A confluence of cuisines: The ten rasas of taste

From cookbooks to ice cream parlours of yore, here’s a tribute to taste in Chennai through the ages
The Raintree, Vivanta by Taj-Connemara
The Raintree, Vivanta by Taj-Connemara

S Meenakshi Ammal was in advance of her time.

Tiny, buck-toothed, with large ears pierced with pendant earrings, and draped in a plaid sari, like the neck scarves that haute-cuisine chefs knot around their necks, she created a mini-revolution with her “Cook and See” series of cookbooks. The first of what is now sold as a three-book series was printed in Tamil in 1951. Translated into English and different Indian languages, it has never been out of print since then.

Under the heading “Nuptials”, Meenakshi Ammal lists items that should furnish the room of a newly 
married couple. Wedding planners please make note: “Milk with saffron, a variety of fruits, flowers, thirattu pal (recipe included elsewhere), badam halwa and other sweets, drinking water, tower, table mirror, a picture of Lord Balakrishna, etc.” The attention to detail and precision is what makes her books riveting reading.


It’s probably because of Meenakshi Ammal that fiercely competitive women who brandish their mixie-grinders and talk passionately about the number of whistles to expect from a pressure cooker now dominate the cookbook industry in the South. Their willingness to share their family or community recipes has meant that there’s a treasure trove of tastes and traditional methods waiting to be explored.

For some of us, the Woodlands Drive-in restaurant will continue to resonate with memories of meals on wheels, the best Sunday morning dosas with filter coffee and discretely observant Udipi-bred waiters, who kept an eye on an unsuitable romance that might be brewing along with the coffee.

Amethyst
Amethyst


The Amethyst Garden Café has, however, long replaced these illicit longings by the sheer force of its owner Kiran Rao’s personality-driven product. Like the seasons that are marked by the changes in the flowers dropping from the trees, Rao keeps adding interesting elements to the menu by inviting different chefs. But for every Quinoa salad there is a wickedly loaded Strawberry or Mango Eton Mess, and the coffee has always been South Indian and superb.


Bread and Chips
The Memsahibs past and present always believed in the blessings of bread. And luckily for us, the tradition continues with the most deliciously innovative variations. If before there were the Bosotto and McRennett bakeries, the Spencer’s Café that sold the most gorgeous jam-filled buns, flakey savoury pastries, chocolate-covered biscuits and cakes at Christmas time, today, the same items parade in different guises.

The doyen of chic dining and casual coffee drinking would be “Hot Breads Mahadevan”. Like any pioneer, his methods have been replicated in innumerable bespoke cafes, chocolate shops and muffin and cupcake outlets.

Less posh, but equally popular are the taste and take-home Hot Chips outlets that sell fried items across the city.


Chettinad calling
The question of who created the Chettinad brand in its modern avatar is a matter of debate amongst those who trace its popularity in the many variations that dot the city. Why, there is now even a Chinese-Chettinad fusion of the style!

Taking the best of the recipes of the Nattukottai Chettiars of the Ramnad region and planting it along with their carved Burma Teak pillars at the Vivanta by Taj- Connemara and its restaurant, The Raintree, was a part of the change. Underlining the trend, the Chettinad style meant a fusion of South Asian influences with typical South Indian ingredients.
 

As though to extend the experience, those who are lucky enough to travel to Meenakshi Meiappan’s The Bangla at Karaikudi, will encounter the legendary hostess in all her infinite charm, and experience the best of South Indian-style hospitality.


Dakshin
Just as there has always been a desire to link the river systems of the sub-continent, there was a plan to mix and match the four very distinct culinary traditions of the four Southern States. To combine the elements of fiery Andhra cuisine with its Hyderabadi Nawabi influences, to the more robust Karnataka offering and the coastal influences of Kerala with the entirely different Tamil Nadu rice belt repertoire, was always going to be a challenge.


Under the passionate involvement of a number of young chefs entrusted with the task by the ITC Welcomgroup hotel chain, one can remember Chef Praveen Anand, who was longest at their Dakshin restaurant (now a part of the Crowne Plaze chain). He not only took on the challenge by travelling to remote parts of the South and discovering old methods of creating elaborate dishes with locally sourced ingredients and spices, he invited housewives to come and share their secret recipes.

Benjarong
Benjarong


Benjarong
Again, one of the restaurants inspired by Mahadevan, Benjarong re-created the ambience of a Thai-style home when it first opened. There were young women in elegant Thai-style sarongs sitting on a platform and carving fruits and vegetables and the tinkle-tonk of high-pitched Thai musical instruments. It was the fabulous contribution of Chef Regi Mathew that made the difference. 


For not only did he re-create some of the authentic Thai-style dishes for an Indian palate, his enthusiasm in bringing Thai chefs and their unique floral elements, fishy sauces and other ingredients made Benjarong an experience for all the senses. It also heralded an introduction to the cuisines of South East Asia. For it happened at a time when Korean restaurants sprang up all across the city. Even sitting down at low-level tables wielding chopsticks became something of a lesson in sharing the cultural practices of our Asian neighbours.

Dahlia
Dahlia


Dahlia
Run by chef owners N Yamauchi from Japan and Revathi Naga-swami from closer home, this restaurant is tucked inside a warren of offices and shops, and has a devoted clientele of diners who imagine that they are at the Ginza, the moment they enter the tiny space. They are into their 25th year and if not the thinly sliced fish that Yamauchi prepares himself with a Samurai’s skill, it’s Revathi’s ability to combine Japanese flavours and present them in set combinations that make it an adventure in oriental cuisine every time.

Cafe Shiraz
Cafe Shiraz


Café Shiraz
Every weekend, it’s a seduction of Iranian delicacies at Café Shiraz, at the beachfront of Neelangarai. With owner-chef Nasreen, who creates a veritable banquet of Iranian specialities modified ever so lightly to suit our Indian tastes, there are mounds of orange-flavoured pilaffs, lamb, chicken and fish kebabs, as a delectable array of vegetarian items.

If not like the hearty soup made from oats, the creamy dips and salads to be eaten with crisps at the end of the repast, Nasreen serves her crumbling cookies and cakes with ice-cream.

Ice cream parlours
Remember the Ice-House waiting for its loads of ice from the lakes of North America? The city’s tryst with ice cream and drinks has mutated over time, but never really evaporated. If not the vegetarian Dasaprakash ice creams, the Rita Ice Cream vendors of the past, the Softy parlours and the Aavin booths, there are now every one of the global brands cooling the lips and tongues of the ardent ice-cream aficionado.

Avartana, ITC Grand Chola
It’s Chennai’s latest dining experience created by the chefs at the ITC Grand Chola, led by Chef Ajit Bangera. They call it a whirling and a mixing of various taste and texture ingredients. They have de-constructed the most typical of South Indian dishes and spun them into something so light, so strange and exquisite, you just have to close your eyes and be seduced.

The South also rises in all these 10 different rasas, in both the traditional and the trendy.

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