own place will be as basic with steel plates. If I were to start my own venture, the most likely place would be Delhi. However, if I were to consider another city, I would look at two options… Mumbai or Kolkata.And why Mumbai? Is it the people? I feel that Mumbai’s society and community are more experimental. The city’s F&B market is far more mature than most places in the country. While in certain cities people can be quite stereotypical about food, Mumbai stands out for being open-minded, experimental, and mature in accepting new products. As for Kolkata, it is known for its tradition of meat consumption.
Source link
‘योगी जी के नेतृत्व में होगा सबका विकास’, बजट को लेकर अयोध्या की जनता उत्साहित, जानें क्या कहा
अयोध्या: उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव से ठीक पहले योगी आदित्यनाथ सरकार के दूसरे कार्यकाल का बजट 11 फरवरी…
