Experts' Viewpoints: More Than Just The Success of Asian Cuisine (2/3)

Street food dishes from India are already very popular and newer dishes will continue to make their way into Indian restaurants here in the US. They are becoming new favorites because as we grow, so do our expectations and our desires. No one wants the same stuff all the time. Old classics, that were never authentic to begin with, but poor imitations at best of classics from Asia will be out. As the world is losing borders, the whole notion of tradition is changing. Nothing can be constant and why should it be? ….Food unites, religion and politics as we see them here today divide. Fusion is Out For me fusion is dead. The very notion of fusing what is different in such vastness is a recipe for disaster. Fusion is a fad. Fads die. What lasts is stuff made from tested wisdom and great respect for what one is studying. A clever food writer said “fusion confusion” and I wish I could have been the one saying that. We shall see dying popularity of fusion in the metropolitan cities. And yes, the smaller cities and towns, living culinary decades behind these bigger cities, will see fusion become popular. The Issue of Healthy Cuisine The list of healthy Asian ingredients is endless. Turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, asafetida, bitter melon, etc. Have these and other healthy ingredients been integrated successfully with today’s dishes? That is the main issue. They have not been successfully integrated yet. Just adding a spice is not the idea. You have to learn to celebrate the ingredients and understand how and when they impart their flavors and properties into a dish. That chefs will learn only once they have understood the basics of Asian cuisines. To introduce the healthy side of Asian ingredients to customers, they should be shared through conversations with the customers. I strongly believe that the worst thing a restaurant can do is to bring health and medicine onto their menus. We are selling pleasure not fear or drama. At Devi, I give our servers cheat sheets, in depth history of each dish and with that, a glossary of ingredients and in that I also share medicinal properties if any. And this is done so that if in conversation a diner wants to know more about a dish, the server now has the ability to share as much or as little as the diner may want to know. Beverage Pairings with Indian Cuisine In the Indian context, we have Lassis that have become very popular. Mango Lassi, Plain Yogurt Lassi, Salty Lassi. Made of yogurt, these are healthful yogurt shakes that in the case of mango lassi have mango puree but otherwise simply salted or not. Wines are perfect partners to Asian cuisine. One only needs to find the correct wines and educate oneself and learn from masters of the trade. People are now savvy about how they choose wines and the least we can do is to give them respect for their own knowledge and so, give them what they ought to be served. At Devi, wine pairings with our tasting menu have become very popular. People have realized that wine and Indian food are perfect partners. They have found new favorite wines and they have given up on the notion that beer alone is the answer for perfect beverage for Asian foods. With regards to Indian cuisine, there is never one flavor or ingredient that one has to look at. It is always the balance between many flavors, spices, ingredients and floral agents that one has to take into account. Hence, in actuality, once you taste a dish with subtle yet complex flavors, if you make time to enjoy the dish, you will find out quickly like good food, like good wine, has many subtle-ties that celebrate it. And so, once you under-stand the nuances of flavoring that are unique to a dish, you can with your knowledge around wine, find yourself easily pairing it with the most complementary wine.