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Southside story
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Taj Coromandel’s Southern Spice turns ten this year and celebrates it with aplomb
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PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR
CHEFS IN CELEBRATION At Southern Spice
One decade of creamy elaneer payasam. One decade of crisp meen varuval. One decade of spongy, fragrant appams. Southern Spice at the Taj Coromandel turns ten this year, and to celebrate the event the restaurant is doing what it does best. Showcasing
the rich traditional, wide variety and colourful heritage of the food of the four Southern States.
Now that we have finally established that South India does not consist of a single state crammed with people who feast on idlies for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it’s only appropriate that we move the cuisine of the South to the next level. Southern Spice’s greatest strength has always been the fact that they distinctly promote the very different cuisines from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, highlighting each one’s strengths and individual flavours.
So it’s only appropriate that for the festival they have chosen to bring together Taj master chefs from each state. The idea is to recreate the recipes of the past, stressing on skill and authenticity. Each chef presents the best from his State. On the night we visited, not surprisingly, each was excellent, making picking a favourite quite a challenge. There was a delicate sigadi masala from Karnataka, tender mutton fry from Kerala studded with crisp brown coconut, a subtly-spiced kozhi roast from Tamil Nadu and fiery tama kodi from Andhra Pradesh.
Since the food is served in the form of a thali you get to try a wide sample of dishes from all the states. Fortunately, they’ve focussed on healthy food, so despite following age old recipes, the heavy ghee and lashings of oil have been considerably reduced. The spice levels have also been toned down, perhaps a tad too much for Indian tastes.
While all the usual five star frills are in place: traditionally clad, soft-spoken waiters, plush furnishings and heavy silver thalis, there’s also an attempt to introduce some quirky village colour, sans dust, mosquitoes and noise, of course. So there’s a kili josiar and his rather chatty parrot, rather incongruously juxtaposed with delicate stained glass, random strands of marigold strewn over designer chairs and folk dancing, set against ornate panelling. And, of course, dinner is paired with wine, merlots, chardonnays and Moscatos.
The festival is on for lunch and dinner till April 27. Contact Southern Spice on 66002827 for reservations.
SHONALI MUTHALALY
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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