LF Says: ★★★
It was a breezy, warm afternoon in New Delhi, quite reminiscent of a fine Italian day, when Executive Chefs Attilio Di Fabrizio and Roberto Gatto from Belmond Villa San Michele, Florence and Belmond Hotel Cipriani visited The Imperial New Delhi to give us an authentic taste of Italian cuisine. Dishes that are simple, yet created with the flair Italians are famous for, were presented on the table for all to sample.
A master class by the Chefs was enough to stoke our appetites, the menu for which included Fiesole style potato dumplings with tomato and basil, Green asparagus risotto and a classic Tiramisu.
An exchange of cultures between Italy’s Belmond Hotels and The Imperial New Delhi, the master class was a preview to the Italian food festival that is on offer till February 11, 2018. Guests can take advantage of a four-course meal, accompanied by curated wines, prepared by these illustrious chefs at the hotel’s San Gimignano restaurant. Chefs from The Imperial New Delhi, in turn, will be visiting Belmond hotels in Italy to offer a taste of Indian cuisine.
The good-humoured chefs, not only demonstrated how to cook Italian dishes, but also gave interesting insights. A small aspect, such as the age of Carnaroli rice, can affect how your risotto shapes up. And while I listened to the chefs with much curiosity, I was happier to leave cooking to the experts and just enjoy the food.
And so I wove through the crowd of friends, towards the beautifully set up buffet, which was replete with a variety of cheeses, breads, olives, cold cut meats, along with the dishes demonstrated during the class.
The Green Asparagus Risotto was creamy, light and had the right touch of pepper (added specially to cater to the fiery tastes of Indians). It was wholesome to sum it up in one word! The gnocchi with tomato and basil was classic Italian and had the right blend of sauce and pasta. Any more sauce would have undermined the gnocchi. Any less would have made it dry. The crowning glory for me, though, was the Tiramisu. Fluffy, creamy and chocolaty! It was light on sugar and flawless on cocoa.
For the benefit of our readers, below is the Belmond recipe of Tiramisu. But as I said, leave it to the doyens, and enjoy the Italian food festival at The Imperial New Delhi.
TIRAMISU
Ingredients (4 serves):
– 3 eggs
– 250 gr. mascarpone cheese
– 150 gr. sugar
– 3 long expresso coffees
– 6 ladyfinger biscuits
– cocoa to taste
Method:
1. Prepare the espresso coffee and put it in a bowl to cool. Cut the ladyfinger biscuits in half horizontally.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place them in separate 2 large size bowls.
3. Add 100 gr. of sugar to the yolks and whip them up with a whisk or electric beater. When the mixture is frothy, add the mascarpone cheese and continue to stir for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the remaining sugar to the bowl with the whites and whip up until stiff with a whisk or an electric beater.
5. Gently mix together the contents of both bowls with a whisk.
6. Take four small bowls about the size of a cappuccino coffee cup, possibly with the upper border more open than the bottom one. Put a layer of cream in the bottom of the bowl (filling about 1/4th of it). Quickly dip the ladyfingers one at a time in the coffee and place three of them over the cream mixture in each bowl. Cover with more cream and sprinkle with cocoa.
7. The Tiramisu portions can be prepared in advance and placed in the refrigerator for a few hours until ready to serve. The cocoa should be added only moments before serving.
Suggested wine:
Muffato, Castello della Sola, Marchesi Antinori
LF Says: ★★★
Coordinates: San Gimignano, The Imperial Hotel, Janpath, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Open for lunch and dinner
