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What's brewing?
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`The whole idea of beer is that it should be a natural product.' — Vinod Giri
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KOSHY'S RESTAURANT is a landmark in Bangalore, a hub for artists and writers, almost a revered institution for those who love their fish 'n' chips, washed down with beer over a lingering meal. A chat and enquiry about the food by owner Prem Koshy is a ritual too.
BHUMIKA K. listens to a dialogue between the cherubic Prem Koshy and Vinod Giri, Director (Marketing), Shaw Wallace Breweries Limited, which produces brands like Royal Challenge Premium Lager, Castle Lager, Haywards 5000, and Knock Out. Vinod Giri is fairly new to Bangalore, and the foodie and brewer take off on Bangalore's love affair with beer.
Giri: Though we have known Koshy's for a long time, let's hear it from the horse's mouth what it's really famous for...
Prem: What are we famous for, well... hmm... just as I walked in the other day, someone said: "Prem this has always been an institution, more than a restaurant or a place to go to. This is more like home." For youngsters it's a home away from home. They hang out here. We've always had amazing comfort because nobody has restricted us from doing anything, he said. The conversation came about because of the SC ruling that banned smoking in public places.
He said, how could you do it? So I told him that being a home and an institution, we are bound by the law of the land. But we are famous for our food. Let's not dilute the issue here. We've been around since 1952.
Giri: It's been a bar also right from the beginning?
Prem: Pretty much. Yes it was a bar and restaurant. At that time we were the official caterers to the Maharaja of Mysore. We had monopolised a little bit. We were one of the best restaurants in town and then we became the first AC restaurant in South India with the Jewel Box. We had a jazz band and there was dancing. We are famous for the consistency of our food.
Giri: Tell me, a number of people come here. Is it a family kind of gathering?
Koshy: We have all kinds of people. We've got people who are literally on the streets today, but who were something in the yesteryears. We have one gentleman who comes with all his change, drinks his coffee in style, and pays his bill. Apparently his family is well off and he chooses to be on the street. Like one of our customers said, Koshy's is such a place, once somebody walks in our door, it sort of equalises everybody.
Giri: Are you also a big outlet for beer?
Prem: Somehow or the other, Koshy's has always seen the alcohol part as a complementary part to the food. Or sometimes it's worked vice versa. Very rarely is drinking the main purpose.
Giri: As a person who's been in this business for long, tell me, which kind of food does beer go best with?
Prem: I've seen beer go good with anything and everything. I have travelled and I've spent a good part of my life in America as a bar tender. I was one of the first certified bar tenders in the U.S. A law was imposed that people who serve alcohol should also take responsibility for damage caused by those who drink and drive. All of a sudden there was a big panic. And we were told somebody has to be certified or we'll have to shut down. Overnight I mugged up the pamphlet of the American Hotel and Motel Association that detailed our rights, and the effects of alcohol.
Giri: Do you have such a problem here?
Prem: Well, there's no law like that here. But I am very strict about it. We don't serve alcohol to anyone below 21. We ask for ID. I see to it that if someone has had too much to drink, we dissuade him from driving. We arrange transport for them. We don't give him another drink.
Giri: Normally with beer, you have one advantage. For people to really get drunk, they really have to drink a lot.
Prem: My dear sir, I may have to correct you on that (laughs) I think about three to four glasses of beer is the recommended level. Of course, it reacts differently with different people. After that you are not fit to drive. Giri: Is there any dish you make here that has beer in it?
Prem: Well, during Christmas we do something terrific called a leg of smoked ham that's completely cooked in beer. You can also bake fantastic bread using beer as the fermenting agent, you know!
Giri: I recently read that one of the biggest advantages which has indirectly promoted beer with food culture is that when you are eating, if you drink beer, it controls how much you are drinking and it slows down rate of absorption of alcohol in body. Like have the high feeling without getting drunk.
Prem: In the U.S., the approach to drinking is completely different. People dine and then come out to drink and dance and enjoy themselves. Here, we do the reverse. Unfortunately, I hate to generalise, but "drinking to get drunk" is our attitude. Like, how much of a punch can I get out of it... (laughs)
Giri: Yeah, till you can't drink anymore... (laughs)
Prem: We're not really the pub culture or the drinking culture. But at the same time, we find a lot of the younger crowd coming in because there's not much loud music. I remember when I was in II PUC when the first pub came to Bangalore. You know where the Kamat Hotel is now, next to Trinity Church, right under there, there was a shady thing with an umbrella and two kegs and it was the greatest exploration of all times. So we all charged over there from college. And man, it took him two hours to pour four glasses of beer because all he kept getting was froth!! It was four rupees a glass.
Giri: It must be amazing being an old Bangalorean! What made it a beer and pub capital?
Prem: Because of the European and Anglo-Indian culture, there were many clubs. Sundays were beering afternoons. I remember granddad telling me... we were caterers to the Bowring Institute then. We used to sell 400 roast chicken to the British Army guys in one night. And the American soldiers would compete with those guys the next day and eat 800! Beer and chicken was what they had. And the taste of our roast chicken has remained the same till today, despite change in cooks, and the fact that three generations have gone by.
Giri: Is the taste of beer the same too?
Prem: I think the flavours might have changed, because the processes have changed. One of my major grouses is the abuse of biochemicals in the food industry
Giri: Which should not be... in fact, the whole idea of beer is that it should be a natural product. It's very easy to play around with flavour. But the idea of brewing is that without adding anything ensures a consistent flavour.
Prem: That's the beauty of beer! I hope the same can be done with food. I'm headed toward keeping things more natural and healthy.
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