Cash-starved outlets spice up recipes with desi masala
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NEW DELHI: Exotic meats and vegetables were the flavour of the city till just a couple of years ago. While gourmet eateries
stocked foreign fare as a rule, even popular city restaurants started
dishing out Norwegian salmon tikka, New Zealand lamb chops and Italian
cured ham sausages, along with imported asparagus, basil, eggplant and zucchini.
The hike in petroleum prices, coupled with the plummeting value of
rupee against dollar, however, has pushed up food prices, and
restaurateurs are looking at local farm produce and equipment to stay
afloat. Salmon and basa have been replaced by trout, while Indian goat
meat has supplanted exotic lamb variety and local herbs are serving as a
spicy alternative to imported ingredients.
Such innovations assume significance in light of the shooting prices of raw materials. Chef Sabyasachi Gorai of Olive says earlier the focus was on tasty preparations using Parma or Spanish ham, imported cheese and exotic organic herbs, but now chefs are rustling up imaginative recipes from locally sourced chicken, lamb or ham and cheese. "Only ingredients without a substitute are being imported," he observes. An upshot of this is the edging out of ingredient-based cuisine in the city by multi-cuisine with a similar taste.
As new joints have to import kitchen equipment to compete with established eateries, the cost of setting up a restaurant has also gone up considerably even as expensive ingredients have dented profits. Restauranteur Sohrab Sitaram feel the double whammy has hit culinary business in the city. "High dollar value makes imports dearer, while rising petrol prices bring up transportation costs," he says. Sohrab observes that he could have set up a fine dining outlet with imported lighting, seating, kitchen equipment and a menu boasting gourmet fare at a price that would afford him only a budget eatery today.
A restauranteur confessed that to beat this rise, one had to look at superior local ingredients. "With such a stiff competition, passing the burden on to food lovers will spell doom for any eatery. We can't say our dish is expensive today as rupee has fallen or petrol prices have risen. We either look at local produce or keep absorbing the price rise and perish," he said.
This has spelt boom for local producers. Ayesha Grewal of The Altitude Store, which supplies ingredients to various outlets in the city, thinks it makes perfect business sense to procure goods from nearby areas. "Good quality duck, lamb, fish, asparagus to even European quiches and sausages are available within the country. As more people gravitate towards it, the quantity and quality too will improve," she feels.
While stand-alone outlets are feeling the pinch, five-star outlets too are in the doldrums. A hotel manager said fluctuating prices have impacted the cost of importing liquor. Flying in foreign chefs and sourcing exotic ingredients has made food festivals expensive. They are looking at regional Indian cuisine and Indian spirits. Chef Ashish Joshi of Jaypee Siddharth says good quality quails, ducks, fish and other meats even in the cut of their choice, along with vegetarian ingredients like broccoli, capsicum and zucchini are being supplied by local producers. These ingredients are being actively used by chefs for their regional Indian food festivals as it allows diners to experiment with a new cuisine while keeping the costs under control.
Such innovations assume significance in light of the shooting prices of raw materials. Chef Sabyasachi Gorai of Olive says earlier the focus was on tasty preparations using Parma or Spanish ham, imported cheese and exotic organic herbs, but now chefs are rustling up imaginative recipes from locally sourced chicken, lamb or ham and cheese. "Only ingredients without a substitute are being imported," he observes. An upshot of this is the edging out of ingredient-based cuisine in the city by multi-cuisine with a similar taste.
As new joints have to import kitchen equipment to compete with established eateries, the cost of setting up a restaurant has also gone up considerably even as expensive ingredients have dented profits. Restauranteur Sohrab Sitaram feel the double whammy has hit culinary business in the city. "High dollar value makes imports dearer, while rising petrol prices bring up transportation costs," he says. Sohrab observes that he could have set up a fine dining outlet with imported lighting, seating, kitchen equipment and a menu boasting gourmet fare at a price that would afford him only a budget eatery today.
A restauranteur confessed that to beat this rise, one had to look at superior local ingredients. "With such a stiff competition, passing the burden on to food lovers will spell doom for any eatery. We can't say our dish is expensive today as rupee has fallen or petrol prices have risen. We either look at local produce or keep absorbing the price rise and perish," he said.
This has spelt boom for local producers. Ayesha Grewal of The Altitude Store, which supplies ingredients to various outlets in the city, thinks it makes perfect business sense to procure goods from nearby areas. "Good quality duck, lamb, fish, asparagus to even European quiches and sausages are available within the country. As more people gravitate towards it, the quantity and quality too will improve," she feels.
While stand-alone outlets are feeling the pinch, five-star outlets too are in the doldrums. A hotel manager said fluctuating prices have impacted the cost of importing liquor. Flying in foreign chefs and sourcing exotic ingredients has made food festivals expensive. They are looking at regional Indian cuisine and Indian spirits. Chef Ashish Joshi of Jaypee Siddharth says good quality quails, ducks, fish and other meats even in the cut of their choice, along with vegetarian ingredients like broccoli, capsicum and zucchini are being supplied by local producers. These ingredients are being actively used by chefs for their regional Indian food festivals as it allows diners to experiment with a new cuisine while keeping the costs under control.
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