Past Perfect

Whether it is to create cultural touchstones, a springboard for creativity, or save the planet, many chefs are revisiting traditional cooking techniques and sustainable practices.

- MINI RIBEIRO

On the Netflix series, 'Chef's Table', Argentinian chef, Francis Mallmann celebrated open-fire cooking, revealing a movement where chefs are digging pits, firing up grills and abandoning the glistening kitchen for smokereturning to traditional methods of cooking.

Closer home, while Chef Amninder Sandhu, of Bawri, advocates gas-free cooking, Fireside Flame Craft Dining, a Bengaluru restaurant, dedicated to woodfire cooking with different types of wood imparting unique flavours, showcases how food tasted when there was no other fuel source.

Adhering to the sustainable practice of zero waste, Sienna Café, Kolkata, follows the 'muro theke lyaja' (nose to tail) approach, utilising every part of the raw ingredient-vegetables or meat and 'Baajar to Table' concept, offering the best of local produce, as Bengali and international specials, with their signature touch. At Bawri Goa and Mumbai, a coriander and mint chutney, is ground on the traditional silbatta (grinding stone) releasing natural oils and flavours, resulting in a more aromatic, coarser-textured chutney, that adds depth to a dish.

ITC Hotels, with their 'Sattvik' and 'Hyper-local', menus consistently promote 'Vocal for Local, supporting local farmers, producers and economies to reduce environmental impact and minimise carbon footprint.