Discovering Kolkata through a culinary trail
Heritage and food lovers could recently celebrate the season of love with AM PM and heritage guide doubling up as mixologist Priyanko Sarkar through the heritage walk called Shades of Love and Indulge was present to explore the city through this unique food trail which culminated over food and specially curated cocktails drawing from the flavours discovered during the trail.
The group kicked off from New Market, the New Empire Cinema to be specific where the history of the culture of cinema picking up was explained. We then moved on to the spot of the first cinema in the neighbourhood , the Chaplin Cinema or Elphinstone Picture Palace. Though the cinema hall does not exist in structure today, the spot is marked by the Charlie Chaplin Gardens on Chaplin Street.
Moving further was a slew of old eateries including hotel Raunak to Paris fast food bar which automatically induced an old Calcutta nostalgia in us. We made a quick halt at UP Bihar to relish their most famous beef and chicken along with elaichi firni.
The next stop was the unmissable smoked Bandel cheese found inside New Market just across Nahoums. The smoked Bandel Cheese with its salty aroma and flavour is best paired with an item which has a tinge of sweetness to balance out the flavour.
The penultimate destination was of course the Jewish bakery Nahoums where we relished on patties, tarts, pastries, and did not forget to pack a handful of mints or chocolate fudges to munch on later. The walk ended at the flower market where the florists were busy making bouquets for celebration. We headed off to AM PM where Sarkar carefully picked up the flavours from the walk and integrated them to curate four wonderful cocktails with equally tasty bar bites.
Drawing from the fact that Kolkata has one of the largest flower markets, the Flower Power was all about floral infused tanqueray, red wine, citrus and aquafaba. Complete with a deep maroon-ish hue, it had sweet and sour notes making it the perfect cocktail to begin the night with. We paired it with the jackfruit tacos which were incredibly soft with a juicy filling and apt for a one bite snack.
We moved on next to Banditos and there could not have been a better way to enjoy the bandel cheese till the season lasted. A fusion of bandel cheese infused talisker, campari and sweet vermouth, the drink had a slight smoky and sweet taste, which seemed to be the perfect balance. It was served with a crunchy cracker with cheese bits which added to the savoury and salty part of the flavour. We choose to pair it with Potato crisps while listening to the live music on stage.
When in New Market, the sights of popcorn stalls are unmissable. Taking a cue, the Corner Seat was popcorn infused don Julio, orange liquer and citrus which had a fresh, citrusy tone and the Crispy Chicken with its crunchiness and semi-gravy worked wonders with this cocktail.
And lastly was Hogg Warts, a blend of tanqueray 10, Indian jujube, citrus and egg white. A combination of several flavours, this was the perfect way to end the night as it was an ode to the many facets of the city and the many stories it has to tell. We paired it with the nappa wrapped chicken and chilli oil dim-sum where the steamed dim-sum won us over with the right touch of fire through the chilli oil.
AM PM, the Coffee and Cocktail bar in the heart of the city is renowned for their extraordinary and thoughtful curations. They would soon be up with another exciting event and all you have to do is keep a lookout on their social media pages to book a seat for yourself.