Updated: December 13, 2020 4:13:58 pm
Cook to Connect: Rashtrapati Bhavan’s cooking journey, which began with Mughlai and tandoori preparations, has reached a stage where regional cuisine is proving to be an effective mode of food diplomacy, even as we celebrate our ancient heritage at dinner. table.
Written by Achint Raj Carol
The delicate local flavors, vast Pan-Indian culinary repertoire, and distinctively conceptualized service patterns of Rashtrapati Bhavan’s cuisine have an extremely rich and interesting history. The journey dates back to 1931, when Viceroy House was the epicenter of British colonial power and the home-palace of Lord Irwin. It was run along the same lines as Buckingham Palace, where home and hospitality operations were run by a colossal team of approximately 500 employees, comprised of chefs, bakers, pastry chefs, khansamas (traditional cooks), butlers, workers from utilities, florists, sanitation workers, laundry, etc. The building featured full-blown culinary operations with kitchen, pastry, pantry and sink sections.
These were well complemented by a wine cellar, linen rooms, glass rooms, and porcelain. In those days, the menus were largely based on French cuisine with delicacies such as turtle consommé, buttered soft mignons fillets and stuffed quail. The British rejected Indian food and found meats prepared with vegetables as an accompaniment, covered with different sauces, to be more elegant. Presentation was the most important characteristic of viceregal food. Mohd. Sirajuddin, a retired chief merchant, recalls how cooks were trained to cut, marinate, and bake a whole fish before reassembling it in a platter to make it look like the fish was still whole. It also recalls the rigorous training given by French chefs to pastry chefs to teach them how to play with caramelized and spun sugar to create delicious desserts for formal banquets.
During the 1950s and 1960s, when India entered the global stage, the Rashtrapati Bhavan was a window to showcase Indian food to the world. Initially, the food remained Anglicanized French style, but gradually, pre-cooked meals were replaced by traditional Indian thalis. International customs, like making the toast, were still followed, but with a different twist as bubbly champagne gave way to colorful, thirst-quenching sorbets.
Until the mid-1960s, almost no Indian food was cooked in the kitchens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, but just as the aroma of Indian spices cannot be contained or resisted, decision-makers could not hold back for too long. with Indian delicacies. They secured a place on banquet menus when heads of state visited. It all started in March 1963, when the meal that was served to Fazil Küçük, Vice President of Cyprus, started with almond soup and continental main dish, but the main dish was a real Indian feast of tandoori chicken, nargisi kofta, shaman kill, raisina pulao and naan. In the late 1960s, Rashtrapati Bhavan’s kitchens got a well deserved section of Indian sweets. By the late 1970s, Indian food was firmly established on the menu. Consommés were replaced by shorbas, fried fish with kebabs, steaks with koftas, and last but not least souffles and custard with badam kheer and kulfis.
Shafiullah, the master chef, identified by President Rajendra Prasad during his visit to Hyderabad’s Nizam, introduced traditional Awadhi dishes such as kachche gosht ki biryani and qormas to Rashtrapati Bhavan’s culinary repertoire. People credit Shafiullah with introducing the Punjabi tandoor, a novelty in those days. The tandoor complemented the Mughlai cuisine well and made it a great match to grace banquet menus during the 1970s and 1980s.
During the 1990s, awareness of regional cuisines increased. It was President R Venkataraman who made South Indian idlis and utthapam a regular item on Rashtrapati Bhavan’s menu. Initially, it was considered too humble to serve at banquets. People did not know that one day the popularity of these regional Indian delicacies will set Indian cuisine on the world map and bring Michelin stars to Indian chefs. The journey, which began with Mughlai and Tandoori preparations, has now reached a stage where regional cuisine is proving to be an effective mode of food diplomacy, even as we celebrate our ancient heritage at the dining table.
Today, menus are carefully crafted. Signature dishes like dal Raisina have created their own niche and attract media attention when they are incorporated into menus. The peculiarity of the menus prepared here lies in the fact that they reflect a perfect combination of traditional Indian dishes delicately fused with an excellent presentation of the food. For example, the pre-plated tandoori crevette served on a bed of raw papaya salad, topped off with mint and sweet and sour chili sauce was highly appreciated when recently served at a state banquet. At each banquet, the color scheme of the linens, floral themes, and small food and drink table spots are carefully chosen to match the colors of the guest nation’s flag. On March 25, the red, white, and blue linen combo complemented the floral theme as an honor to President Donald Trump. Highlights of the meal for the President of the United States included Cajun-flavored tandoori salmon, a pre-plated dessert of hazelnut tart with salted caramel sauce and malpua rabri roll, a perfect example of the symphony of this to West.
Rashtrapati Bhavan staff frequently undergo residential training at leading culinary and hospitality institutes in India. The executive chef here is a member of the Club des Chefs de Chefs (CCC), which brings together chefs from heads of state from around the world. CCC organizes its annual meeting of the general assembly in a member nation and is hosted by the head of state. In 2016, for the first time, India hosted the event.
Achint Raj Caroli, additional comptroller of the president’s house, is in charge of hospitality at Rashtrapati Bhavan
.
