What sustenance would you need within the afterlife? For Historic Egyptians, who have been frequently buried with an array of food and drinks, bread used to be a habitual selection. As I chew into Ekaa’s 110% Hydration Bread impressed through this civilisation, I’ve my resolution to the query. Generation and custom were transcended… one feels that if any bread can provide pristine time to the useless, it could be one thing like this, certainly. We ourselves are blissfully rejuvenated with extra bites.
This beautiful bread is a part of Ekaa’s not too long ago introduced Tasting Menu 5.0. Via an impressively elaborate 10-course meal, Chef Niyati Rao and her crew tug you on a travel via (Earth’s) territory and month. Chef Niyati explains, “We came across so many dishes from the past that we wished to reconnect to. We wanted to create our own versions of them. So we thought, ‘Why not compile them and curate an entire tasting menu based on kingdoms of the world?’ There are several stories and legends associated with each dish. History buffs are definitely going to enjoy it. But there is other trivia as well. Each course can be a conversation starter.”
All the way through my meal, I virtually felt like a connoisseur Physician Who making foodie stops over the centuries the use of the TARDIS. Next all, every direction goals to move you to a pocket all through a specific historic month. And if we had the prospect to embark on this sort of voyage, wouldn’t we need to ceremonial dinner like royals? That is how Ekaa hones its focal point, the use of storytelling to curate an revel in that includes regal cuisine from a choice of world dynasties. This isn’t a simple, archival plunge into royal diets. There are signature twists within the story.
For example, the 110% Hydration bread reinforces its Historic Egyptian ties with a occasion pairing. Then again, the components for the terminating don’t come from Egypt. In lieu, you’re introduced Indian nolen gur and buffalo milk white butter. “The bread is flavoured with coriander seeds and unripened blueberries we have freshly picked from the farms,” Akshay Bhonsale, Ekaa’s Head Boulanger, tells us. Even supposing the conceptualisation of Tasting Menu 5.0 calls for a definite abeyance in month and territory, Ekaa unearths tactics to grassland you often within the provide and the native.
The Kingdom of the Tzars direction. Picture Credit score: Ekaa
Some of the alternative favorite international forays is Trout Roe with Smetana and Buckwheat – Ekaa’s tackle Russian Tzar Nicholas II’s loved “eggs on eggs”. It’s served with beetroot cooked in terracotta, harking back to the famed Faberge Eggs. The cool softness of the roe, the creaminess of the garlic-infused smetana and the crunch of the buckwheat end up how ingenuity and talent supplement the storytelling right here. This texture deal with is adopted through a flavour pleasure. The Kingdom Of Qings direction comprises soup made with goji berries, tapioca pearls, spices, and mugwort-flavoured Chinese language lap cheong. The playful presentation brings to thoughts goldfish frolicking in a tiny lake, month the wholesomeness justifies the nod to the medicinal soups of imperial China.
Picture Credit score: Ekaa
Ekaa introduced a pristine cocktail menu a couple of months again and we had the chance to effort it along Tasting Menu 5.0. Even supposing the cocktails don’t seem to be a part of the similar narrative, they nonetheless proclaim historical past. Curated through Head Mixologist Jishnu AJ, the bar menu highlights the lavish heritage of Ayurveda via cutting edge concoctions and lesser-known components. We extremely counsel ‘Camphor’, a gin-based cocktail with fit to be eaten camphor, jasmine syrup, supasawa, blue pea and jasmine leaves. Every other gin and supasawa possibility is the attention-grabbing ‘Mountain Pepper’. We additionally favored ‘Khus’, which offered us to smoked tequila and honey dark garlic.
Camphor cocktail. Picture Credit score: Ekaa
Going back on our culinary voyage, we relished the soul-soothing aggregate impressed through the Kingdom of Travancore. This direction celebrates the straightforward, well-balanced flavours of Kerala Sadya via a horse gram thuvial, Ghandasale rice and a Nendran banana broth. It additionally supplied a much-needed respite from the richer choices. Every direction offered us to album components and astonishing texture combos. Therefore, we gained’t expose what the Kingdom Of Siam, the Aztecs, the Marathas, the Rajputana, the Meiji Recovery, and The Vikings. You must block through to find their delectable riches first-hand.
Picture Credit score: Ekaa
Ekaa’s pristine menu promised to allow us to in on royal secrets and techniques and proceeded to provide us a style of them. Superbly illustrated playing cards prefaced every direction, hinting on the treats to come back. As we accumulated them on the finish of the evening, we realised we had drawn a profitable hand.
What: Ekaa’s Tasting Menu 5.0
The place: Kitab Mahal, 1st Ground, D Sukhadwala Street, Azad Maidan, Citadel, Mumbai.
