Judge a Book by it's Cover

The famous quotation says otherwise. But, in today's materialistic, busy world, why not? I am a firm believer in the fact that we first judge by sight, that's what makes the first impression. As is said, first impression is the last impression. Same for people, same for food. A picture speaks a thousand words? Applies to food too.

I was seeing celebrated chef Vineet Bhatia's show on Fox History and Entertainment, "Twist of Taste". Frankly, I was disappointed. From a chef who is responsible for giving us the revered Rasoi Vineet Bhatia in London, I expected much, much more (Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of eating there, but I have read about the food, seen the pictures and read the reviews. Normally, not one to rely on customer-reviews, the food looks and sounds delicious. It dares to do something different with Indian food.) But, I digress. His variations with indian classics were too simplistic and too obvious. Maybe it was meant to cater to people cooking at home, maybe it wasn't. And again, I digress. (ADD is to blame I guess)

Why that show made me write this blog is the way the food was presented. The presentation of the food literally made me salivate. For desert, he made a cage of jalebis and put kulfi in it! He made something so simple, look so avant garde.

In contrast, Indian food, has long-since suffered from poor presentation. I am a firm believer in the quote that "we eat with all five senses". When the waiter brings you your food, you just don't jump into the bowl, you see it first. Hence, your vision is used. At about the same time, you smell the food, your sense of smell is used. When you eat it, it arouses your taste buds.  Hearing and touch, also play a huge role. Nothing beats the feel of a crispy roti or a nan or the cracking open of a bone and the sound that it makes!

But eating comes at a much later stage. What sets the first impression is the sight. Indian food, is amongst the most delicate cuisines in the world. Yes, some of the flavors are bold, but hidden under those bold flavors are some very delicate, subtle flavors. So why is this delicate food presented in such an un-delicate manner? Indian food is more often than not serve in a haphazard and chaotic manner. Chicken tikka haphazardly spread out between a few spoonfuls of kachumbar salad or the ubiquitous cucumber and tomato. Gravies unceremoniously dumped in a bowl, the dal dumped in a balti. Rotis stacked tall in a basket.

We are Indians, we eat Indian food all the time, we know how most of the Indian food tastes, hence presentation doesn't deter us from eating anywhere. However, for a person who is just introducing himself to the joys of Indian food, his first date; if we can call it that; will never be a good one. And we all know that we dress up the most for the first date and then relax afterwards as the number of dates keep increasing. How do we attract a person to our food if we present it to him like that?

I, for one, have suffered a lot due to this bad presentation. My household has seen a number of cooks come and go. Some have been good, some have been bad. Now, I know that most cooks who cook in our kitchens won't know a garnish from a "silpat", however, cooking vegetables to make them look appetizing is something which anyone who cooks should know. A lot of the cooks who cooked at my place made simple vegetables like cauliflower, ladyfinger, bitter gourd unappetizing. I have often quipped that bhindi, if cooked badly, looks like a lizard's tail, burnt (Now, we can all collectively puke). My eating out increased significantly during those cooks' reigns and decreased when cooks presented the food in a good way.

This is where Indian food loses out to other cuisines of the world and maybe some cuisines from Mars too. A rissotto is presented extremely delicately. Even the very simple and uncomplicated spaghetti and meatballs is made to look different from it's simplistic self by good presentation. French, we criticize for being too pretentious, however, they do know how to make their food presentable. They can make a simple "pommes frites" look bloody beautiful. We are 4th in world cuisines as far as popularity goes and we rank 54th in the world in the list of "haute cuisines". 54th! Good presentation can make us really jump up this list. Yes, Indian food can be "haute".

It doesn't take much to make food look good. Some fresh, evenly chopped corriander can go a long way. Use a squeezy bottle, the one people use for ketchups, to make patterns on the plate with gravies, chutneys etc. You can easily make a circular pattern with rice using a bowl or katori. You can use a "mandolin" (a type of knife, not the instrument) to make waffle shaped potato fries. Try it out.

But, I am not a professional cook, I won't preach to you or give you tips on how to present it well. Present it in a way that makes it look good. Use your own creativity. Let it be abstract, go crazy with it.

PS: Your food should still taste good, there are no two ways about it.