My last supper

THE FOOD CLUB

If you feel sad when nice guys finish last, the reverse must also be true. New York-based food writer Melanie Dunea has put together a list of 50 chefs that she considers are the best in the world, and executive chef Amit Chowdhury of New Delhi's Taj Mahal Hotel is one of two Indians in it.

Sharing space with him are Ferran Adria, Jean Georges Vongerichten, Thomas Keller, Nobu, Alain Ducasse and Anthony Bourdain.

Chowdhury has no idea how his name got on the list. His idea of networking is to search for unusual recipes on the net: schmoozing with those able to further his cause up the social ladder is far from his scheme of things.

Like every other chef on the list, he too was asked what he would like to eat as a last meal on earth. The dishes that he enumerated were essence of tomato and lentils, sugarcane chilli sorbet, char-grilled mustard prawns on steamed coriander pilaf, masala chai crème brulee with cardamom mascarpone kulfi.

He said he would like to cook the meal himself with his wife for company. His picture was taken in a market in old Delhi, wearing his chef's whites. In contrast, the inimitable Anthony Bourdain was photographed wearing nothing but an enormous beef bone!

I'm trying to buy the book on Amazon not only because I collect food books, but also because this is the first to have a representation from India.

The other reason is because of my bias towards the affable Chowdhury and his choice of menu that struck me forcibly.

Western presentations of traditional Bengali combinations could well turn out to be the cuisine of the future.

More immediately, the Taj Mahal Hotel is on the verge of opening an Indian restaurant rumoured to serve contemporary Indian food. It will be interesting to see Chowdhury's thought processes translate into something tangible.

When Chowdhury went to New York's Le Bernadin for the launch of the book, most of the chefs present made a bee-line for Chowdhury to grill him about regional Indian food.

Everybody from Anthony Bourdain (who was unsatisfied with his few days in Mumbai and Udaipur) to the founders of the Zagat food guides wanted to know how they should plan their trip and the cuisines they should look out for.

Chowdhury himself went on a whirlwind tour of landmark restaurants during his stint in New York. Japanese and Vietnamese are two Asian flavours that are at an all-time high in the planet's restaurant capital, says he.

marryamhreshii@yahoo.co.in