Hansel and Gretel. That was probably the theme conjured up by The Apartment at Park Hyatt. Except instead of humble bread crumbs, the two could have chosen from Spanish chorizo, Arabic basbousa, Syrian kibbeh, Mumbaiya kheema pao, and what got them into trouble with the witch…confectionary. Fortunately, in this case, there was no witch but friendly, hard-working chefs dishing out delightful delicacies.
The finale of the third edition of Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine that took place last weekend had eight chefs along with Max Laederich from Mango Hill Puducherry who made a variety of cheeses and sommelier Viraj Sawant from London, who put together a staggering selection of cuisines from around the globe and appropriate wines paired to go with them. Syrian Chef Mohamed Allo from Grand Hyatt Doha, Chef El Sayed from Egypt and Chef Hafizzudin Khan from Grand Hyatt Mumbai were flown in to be part of this festival.
The aroma of cheese engulfed the people gathered at the rather intimate Apartment. There was an entire counter laden with five varieties of cheese. “Look at this tray, it’s almost empty,” said a pleased Max pointing to the last few chunks of Camembert.
The wine counter that stocked 14 types of wine looked just as busy with a steady trickle of people walking away with glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and cloyingly sweet Muscatel.
“Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine is hosted three to four times a year at every Park Hyatt hotel across the world. The hotels take the opportunity to showcase their gourmet specialities to guests,” said Christian Wurm, general manager, Park Hyatt, Chennai. “The chefs participating are selected on the basis of their strengths and passions. We were very pleased to see how much guests appreciated the Mumbai street food this time,” he added. No wonder then that most of the vada pav rapidly vanished. “Around 10 were gone within the first few minutes,” grinned Chef Balaji Natrajan.
The Asian fusion counter handled by Chef Megha Balasubramanian had an interesting twist. “I am using European ingredients with European technique,” she said. And going by the popularity of the pan-fried prawns with coconut foam, it sure worked out.
The mezze, pani puri and chaat, Marathi-style mutton kolhapuri and bharlivangi (stuffed eggplant in a sesame and tamarind gravy) and the German counter with its excellent barbeque pork belly were all hits.
The dessert counters were spread across the hall. Other than desi shrikhand, the menu comprised chocolate-whisky soufflé, chocolates, frozen yoghurt and Mediterranean staples such as baklava, mamoul, kunafa and as for the Zainab Winger (the flour and semolina-based pastry) it was as interesting as its name.
