The Well-Fed Bong

I must say, I know very little about Spanish food, because they seem to completely ignore their cousins across the Atlantic and eat none of those convenient Spanish-named foods – nacho, taco, burrito, not even a quesadilla anywhere. Tapas, of course, was everywhere in New York and Washington DC, but I must say was not quite the kind I see displayed everywhere. Tapas – oddly - means a covering or lid, and has all kinds of tales (including a few involving wise kings) to explain the connection to food. It finally boiled down to small plates drunk with all manner of all manner of spirits - specially wine, sherry and sangria. Dim sum with alcohol and Spanish music, basically. My first experiment with Spanish food did not start all that well. An unscheduled snowstorm forced me to eat at the hotel, and the only choice - the coffee-shop that made most of its living from (ouch) hamburgers. Our of pity, the waitress agreed to give me a key local speciality, tomato bread, instead of the frenc...

In the last few days, I had two very nice meals at fancy restaurants, and they were both ethnic with twists. The first was Punjab Grill in the new Palladium Mall in Mumbai, where I was at the opening (and therefore sampled more of the starters than any of the main courses) and the other was South Indies in Bangalore, which I’ve been to before but never till recently had a full meal. Punjab Grill ’s driving force is Zorawar Kalra, a powerhouse of a man outstandingly passionate about his food (which is always a good sign – never believe the glob about the best halwais not eating their own sweets). Among the punjabi dishes he fed me was an incredible bhutte-ki-kabab (yes, in the middle of chickens and lambs, I’m praising a veg kabab) and a wonderfully unusual seekh, reminiscent more of Lucknow than tandoori, but distinctly punjabi nevertheless. Of course there were fusion flourishes – who in Punjab ever heard of scallop? The best innovation of the day, of course, were the paan shot...