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Indian cuisine in the spotlight at the recent Next Iron Chef
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On November 1, 2009, America watched an exciting episode of the Next Iron Chef where Indian cuisine shone under the spotlight. Indian households and Indian cuisine enthusiasts across the country must have been proud. We saw dishes like Thoran, Raita, Pappadum, Kheer, Aloo Gobi and Daal, just to name a few, being featured as the best chefs in the nation battled it out furiously with their interpretations of Indian cuisine.
In the past few episodes on this show, we saw food creativity taken to the next level. The chefs displayed their skills with American, Korean, Mexican and Asian cuisines and did a fantastic job of doing so. It was apparent this time around however, that the chefs other than Jehangir Mehta who hails from India, were pretty much stumped at this challenge. Given their apparent level of exposure of the cuisine, the chef’s attempts were commendable even though the offerings were nothing compared to what they produced in the earlier rounds. It appears Indian cuisine to a lot of the chefs was their Achilles heel.
Out of all the five chefs who were new to Indian cooking, Chef Freitas’ offerings were fantastic and she should be lauded. Even though she did not win the contest, her food was truly Indian, with the offerings of Chicken Mughlai, Thoran, Kheer, Daal and Naan. Her pakora in the first round looked delicious and perfect. Her knowledge of Indian food has earned her much respect. Even though Chef Suvir Saran called her out on what she thought chutney should be, she won over the Indian audience with her food, her knowledge and her presentation.
However, it was the judges who seemed be more alien to the cuisine than the chefs. While Donatella Arpaia, Anya Fernald and Jeffrey Steingarden may be an authority in critiquing most cuisines of the world, their ignorance seemed to show when it came to judging Indian fare. Anya Fernald indicated that serving of plain yogurt alongside the Chicken Mughlai presented by Chef Freitas was not a good idea and did not do much for the presentation. Every self-respecting household in the south of India serves plain yogurt on the side with every meal (yes – including breakfast). It serves the purpose of cooling the palate in between bites and this offering is as Indian as it gets.
Jeffery Steingarden argued vehemently that lentils should never ever be undercooked and was arrogant and argumentative about his opinion. The man who claims to have eaten everything obviously has never eaten a good old home cooked Moong Daal Khilma nor a tasty Daal Foogath. In these dishes, the lentils are purposefully undercooked to achieve the al dente state. It's delicious and should certainly be on the top of his list of dishes to try.
Donatella Arpaia made a statement that beef is not common with Indian food. What is it with that? While it may not be seen commonly in Indian restaurants in the west, it is a very much sought after delight in many parts of India. Grab a morsel of delicious Kerala Beef Fry in Cochin, traditional Lonhvaas curry in Bombay or succulent beef Seekh Kababs on Idiappams on the streets of Bangalore. Beef is prevalent and very much devoured in India. Just because it is a known fact, that Hindus consider the cow to be sacred and refrain from eating beef, does not mean that beef is uncommon in Indian cuisine. Such statements make us question their knowledge of the cuisine.
Chef Suvir Saran who judged the preliminary contest was certainly a force to be reckoned with. His question, “What makes you think we use Curry Powder in India” brought applause and cheers all over Indian-American households across the country. He knew his subject matter and was very believable when he critiqued the food. It’s a mystery why he wasn’t included in the panel of judges for the second round of assessment. His input would have been most enlightening and would have brought credibility to the final judgment.
Finally, the encouraging part for most non-Indians watching the show would have to be the final result. The winners of the two competitions focused on Indian cuisine were chefs not of Indian origin. Nate Appleman won the preliminary contest and Chef Jose Garces won the final. It goes to prove that good delicious Indian food is not out of the reach of the average American. While it helps greatly if you are Indian, it proves you don’t have to be of Indian origin to be capable of producing great Indian food.
You may be interested in learning more about the Next Iron Chef on the Food Network.
Happy eating!
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