Vicarious gourmand

TELLY VISION

As someone who is yet to boast of any success stories in the kitchen, I watched in wonder as celebrity chef Kylie Kwong lifted a giant crayfish "" its claws dancing in all directions "" dunked it in a pan, "put it to sleep" in a refrigerator for an hour and finally drowned it in a big bowl of salted hot water.

Kwong was in the process of preparing a delectable crayfish salad with duck eggs and foie gras for an art exhibition and putting the fish to "sleep" was the first macabre step for an exquisite gourmet experience.

The murder of Kwong's crayfish was a fascinating process and minutes later after she'd created a piece of gastronomic art, I was a fan of both Kwong and Discovery Travel and Living.

For someone who loves "" strictly "" the theory behind cooking, and rarely complains about eating adventures (I don't risk dipping my fingers in culinary practicalities however), I found my palate of inquisitiveness was quickly gratified on this channel.

With a delectable range of programmes, Discovery Travel and Living is by far the best channel for foodies who want to indulge in gourmet trips, learn exotic recipes, take generous slices of gourmand history, and all this while staying firmly sunk in a couch.

Gastronome grandma Madhur Jaffrey, in another programme, stood outside a breathtakingly beautiful south Indian temple and assembled a roasted cashewnut preparation coated in mustard seeds, curry leaves and grated coconut mixture.

Unfortunately I missed most of the programme but managed to catch the tail-end, with Jaffrey in the bylanes of Goa where an old lady prepared the traditional bebinca cake.

While Jaffrey stood under the open sky with the aroma of dishes wafting in the air, in one of the episodes of Chic Eats the programme showcased select individuals who were still using the traditional methods of preparing dishes, making wines and creating kitchen equipment in old styles.

The first segment looked closely at Japan's Sakai region, home to families that make handcrafted knives "" a 600-year-old art that is now dying.

While these knives (each knife undergoes 25 different stages before completion) grace the kits of world-renowned chefs, the craftsmen are all in the age group of 70-80 years, what with the new generation showing little interest in the art.

"There were 65 knife handlemakers, now there are only five," informed an old knifemaker in the episode, which moved from Japan to settle down with a sixth-generation vegetable seller in Paris.

The uniqueness here was this person cultivating beetroot, carrots, turnips, cabbage and other veggies in accordance to the family traditions. So there were carrots which were ecru in colour ("orange carrots have been around for only three centuries, the original colour of carrots was white") and beetroot which was multi-textured and interiors with gorgeous white and red stripes.

Chic Eats not only brings out the textures of vegetables, the aromas of spices and the methods of creating art in the kitchen; there was one interesting episode that concentrated on food science author Harold McGee's philosophy of "food chemistry".

Thanks to him I now know that "gravity causes frying spatter to end up on the inside surface of the cook's eyeglasses", while "tomato flavours can be enhanced if you salt the plant". In addition, chemical reactions of amino acids in garlic and onions can lead these bulbs into developing unique blue-green colours.

Clearly there's more to the kitchen than just ingredients. And you thought only kitchen-sink dramas had the masala to succeed on television?

(aojha@business-standard.com)