Taj Vivanta | Lofty Spectrums

Taj vivanta- dimsum festival

May 26, 2017

This summers have been very juicy and deliciously invigorating our senses with the various new menu launches and festivals going on in the city of Bengaluru. Recently I was invited by team Taj Vivanta to be a traveler in their culinary journey of the Dimsums. And this turned out to be an experience, not only did I go but we chose to have a dimsum delight inside the kitchen too and be a part of rolling out the dough to making the fillings and stuffing these yummilicious dimsums before they were finally served on our table.

Chef Selvaraju took us through this journey and we got to learn some trade secrets n recipes which we might let out once he gives us a green signal, till then i will try few of them in my kitchen.

When it’s the Memories of China, Taj Vivanta then the food is brilliant and the Times Food Award and the Vir Sanghavi Food Awards for the best Chinese food stand testament to it. And we had this amazing table in the very Chinese ambience of this lovely restaurant, the interiors of which have been done in a way they spell Moody n mysterious Chinese folktales I read in my childhood. Although I loved the fusion of indian god done in oriental fashion in the restaurant.

We began our food tasting or culinary journey with some hot piping soups, I had the spicy lemon coriander soup for summers are intense this year in bangalore. Then we were served the light on palette steamed chicken dimsum, and steamed chicken and prawn suimai, and the interesting part was that these we had cooked ourselves so what better than knowing exactly the ingredients of what you eat. Also to let the vegetarians know when we were touring the spic n span clean kitchen of Taj we realized that vegetarian section of chopping, cooking and even the chop boards n utensils are separate.

In the vegetarian section we gotto taste the exotic Shangai spring onion cake and coriander and spring onions ChungFang. The vegetable spring rolls and pan fried chicken gouti and crispy prawns roll CHUNG FUNG made it totally a delightful sensorial experience. We were finally again served some lovely jasmine rice and chicken recipes to go with the food along with noodles although we were so full and they are not in this menu but chef made sure that bloggers have an amazing experience. It could not have been a better soothing and satiating summer culinary soiree and the lazy afternoon coupled with laughter and fun, unsuccessful trials of making the dimsum with the kids giggling made it an afternoon to cherish. The dimsum food festival is going on till the end of this month and it might get extended so have a day out with your preferred company and till then EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW WE MAY DIET.

Written and experienced by – Anuja Pandey
Photographed by – Vedansh Pandey

in LifeStyle

Graze – the European food and grills

November 19, 2016

2 Comments

I always wonder why French are so thin. Not that the Europeans, French or Italians don’t have their food with loads of olive oil or cheese thrown in it. I realise the idea is to eat your kind of food, in right mindset we focus on home grown grains and seeds and oils.

In India, everybody has access to an abundance of rich and delicious foods (that unfortunately have the side effect of making you fat) . At the same time, we know how we women and men too, as a matter of fact, are so obsessed about food and dieting. We love our culture, food, we insist on good food (read ghee laden, high calorie food) when a guest has come over. Yet the problem remains, nobody is ready to eat despite you efforts that have gone into cooking.

Watch a European cook or prepare his food and you’d be shocked at how little consideration they put into the amount of salt and butter they throw in their concoctions. Yet, in spite of eating such calorie-dense foods, French people will eat fewer total calories than us, without even thinking about it.

Maybe you’ve read the book “Eat, Pray, Love” or have seen the movie. There is this dialogue that most represents this food angst that I’m talking about is from the movie Eat, Pray, Love, when in the Barber shops Italian people discuss these cultural differences.

Julia Roberts: I feel so guilty. I’ve been in Rome for three weeks and all I’ve done is learn a few Italian words and eat!”
Man on Barber chair: “You feel guilty because you’re American! You don’t know how to enjoy yourself!
Julia Roberts: I beg your pardon?
Man on Barber chair: It’s true. Americans know entertainment. But they don’t know pleasure… I’m serious. Listen to me! You want to know your problem? Americans… you work too hard, you get burned out! Then you come home and spend the whole weekend in your pajamas in front of the TV! But you don’t know pleasure… You have to be told you’ve earned it! You see a commercial that says “It’s Miller time!” and you say… “That’s right! Now I’m going to buy a six-pack! And you drink the whole thing and you wake up the next morning and you feel terrible! But… an Italian doesn’t need to be told. He walks by a sign that says “you deserve a break today!” And he says, “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m planning on taking a break at noon… to go over to your house, and sleep with your wife!” (laughs).

I’m sure, the quote might sound a little quite out of context, but I think you understand what I’m trying to say…

We Indians are also typically like Americans. In the stressful lives of ours, we have forgotten to enjoy anything. There is no point about obsessing over food or dieting or anything. One must not have so much guilt over food, instead, we should learn to enjoy ourselves when we actually indulge, and then forget about it. Think about food and enjoy it when it’s time to eat, and then enjoy the rest of your time not thinking about food but being where you are.

The other day I had the Opportunity to have European food at Graze, Taj Vivanta and what a leisurely time we had. The chef SelvaRaju is the head chef of all the restaurants of Taj Vivanta and his experience is wide and varied in his field. He is a master at what he does.

And here, I did not need to plan my menu but I had an amazing treat waiting for me. The chef SelvaRaju had already prepared and curated a menu for us and we just had to go on with the flow. Here’s my experience of the supper.

Warm shiitake, morels,porcini mushrooms ,poached in white wine topped with vanilla form

Pan seared Jhon dorry accompanied with olive mash Martini and cafier lime velouté with red wine reduction

Ocean fresh Grilled jumbo prawns with red pepper compote,Peruvian Asparagus napped with garli and parsley butter

Oven roasted corn fed chicken accompanied with Barley risotto and Sauternes sauce

Grilled tiger prawn

Home made caramalzed white chocolate ,African olanga cake and red velvet macrons on a slow cooked peaches.