Recently Ajay came back from the Miami based Carnival Cruise lines and is spending his time in developing a brand new restaurant as a head chef. He has 8 years of experience in culinary art and has worked in 5 star hotel chains like the Oberoi and Taj group of hotels and has a keen interest in Mediterranean cuisine. He has taken on this exciting assignment as a challenge and is ready to share the same with you all.
Dear Reader ,
When you go to a restaurant and order from the menu, you should understand the thought process behind every dish you order.
This write-up is all about backstage of the end product called menu.
Menu planning and compilation is one of the interesting jobs for a chef. It asks for a lot of dedication, study, research and visualization.
I was always skeptical about whether my guests will accept the ideas and innovations which I want to show them.
Moreover it’s always a challenge to introduce a foreign menu in a stand-alone restaurant in the city. When I say foreign menu I meant which is not Indian.
One side we need to keep the Indian palate happy at the same time chef’s capability and ideas to be explored as well.
How will you do two things together?
Thankfully people of Bangalore know about the food especially those who are diners and patrons of restaurants.
The Second important bubble in the menu is vegetarian option .Again not an easy one. One really needs to crack his head to get the right dish.
Usual format of the menu is Appetizer, soup, salad, pasta, pizza, main course Veg and non Veg, dessert, tea and coffee.
And I followed the same.
The above format was for lunch and dinner.
Addition to the lunch menu was the sandwich /burger menu.
And separate lounge all day starters menu.
Altogether I put 50 dishes in the menu out of those 27 vegetarian dishes from the appetizer to the dessert. And in the lounge menu 12 starter are vegetarian out of 21.
Another aspect of Menu Planning is the supplies and commodities.
Suppliers and distributors in the locality, who can arrange the ingredients as per your requirements in quantity and quality.
The entire menu depends on the suppliers you have in your market.
But to get some French, Italian, Lebanese or Greek ingredients one need to import it and it is really expensive
Then the question of food cost comes into the picture.
So for now all the data required is been collected and thought process begins.
A First draft of menu is made. In this draft a lot of discrepancies are there like combination of sauces, selection of different meat items, availability of commodities etc.
A second draft of menu then made rectifying the earlier mistakes and then came the Final draft before printing.
Menu trials – This is the time when I get the result of my thoughts.
Every dish was be made and was tasted by a group of people whom you think can judge best.
And then we get to know about the apprehensions and aptness of the food.
Well this thing went on for almost 15 days and every single dish was made twice thrice and maybe more than that to train the staff as well.
Some of the menu items are from my experiences, in which I learnt and confident about, some of them are those whose base is very common but end product is different and some of them are absolutely new in trend and taste and are called signature dish.
The challenge for a chef is to convince people about its taste .So it justifies the number of trials.
I am sure by this time you would have got an idea of what chefs do in kitchen before you get to know about the place and food.
Layout of kitchen
After deciding major equipment for the kitchen, sketching of kitchen layout was required. Did wall to wall measurement, keeping 6-8 in on the border side (for fencing the kitchen from all sides. And that measurement named as yield space (net usable space).
Later I made equipment list and divided the same in three major categories –
Big equipment – that equipment which will take time (4-6 weeks) to fabricate or procured and are of heavy duty natured.
Easy purchase equipment – that equipment which can be procured or fabricate in a week or so.
Kitchen utensils – that equipment which can be done on cash purchase and are for daily purpose use.
The equipment list is a very easy tool to sketch the “visualized” kitchen on paper. All I had to do was to allocates and align them in that yielded space to get maximum productivity.
Having said that, there were few things to be kept in mind –
• the amount of space required for a cook ‘s movement
• Work flow chart of the kitchen - Receiving, Storage, Cleaning, and Processing, Cooking and, Serving the cooked product.
• Electrical, gas , water and drain points – these are the points specific to equipments
• Vicinity of equipment – total amount of space required by equipment for a normal operation.
Ordering – I spend some good time to find the kitchen equipment supplier.
I got a great help from internet, free ads in newspaper, phone services and word of mouth.
With the supplier, we got the design for every equipment (fabrication of equipment) and finalized every equipment which fell under THE BIG EQUIPMENT category (as mentioned above).
One of the major learning ,doing the layout of the kitchen ,was AUTOCAD and second learning was any of these layout when made cannot be wrong , it can only be judged on the parameter of smooth operation or congested operation . So if it lands up in congested operation some rectification will be required to do (not an easy task) and as for now I cannot claim anything .All I know that I am doing in right way
The most important work which was going side by side with the layout of kitchen was the menu.
Keep reading the blogs.
Culinary Regards,
Ajay Thakur
For the past 8 years I have been cooking food, designing menus, talking to customers about their special requirements, honing my skills, travelling to different places, coping with different nationalities and therefore attitudes, blogging, controlling food costs, getting scolded by the boss and barking at my team; then I got this assignment.
The Assignment
A piece of 600 sq ft land with a terrace. The assignment was to turn this piece of land into an operational kitchen. The restaurant would have 80 covers and serve Fine dining Mediterranean cuisine.
I felt that the size of the kitchen was very important. I am not an architect but from a layman’s point of view a rule of thumb is one third of your area should be the kitchen. In India, we see things differently and the saying goes that “the tighter the kitchen, the more efficient the restaurant” Then you end up with a kitchen the size of a piggy bank. We ended up with a compromise and it was an agreeable deal.
The Kitchen
Before I could even decide one thing about the kitchen, I had to decide on the menu. The menu dictates the equipment you need which impacts on the space you have available.
I chose French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Lebanese and Moroccan cuisine out of the Mediterranean cuisines.
This got me thinking about the different equipment I would need for each cuisine:
For Italian –Pizza oven
For Spanish –Paella dishes.
For Lebanese- Shawarma machine, Tagine –pot
It helps if you can firm up on these things and then the extraction and fresh air hoods can be worked around.
My investors insisted on having pizza on the menu, and I insisted on getting the best wooden fire pizza oven from Italy. Only then is it worth keeping pizza on the menu.
That is what has happened so far; I will keep you posted.
One more request to all my beloved readers, please suggest to me the name of the restaurant as I have not decided yet. It should be unique and relate to the Mediterranean.
Jainism was spread and made popular in India by Lord Mahavir who was the 24th guru of Jain religion during mid 6th century B.C...
One can find this community more towards North West and western part of India.
Jainism is governed with the ideas of Non Violence called Ahimsa; Mahatma Gandhi has been influenced greatly by this philosophy and in turn influencing Martin Luther king to resort to non violence.
Jainism takes non violence to a very strict level and respect life at any level including plant life. That’s one reason they don’t use root vegetables (onion, garlic, potato, carrots, beet) in their cookery as it harms the plant. and you can find good use of tomatoes in curries and gravies .
Food which contains even small particles of the bodies of dead animals or eggs is absolutely unacceptable. While milk(!) consumption is not forbidden under Jainism.
But in India almost everywhere milk is used as vegetarian dish. Use of honey is also restricted.
So one can imagine the difficulties a chef in any indian restauant has to face to cater them when at the same place you will get non vegetarian dishes as well.
There are instances when I have to suggest some dishes out of the menu to them , and believe me its not an easy task.
If we talk about Italian , french or even a multiregional indian cuisine you will find the use of onion and garlic extensively and you know the taste of it.
Try suggesting some dishes deprived of Non veg, onion garlic, carrot , potatoes , radish or any root vegetables.
If you find such restaurants in your place , try it and you will understand what I am saying.
We have exciting news from Ajay!! He has decided to go and work halfway across the world on a cruise ship, sailing out of New York. He flew from Mumbai to Milan to Miami and then on to New York. He is based on the Carnival Miracle ship which sails around the Caribbean and holds over 2,000 passengers with over 900 members of staff. He promises to send us a blog soon, when he has had time to catch his breath!
Jambul or jamun (Hindi) is native to India, Pakistan and Indonesia . This fruit is quite well known in ayurveda as it not only helps with diabetes but aids digestion. It has sweet and sour taste and tends to colour the tongue purple. It gives your mouth a dry sensation when you first taste it, but after a sip of water you will feel the sweetness back on your tongue.
This soup was just a small idea that turned into a recipe and is now featured on my Mediterranean buffet.
Recipe By : Ajay Thakur
Serving Size : 4 - Preparation Time :0:10
Categories : Amuse Bouche or starter
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
150 grams Jamblang -- deseed and roughly chop it
50 grams Avocado -- peeled and chopped
10 grams Garlic
10 grams Basil
20 milliliters White wine
10 milliliters Balsamic vinegar
1 dash Tabasco sauce
10 milliliters Extra virgin olive oil
to taste Salt and pepper
5 milliliters Worcestershire sauce (check it is a vegetarian brand)
Add Jamblang, garlic, avocado, basil and white wine in a blender and blend it to a smooth consistency
Add balsamic vinegar, Tabasco sauce, oil, Worcestershire and adjust seasoning.
Serving Ideas: Can be served as aperitif or amuse bouche
Serve chilled.
A lady came to the restaurant recently and asked to see me. My heart always sinks when this happens. I knew since she had yet to eat she was probably going to ask me to cook something impossible, I expected this was not going to be a two minute request and I was already under pressure in the kitchen. I was not far wrong. She wanted a risotto, then fired off a long list of things she could not eat: butter, cream, meat, fish, any vegetables, chilli, other spices, peppercorns…..she took fifteen minutes to list them all….and all I was left with was rice. She mentioned that she was on some sort of medication and could only eat rice and MUSHROOM. Small mercy. With mushroom on my side, I was going to have an easy ride. I have called this Small Mercy Mushroom Risotto and I have never made a risotto like it. But it tasted surprisingly good….and she was happy!
Serving Size: 2
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ -- ------------------------------
200 grams mushroom
200 grams Arborio rice
5 grams thyme
5 grams parsley -- chopped
5 grams basil -- shredded
10 milliliters olive oil
5 grams garlic -- chopped
2 cloves garlic
4 drops lemon juice
75 milliliters white wine
To taste salt
Take 3/4th volume of mushroom in a baking tray. Add 2 cloves of garlic and thyme and rub it on mushroom. At 160 deg centigrade for 40 mins cook mushrooms in the oven till it gets dry. Cool the mixture and blend it to a fine paste.
Cut rest of the mushroom in 1/4 inch dice.
Heat a saucepan, add olive oil, chopped garlic and sauté it. Add mushroom and continue sautéing . After 3-4 mins add Arborio Rice and stir till the rice changes to translucent . Deglaze the pan with white wine and cook till the wine evaporates. Now add (two times the quantity of rice) water gradually till the al-dente stage of rice.
Add mushroom paste to cooked rice.
Do seasoning with salt. Squeeze some lemon juice to it.
Serve it in a pasta plate, garnished with Basil sprig
Per Serving : 465 Calories; 5g Fat (10.8% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 87g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 28mg Sodium. Exchanges: 5 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.
Rice is the staple food of so many countries like India, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and many more. Unlike wheat, an allergy to rice is rare and it has the added benefits of being rich in complex carbohydrates and low in salts and fats.
Rub a few grains of rice between your palms for few seconds and then smell. If you get a sweet, husky smell and the rice is also a little moist, you are smelling one of my favourite rices - Basmati. It’s a Hindi word (bas means fragrant and mati means queen). Basmati is long grain rice and mainly used in savoury dishes. There are many other varieties of rice and in my local store in Bangalore, there are over twenty varieties from which to choose.
One serving of rice should be about 100 gm of raw rice - it doubles in volume after cooking
There are two main ways to cook basmati rice on the stove:
Absorption method
This is so called because all the water is absorbed by the rice. The rice does need to be soaked for an hour prior to cooking. Use double the amount of water to rice.
Wash rice thoroughly and then soak it. Use a thick bottomed pan with a tight lid. Add 1 T salt and 2 T ghee to the water, along with a cinnamon stick and a couple of cardamon pods. Bring water to the boil, then add the strained raw rice. Stir after five minutes. Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, fit the lid and then turn off the heat. Leave it to steam cook for at least five minutes but for up to fifteen minutes. Your rice should be perfectly cooked.
Drain method
This uses much more water but the proportion is not so critical – seven litres of water to 1kg of rice, and the rice does not need to soak. Bring the water to the boil and add the rice. Stir regularly. Test after twelve minutes, when it should be done. Strain and serve.
Some of the famous Indian rice preparations are –hyderabadi biryani, lucknowi biryani, pulao , navratan pulao, bisibella bath, tomato rice, curd rice , khichdi, pongal , kheer and shrikhand.
Happy cooking!!! And let me know which method you prefer!
The mango is the national fruit of India and 65% of the world’s production comes from here. The mango has always been important, going back to ancient times. Mango trees were often used to calculate a person’s wealth. In north India, mango trees could often form part of the dowry on expectation of marriage. Mango trees are of huge commercial importance, which explains their long respected history. Even nowadays, owning a mango tree is useful and I have one at home in my backyard.
Mangoes come in a variety of sizes and colours. The most well known is “Alphonso” and is the most popular and the one most often exported. It is named after the Portuguese explorer, who brought the fruit back from his journeys to Goa. The locals took to calling this Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation got further corrupted to Hapoos, which is what a variety of mango is called today. The Hindi word for mango is aam.
Mango experts can tell by smelling whether the fruit is ready to eat. This skill is possessed by many Indians, my father being one of them. The rest of us just have to squeeze and hope.
Mangoes are available to buy from June to September. Mango trees tend to fruit every other year. With 2007 being a very good year in terms of quality and quantity, 2008 is likely to be poorer, so mangoes will be in short supply.
We might have to wait for 2009 to get the same quality of mangoes.
In Indian kitchens, during the mango season you will find mango on the menu in all sorts of dishes. Small tent cards on the table in restaurants will show the different preparations. At one of the mango festivals I attended I saw more than 100 varieties of mango.
At home, for as long as I remember I had mango every single day during the mango season. I cannot resist mangoes now, having grown up with them. This year, my dear friend Gurmeet got me some Alphonso mangoes, so kept my mango eating tradition going.
In India from the seedlings to the mature fruit, every stage of the mango is used for cooking.
Raw Mango
Raw mangoes are used to make Indian pickle, and every region has its own recipe.
Raw mangoes are supposed to be the coolant. There is a home made north Indian medicinal drink named Aam ka panna which gives relief during heat strokes. It is made by boiling raw mangoes then squeezed and pureed. Powder of roasted cumin seeds and rock salt is added towards the end and it is taken chilled.
Dried unripe mango powder used as a spice in India is known as amchur (sometimes spelled amchoor).
Another famous condiment called mango chutney made by mincing sweet raw mango with fresh coriander leaves , mint leaves and chillies with local seasonings, giving a taste of sweet and sour and a tablespoon of the same is enough to savour your palate.
Ripe mango
Ripe mangoes are used to make
Mango lassi (churned curd and mango pulp),
Mango juice (churned mango pulp +water).
Mango shake (mango pulp +chilled milk/mango ice cream),
Mango ice cream.
Mango kulfi (frozen mango dessert),
Mango kheer (rice, milk and mango pulp from north India),
Mango payassam (from south India),
Cut mangoes (hedgehog style),
Mango shrikhand (set mango curd from west India),
Mango phirnee,
Mango sherbet,
Aam-Ras (Mango pulp which is eaten with puris - an Indian Bread)
Sakhar Amba (Marathi word for a home-made mango jelly/jam),
Mango barfi (a type of Aamba-Wadi),
Aamba-Wadi (a gummy, chewy mango candy) or amawat
Mangoes are so important in our culture, they are used as offerings to God – this is called Prashad. In many Hindu Indian homes, the lady of the house will fast on Thursday or Sunday in the name of God and mangoes are her staple for the day.
So mangoes are very important to Indians as religion, culture, prosperity and enjoyment are all closely woven together. We wait for the mango season every year as it brings the happiness home.
I would love to share some mango recipes if any of you would like them. In the meantime, get your Indian friends to send you some mangoes or better still, come over to India and try them for yourself.
Hello there everyone,
I am Ajay from the eastern part of India and working as a chef in Bangalore at the Taj West End, an exclusive 5 star hotel in acres of gardens. My interest is in international cuisine, especially Mediterranean.
When I heard about the blogs, I was keen to put across my views and share my recipes, for the very reason that I am Indian and vegetarianism started in India .
Although I am not vegetarian, I am respectful of those who are and we take catering for them seriously. Many of my relatives are vegan. We call them (Vaishnav-hindi , a word meaning no flesh and disciple of god). They cannot even smell non-vegetarian food and even eggs are banned. When they go away, they carry their own cooking equipment with them if they are not sure of their destination. It probably sounds ridiculous to you but that’s what being a disciple of god and being vaishnav means to us, and we all respect it.
I am going to be providing you with some Indian and Italian recipes over the course of my next few blogs.
Previously
