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Guinea fowl and English veggies
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Buying vegetables, Bakshish Dean, the Executive Chef at The Park in New Delhi talks about guinea fowl. Talking of ducks, he promises great pizzas soon. Confused? Read on with SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY to fill the gaps.
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Photo: Sandeep Saxena.
Bakshiah Dean,Executive Chef, The Park. Photo: Sandeep Saxena.
WHEN CHEF Bakshish Dean chats about buying guinea fowl, quails, ducks, turkeys and English pork from a Frenchman's farm near Sohna in Haryana and vegetables, even the English variety, from a farmer in Patodi, the glint in his eyes all at once carries you to an idyllic situation, most likely from a Victorian novel set in the countryside. A sense of plenty, a riot of flavours, an array of superb dishes laid out for your delight on a lazy Sunday surfaces as a relishing prospect.
A sudden bump on the road though brings you back to the reality. That you are on your way with the Executive Chef of The Park hotel in New Delhi to the local markets to "check food items." His usual jaunts. Yours not so usual.
Exorbitant rates
The first stop is Khan Market. "Like other big hotels, we also have different suppliers for different things. But today, I am rather on a policing act, to check what more is available than we are getting at present," Chef Dean authoritatively states. Though Khan Market is not where he would usually like to buy things from, strictly because of the exorbitant rates, it no doubt remains at the back of the mind if any ingredients run out in the nick of time since it is so close by. "So, we always keep a tab on this market," says this former Taj group chef.
Besides the usual supply, for fish, he darts offs to Ghazipur fish market on Ghaziabad road and fishing for Indian vegetables takes him to Azadpur mandi at least once a month. All to be done waking up along with the sun. "But for English vegetables, INA market is a hit with every chef of every hotel here," his next stop too is obviously so. The Park, he says, has a supplier of English vegetables in a Haryana farmer but having the choice of a back-up has always been "business-like."
Wasting no time, he picks a `tokri' from a known vendor. In jumps red and full Japanese fruit percemone, yellow zucchini, florets of broccolli, full-blown sprouts, red and yellow peppers, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, cherry tomatoes, dry chestnuts. Soon, one `tokri' becomes two and three and more.
The Indian restaurant Fire being The Park's flagship eating joint at the moment, a variety of guests, both Indians and foreigners, calls for a little experimentation with its menu, he says. "We have not touched the authenticity of the recipes but tried to make them look different by focusing on textures, display etc. Since Japanese cuisine is quite similar to Indian in terms of shared eating by families and friends etc, we have taken a few leaves out of their book," he explains.
Also, he says, "We have experimented with duck meat. We tell our diners, if you do not like it, don't pay. But it is picking up." With winter just round the corner, Fire's winter menu too has generous amounts of meat dishes, French duck, guinea fowl and pork including. As for the under construction 24 hour coffee shop with a strong Italian flavour to it, the he says, the hotel has imported "a great Pizza machine from Australia" specially for it. The local produce though would find place in pizza toppings. And the chef is already eyeing on the possible ingredients.
"But it would be not the usual," he throws up the challenge. Chef Dean, we shall bite it!
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
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Visakhapatnam
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