Art on your plate

Food art is currently taking over the culinary world. With great taste comes great visual delight. These dishes from Pune are redefining how you see your food

Your plate is a canvas so let these food artists work their magic on it. Wonderful menus, signature dishes, great plating — Puneites are going far and beyond to create food like never before. As food gains increasing visibility as an agent uniting cultures, attitudes and people, restaurants in Pune are taking it to the next level not just by making it visually appealing, but also thought-provoking. They are incorporating food-art on their regular menus to give their customers the global edge in dining. This isn’t just decorative plating. These are carefully designed and meticulously executed dishes that look stunning and taste even better. Food art refers to creating edible structures to conceptualise a dish by creating artistic elements using a variety of processes. While TV shows tingle your taste-buds, these dishes will satisfy them.

Irish Coffee Dome at Malaka Spice

This little dome, bursting with flavour, is the perfect way to end your meal. What can best be described as a mug of Irish Coffee that looks and tastes better than when in a mug! The dome is constructed and erected from a mould, full of Irish coffee inspired mousse topped with chocolate garnish with a thin layer of sponge cake to give it that perfect texture. This liquor-based dish incorporates espresso, Irish Bailey and honey into a mousse that melts in your mouth. The inspiration for the dish came from the need to go beyond traditional fruit and chocolate-based desserts. This dessert has been specially conceptualised for Malaka Spice’s monsoon special menu. Their seasonal menus feature favourites and trends. This season’s hit menu consists of two sub-sections — Shravan and Sawan. Malaka Spice believes in using in-house and locally produced ingredients in all their dishes. Keeping up with their food inspirations, they have introduced Irish Coffee dome as a part of their Sawan menu. This artistic play on conventional coffee brings a fresh outlook on changing dynamics of fine dining. This dome of mousse almost convinces you not to dig in, but when you do, it’s art at its finest.

Jelly Art at Nims Cake and Craft

Jelly brings back childhood memories. Nima Pashankar of Nims Cake and Craft is giving jelly an artistic makeover in what can only be described as magic. Jelly Art is very popular in Mexico and Vietnam, rapidly gaining popularity in Malaysia. The jelly is made with specially imported setting agents, which are only available in Bangkok at the moment. Once it sets, Nima uses syringes and needles to create designs within the jelly. She uses different types of nozzles to create different shapes but this can only be done at a certain temperature. The jelly originally is white and transparent in colour, but is later infused with variety of gel colours which too are imported. The jelly can be molded into different shapes using appropriate containers. It tastes very similar to normal jelly, but surprises your eyes. Nima learned this art from Malaysian chefs Shreyl Bito and Calvin Mark.

While the jelly art is still under experimentation, Nima has already had a very high demand by people who are surprised about how they do it. She will soon be launching these at her bakery on JM Road and two other outlets. Very few in India are aware of this food art but it is slowly gaining popularity. Now that you know, this jelly is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Espresso Phirni at Syrakko

If a rich white rice preparation with dry fruits just came to your mind, you are in for a surprise. In fact, Espresso Phirni looks nothing like Phirni! Inspired by a tree, this plate looks like a little garden that has soil, twigs and leaves too. This dish is comprised of many elements, each made completely in house and bought to life with adept techniques. Curated by executive chefs at Syrakko, Rizwan Moidu and Nagraj Bhatt, the espresso phirni actually lies beneath all other elements. At first glance, you see some rich soil made of chocolate with mint leaves and dill, with tiramisu sorbet topped with rustic-looking twigs made of chocolate. Below these elements is a rich smooth phirni, infused with dark chocolate and espresso that instantly melts in your mouth. The chocolate soil adds to the texture breaking the monotony between the phirni and the tiramisu sorbet. The chocolate twigs look so much like real twigs that you might doubt if it’s edible. For the added drama, the chefs have even dusted them with cocoa powder, giving it the bitterness to cut through the intensity of the chocolate. A spoonful of the dessert gives you the most amazing combination of flavours and textures. This wacky twist on Phirni takes fusion fine dining to its epitome. Syrakko’s menu is filled with such mind-boggling combinations and fusion cuisine. The inspiration for the dish came from the need to have an Indian dessert on their menu, and Syrakko made this crazy delicious dessert. Step away from you conventional sweet plates and embrace this wacky, artistic and bold dessert.

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow