| The knives are out. Part-owner of Delhi-based lifestyle store August, |
| Viraj Mohan believes that the key to a gourmet meal is sharp knives. So before Mohan embarks on cooking a gourmet meal for us he takes out a knife sharpener and does the needful. |
| That's not the only tip that pours forth from Mohan in the course of the evening. He says, "I do all the vegetable and grocery shopping for the house and normally when I cook I just look at what there is in the fridge and make something. Otherwise that stuff gets wasted." |
| Mohan's passion for food started after being subjected to years of abjectly poor boarding school food and that was followed up with equally pathetic food served in his college canteen. The impact of all this bad food was that Mohan decided that he would never eat poorly again. |
| For that pledge to fructify, Mohan had to don the apron himself "" his mother just threw a cookbook at him when he demanded a higher standard of food at home. Mohan, who cooks at least thrice a week for friends and family, no longer needs the help of cookbooks. |
| And his passion for cooking made him enroll for the Cordon Bleu Enthusiast's summer course in London. He says, "French food is my favourite cuisine. The French know what they are doing with food." |
| As Mohan warms up to his favourite theme "" food ""he offers us red wine to sip on as we watch him labour. He orders a 2002 Bleasdale Shiraz to be brought down for us and says, "This wine has been in the cellar for a year and a half and is now ready to drink." |
| The best equipment that money can buy, from wineglasses to kitchen gear (Leiber pans to cook in and a meat slicer tucked away in one corner of the well-appointed kitchen), is the way Mohan likes to indulge himself when he cooks. Says Mohan, "If you use good ingredients you will get a good dish. The quality of the ingredients makes a huge difference." |
| Mohan routinely cooks seven-course sit-down meals for a large number of people, and says that his deep interest in food has meant that he gets quite critical when he dines out. |
| "My problem is that I love food," he says. And his lucky wife never enters the kitchen. Says Mohan with pride, "My 20-month-old son is so fond of good food already that he won't eat dalia, but give him prawns and butter chicken, he loves it." |
| Watching Mohan put the meal together, one realises that fairly exotic sounding food isn't that complicated to cook. And if there is wine to be drunk while handling the ladle, things can only get better from there on. |
| As we sit down to eat on perfectly pre-plated and decorated plates (using a colander, Mohan sprinkles some red chilli powder on all the plates, giving the right balance of colours, something he believes quite strongly in), we realise that it is the style to your life that makes mealtime a whole new experience. |
| FAVOURITE RECIPES |
| Goat Cheese Mousse |
| 200 gm goat cheese 100 gm fresh cream Fresh pepper |
| Mix all three ingredients together in the food rocessor. Process till mixed well. Then refrigerate till well set. |
| Citrus Risotto |
| 1 cup Arborio rice 1 glass fresh kinnow juice Vegetable stock Olive oil |
| Heat oil in the pan, coat Arborio rice in oil and add vegetable stock to a level just above the rice. Repeat process of adding liquid alternating between stock and juice, till rice is fully cooked. |
| Fresh Vegetables |
| 1 carrot, chopped A handful of celery Half a head of broccoli A cup of mushrooms Half each green and yellow pepper 1 zucchini |
| Saute vegetables in olive oil when half cooked. Add balsamic vinegar to coat vegetables. Finish by seasoning with salt and pepper. |
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