FOOD BEVERAGE
SUPPLEMENT
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016
Masters of Their Game Masterchef Australia succeeds like no other gameshow because it brings out the very best in everyone Ilona Dam
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asterchef Australia is a culinary reality show where 24 homecooks compete to win an A$250,000 prize. Filmed in Masterchef’s show kitchen in Melbourne and interspersed with some of the most beautiful location shoots in Australia, be it posh restaurants or verdant countryside, the show enables people from diverse backgrounds to fulfil their culinary dream of starting their own restaurant. From the intrigue of a ‘mystery-box’ challenge to the ‘pressure test’ in the elimination rounds, the contestants go through an emotional rollercoaster ride. Apart from the talented trio of judges Matt, Gary and George, they get a chance to learn from top international chefs like Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson and Sarah Wilson. Training under the chefs and judges in ‘master classes’, they are constantly challenged in service rounds where they could be preparing a 3-course gourmet meal for 20 guests, cooking takeaways for 200 people on the beach or replicatingMichelin-star dishes. Speaking of the dishes, not only are they mouth-watering but also involve a high degree of sophistication and technique. Masterchef Australia airs five days a week, with every episode bringing in a new challenge for the homecooks. But why is Masterchef Australia so much more popular than its American, Asian or Indian namesakes? Simply, that hosts Matt, Gary and George have created a show that com-
bines competition with sportsmanship, that brings out the best personal qualities in every contestant even as it showcases their individual talents, and traces their professional growth over the duration of the contest. “Just be true to yourself and don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right,” is how Matt Preston encourages a frazzled contestant in a pressure test. Yes, the competition is intense and there’s plenty of drama but everyone seems to come out the better for it. All thanks to the three judges,
who set the tone of the contest with their humour, fairness, encouragement and genuine love of food. The sportsmanship and mutual respect among the contestants has to be seen to be believed, be it Elena helping a confused Matt twice in the final of the recently concluded Season 8 or the friendship between finalists Billie and
Georgia in Season 7. Every round ends in hugs and congratulations and one doesn’t doubt them for a second when they say they’ve made friends for life. The show is a microcosm of the world, bringing cuisines of various nations on to a plate. While there’s an Indian home cook making ghee-filled parathas, we can also drool over the quail with mushroom puree or a spicy Thai Tom Yom Goong. The show is a melting pot of cuisines and cultures, reflecting the extraordinary multi-ethnic mix that is modern Australia. From the start of their journey at Masterchef, preparing food inspired by their families and local cuisines, the contestants are exposed to ingredientsthey’ve never encountered before, and techniques that wouldn’t look out of place in a chemistry lab.While some dishes are relatively simple to make, like chicken with tequila or peanut butter mousse, there are some which require extraordinary technique like the Eton Mess desert which involves 74 steps. So whether it is a pressure test or a faceoff with Marco Pierre himself, the show forces them to raise their game at every step. From learning how to balance flavours and textures to elegant plating, Masterchef develops in the contestants an appreciation of the culinary arts. It gives them a grounding in time management, inculcates discipline and refines their aesthetic sensibilities. What we thus see is nothing less than the transformation of a disparate group of amateur cooks into world-class chefs.
Rough Guide to Making Cake No flour, no baking powder, no oven? No problem Karishma Jayapaul
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f you are new to baking the first thing to know is that you can’t always get hold of the ingredients mentioned in recipes. So here are a few easy substitutes to make a delicious cake. One of the hardest things to find in India is a good vanilla essence. It’s crucial to any cake to remove the eggy smell the batter has. If your essence isn’t good, the cake tends to taste and smell of the raw ingredients even after it is baked. A simple way to get around this will be to use cinnamon powder. Cinnamon buns are heavenly but add some of the spice to your vanilla, chocolate or even a fluffy sponge cake and it will bring out the flavours and mask the distinct smell of each ingredient. An alternative is using a bit of rum, which also helps keep the cake moist. If you like to experiment, try replacing regular baking powder with a tablespoon of Coca-Cola. You’ll be surprised at the caramel-flavoured cake you will end up with. Try out different essences too, a raspberry essence with a chocolate-cake base is a match made by the Gods themselves. For the basic batter itself, you don’t always need butter. Cooking oil, which is neutral in flavour, bakes just fine and sometimes even better than butter. Don’t forget to use butter paper to grease the cake tin! You can also replace maida with atta, a simple change that cuts calories without compromising the taste. Frosting, or icing, needs a lot of caster sugar and just enough
If you like to experiment, try replacing regular baking powder with a tablespoon of Coca-Cola
butter depending on the consistency that you need. To make caster sugar, just powder regular sugar in a mixer. Buttercream frosting needs just butter (even salted will do) and caster sugar. The most intimidating and luxurious cake topping of all is chocolate ganache, which is nothing more than cooking chocolate, butter and milk. Pour milk and butter in a pan, stir till the butter dissolves and the milk turns to a dull yellow. Add the chocolate to this mixture and stir lightly. Be careful not to keep the flame too high, let the mixture simmer or the chocolate will burn. It will be runny when it’s warm so allow it to cool before you spread it over the cake. Consistency is key to getting the perfect ganache. If you feel the mix is too runny just add a few more chunks of cooking chocolate and it will be fine. But cool it first. If you can’t find chocolate chips in your grocery store, a slab of cooking chocolate beaten with a rolling pin gives you over two hundred chocolate chunks. You could also use these for baking banana chocolate chip cupcakes and there is nothing better than biting into one of these molten chunks along with the soft banana pulp. There is a lot you can do with just basic cooking chocolate. Melt it down and add whatever you please, jellies, gems, nuts, dried fruits and even crumbs of cake. Freeze this mixture and use it as brittle chocolate to
decorate your cake. If you’re creative, flaunt it. And if you don’t have an oven? Take a tawa or flat pan, set it on the burner, place a pressure cooker on it and carefully lower the cake mix in a tin into it. Close the cooker lid but remove the weight. It will take about 45 minutes to an hour but it will be more than worth the wait. So instead of worrying about what you have and don’t have, just get in there and make the best of it!
FOOD BEVERAGE
SUPPLEMENT
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016
Craft versus Draft With their variety of favours, microbrews are fast gaining popularity over regular beer Poorbita Bagchi
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rbour Brewing Company is a sassy place known to beer lovers in Bangalore. They serve amazing food, provide a great ambience and offer a staggering variety of beers that makes it a must visit for the thirsty. But they are just one of the many pubs that make up the booming micro-brewing business in Bangalore. As the popularity of craft beers explodes, microbreweries like Toit, Three Monkeys Brew Bar, The Bierre Republic and The Bierre Club are raking it in. Craft beer is gradually becoming a real favourite and alot of people seem to be choosing it over draft beer. Says Roland, manager at the Arbour Brewing Company, “The fruity beer, good music and amazing food are what attract the customer. They are tired of the glycerine they drink in the name of beer. Craft beer experiments with great flavours and hence people come here to sit, enjoy the ambience and drink good beer after a hard day’s work.” Craft or micro-brewed beers are basicallybrewed on a small scale and independently owned. They stand out because of their unusual flavours and range of colours, from a dark stout to a pale ale. In 2015, microbrews accounted for 12% of the US beer market by volume but a staggering 21% by value! India’s first microbrewery called Doolally, opened in Pune in 2009 and after that slowly Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Kolkata caught up with the trend. Among them Bangalore, the orig-
inal pub city, embraced the concept and now has the most craft breweries. More and more people are switching from draft beers like Kingfisher, Budweiser and the like because their taste buds have apparently tired of them. After sipping a Smooth Criminal in Arbour Brewery, a young woman customer says, “I am never drinking the same old draft beers again.
I want flavoured beer from now on.” If brewers are to believed, the popularity of craft beers is already affecting the fortunes of draft breweries, although there’s little evidence to prove it. The best thing about craft beer is that although
it is produced on a small scale, it takes only six to seven hours to brew against almost six to seven days needed for regular draft beers. Bangalore has a huge number of micro-breweries. People in and around Indiranagar prefer going to Toit, because of its open, multi-level interiors and its huge variety of beers like Colonial Toit, Dark Knight, Basmati Blonde, Smoked Scottish Ale and TintinToit. The Biere Club on Vittal Mallya Road is Bangalore’s very first micro-brewery. They’re best known for their signature wheat beers while Big Brewskyon Sarjapur Road which has live music and poolside seatingis also very popular. But craft beer is a lot more expensive than draft beer. A pint of draft beer in Bangalore costs around Rs.80-90 while a pint of craft beer would be around Rs.225-300. So while popular, it’s bound to be have limited appeal. Throw in the food and you’re looking spending on an average around Rs.800-1,000 a head. With even cheaper bottled beer available, the appeal concept of craft beer will take time before it takes root in the Indian market. But if the government is serious about reducing alcohol consumption, what better way to do so than encouraging low-alcohol alternatives to spirits like beer and wine? With lower taxes and easier licensing, they would become a lot cheaper. And microbreweries, which gain in brewing locally what they lose in scale, could become a lot more competitive.
Foodie Heaven Bangalore’s cafes serve some of the most amazing food you’ve ever tasted Manasvini Paul
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angalore attracts people from around the world and it’s no accident that it’s home to such a variety of eateries catering to so many tastes. My search for good food took me to some of the nicest cafes in town. I have sampled many but my two favourites are The Hungry Hippie and Truffles. Both these cafes attract mostly young people and colleges students. Hippies are free spirits who love to travel and sample all that the world has to offer. But they also miss home, so if you love thin-crust pizzas, milkshakes and brownies then you’re definitely headed for The Hungry Hippie. Located in 5th block Koramangla, the ambience is so lovely you won’t want to get up from your seat for hours. Sitting on comfortable divans under colourful glassmobiles suspended from the ceilings, it’s an absolute delight. The place looks like a hippie den indeed and with the Bangalore weather, you feel as if you’re are sitting in a cafe
up in the hills. The high wooden tables with high stools is my favourite place to sit and eat my favourite barbeque chicken thin-crust pizza: the crust is thin and crunchy, the cheese plentiful, it’s doubtless the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. Sprinkle a little oregano on it and you’re in heaven. You walk in and the first thing you see is a huge drawing, in black and white, of a guitarist with flowing locks in what looks like a sola topi and sunglasses surrounded by a psychedelic swirl of waves and clouds and heaven knows what. You could spend hours staring at its detail but if you aren’t in a particularly pensive mood, you have several board games to choose from and a foosball table to entertain yourself. I would rate this cafe 10 on 10 and would love to go back again to enjoy their breakfast menu and try all their shakes as well. Truffles, located right in the heart of the city on St Marks Road, is a small cafe which gives you a street view from a perch on their high stools with tall tables. Or you could sit inside and enjoy the aroma of the food being made and have a quiet chat with your friends. They have a wide menu and are famous for their desserts and burgers. I decided to order the Mediterranean Chicken while my friends ordered a chicken steak burger, cheese garlic bread and the Ferro Rocher fudge cake. The Mediterranean Chicken dish has delicious pieces of tender chicken arranged on a bed of mashed potatoes with pesto sauce all over with some yummy soft pasta on the side. By the time you finish your chicken and mashed pota-
toes you are so full but still have no choice but to dig into the pasta, not to mention the lovely garlic bread that accompanies it. The cheesy garlic bread is a must try, so perfectly flavoured and with cheese that will melt in your mouth. I don’t think I have ever tasted better garlic bread. As for the chicken steak burger, if you lift the bun and peek inside you find a juicy chicken patty topped with some lettuce and peri peri sauce. If you find it a bit dry, as I did, you can add some of the Truffles extra mayo sauce available on every table. To end a lovely meal, try the Ferro Rocher fudge cake. It’s served in a glass jar with vanilla ice cream filling the bottom half. When you take the first bite you get a taste of the rich chocolate and some yummy moist chocolate cake right under it. The best part is the whipped cream on the top. Delicious!