Hot on the heels of watching Marco Pierre White in action in the kitchen the other day I had the honour of watching another master of his art in central London when I attended the launch of Adventure Gourmet @ Café Spice Namesté.
Cyrus Todiwala the acknowledged master of Indian cooking showed off his skills before a small group of peers and journalists and treated us all to a selection of some fantastic dishes.
The kheema no puff pattice – spicy lamb mince cooked in a puff pasty sheet were like little pieces of heaven. The prawn with Goan curried rice looked and tasted like angels on the wing that danced across the tongue before delivering a final chilli inspired kick to my taste-buds. And the duck tikka xacutti had some perfectly cooked slices of duck cooked in xacutti masala, the world’s most complicated curry with no less than 21 ingredients which all had to be pan roasted before being pureed with roasted coconut.
Cyrus informed us for instance that even the humble basmati rice gets better with age – 10 to12 years is best - and in India honoured guests will be treated to the oldest rice in the house. Turmeric is a natural and powerful antiseptic which is applied to wounds and that asking for something “madras hot” makes no sense to a chef in India as it’s not a gauge of temperature as it is regarded by many British consumers.
As he cooked Cyrus entertained questions from the floor and the session was as interactive as you could wish for, not least when Brian Turner who was sat behind me needed no second invitation to get to the counter and lean over to taste the dishes being prepared, hence one of my abiding memories of the day being Brian’s behind filling my field of vision. Truth is we all wanted to be the first taster tucking into the wonderful dishes.
The lunch had been arranged to launch Adventure Gourmet @ Café Spice Namaste, a project involving Peter Hazzard, aimed at bringing chefs, cooks, foodies and anyone with an interest in food together to see the best chefs in the business cook and demonstrate their skills.
Chris Galvin has signed up and Brian Turner looks a cert too despite his protestations that it would have to go through his agent.
“I don’t like dealing with agents” said Cyrus, “they always end up costing me money”.
It was a wonderful afternoon that ended with us all crowded round Cyrus’s hotplate eating and frying food together and sinking some of the excellent wines provided by Chapel Down, if this is an example of how a trip to Adventure Gourmet @ Café Spice Namaste is going to be then I’d heartily recommend that everyone sign up.
By Kerry Dyson
Comments (1)
I am not surprised at such an event that only dedicated and celebrated chefs like Cyrus and Pervin can make a success of. I have known Cyrus since 1982 and everything he does is with total commitment.
Keep the flag ( sorry skillet) high!
Best wishes always to the couple
Salil Dutt
chairman
Taj Trade and Transport Ltd
(A Taj group associate Company)
India
Posted by salil Dutt | August 19, 2007 6:12 PM
Posted on August 19, 2007 18:12