The Diva and the Caveman discover love portions

Love is in the air. The major love for food to be exact as the Diabetic Diva and the Caveman go hunting for food made with love, even though one’s pancreas have declared a revolt and the other wants everything to be preservative and gluten free.
The Diva naturally (God bless her impossible taste buds) wanted to know if the Valentine’s Day offerings included foods with aphrodisiacal qualities and made a list. The Caveman didn’t care and hoped all that was offered did not trigger his allergies at the most inappropriate time.

Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar, JW Marriott Marquis

Diabetic Diva

The Valentine’s Day menu at celebrity chef Atul Kochhar’s Rang Mahal was an unusual experience.

While the focus lay on the cuisine of India’s rich coastal areas of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, there was a grand crossing of boundaries. Ask any Goan or Mangalorean if they have tried quail recheado or a guinea fowl sukka and their expression will tell you what I mean.

The Caveman initially looked a little lost as there was not much beef on the five-course menu but one taste of the crab rillettes with mango chutney and tender coconut amuse-bouche and he lightened up and decided to enjoy himself.

Chef Amrish Sood, who played host par excellence all evening, then ensured that the starter had all the aphrodisiacal qualities: a pâté of mushrooms, green apple and macadamia nuts, seasoned morels, porcini and shaved truffles. The pappadum on the table made a delicious accompaniment to the earthy mushroom pâté.

When the intermediary course of three different types of poultry arrived I almost fell off my seat. I have eaten a lot of chicken sukka and recheado, but quail and guinea fowl cooked in the Konkan Coast style… well I was certainly not disappointed. The fowls were tender, the spicing just right and the guinea fowl sukka jolted my taste buds… a memory of true Udupi-style food eaten at two very good restaurants in Bur Dubai.

Well, the Caveman most certainly crossed all boundaries when he asked for a second helping and a third, but then what else could he do in this colourful palace of pleasure.

Caveman

With its bright red interiors, Rang Mahal is the obvious choice for lovers of Indian food this Valentine’s Day. New in town and associated with a Michelin-star chef, this Sheikh Zayed Road hotspot has quickly won fans in the few weeks it’s been open.

A preview of its Valentine’s Day menu showed us why it’s no ordinary curry house. Over five courses, chef Atul Kochhar and his onsite lieutenant, Amrish Sood, orchestrate a celebration of India. Flavours from all four corners of the subcontinent are skillfully exploited to highlight the quality of the ingredients. The classics are all here, but these are elevated, polished versions that only hint at their rustic roots.

A fine example was the amuse bouche. Crab and coconut are classic partners in Western Indian food, but they’re more commonly curried together. At Rang Mahal, crab rillettes are teamed with bits of tender coconut and mango chutney. Since I didn’t want toast to go with it, mine came with radish crudités. It was a sweet, tender caress that left me wanting more.

The starter, inspired by the flowery valleys of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, was a plated garden of morels, porcini and truffles topped with micro-herbs and edible flowers. The Diva was well and truly hooked by its full-flavoured, earthy embrace.

Then it was time to venture South, for a trio of birdy delights. Guinea Fowl Sukka, Chicken Cafreal and Quail Raechade are all traditional favourites – but Kochhar doesn’t follow the traditional recipe.  His version tames the rustic spices and teams them with pickled vegetables so the emphasis is on the meat, not on its dressing. Less is sometimes more, and the perfect spicing and fulsome flavours left us quivering in anticipation for the climactic main course.

Mine was perfectly tender lamb rubbed with spices from the Western state of Maharashtra, accompanied by an aubergine mash and topped with a spicy Kolhapuri sauce. Meaty and satisfying though it was, it gave pride of place to the Diva’s butter-poached Bengali-inspired lobster in wholegrain mustard sauce. This Eastern classic is feted across India, but at Kochhar’s hands, it’s a paroxysm of  delight. Firm yet tender, grainy but velvety, creamy and explosive – I have a new Indian favourite now and I can’t wait to go back again.

Rang Mahal, JW Marriott Marquis. 04 414 3000

Voi, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

Diabetic Diva

This Franco-Vietnamese restaurant on The Palm is an oasis of subtle chic after the interminable taxi ride. The weather was pleasant and the terrace of Vôi was the perfect place to enjoy a superb meal created by Hanoian chef Pham Cuong.
All of Vietnam’s fundamental tastes (sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, and salty) came through in the five-course meal that was devoured with gusto. King crab with asparagus (an aphrodisiac) and enoki mushrooms was a good beginning and while the Caveman dithered on the next course of Hanoian steamed rolls filled with guinea fowl, mushroom and grilled fish, I felt unconditionally loved as everything on the menu was diabetic-friendly.
The Caveman’s second course was Wagyu beef wrapped in a pepper leaf, and a taste of that helped me get the fact that all his drama gets him what he really wants. Chef Cuong then graciously took the time to explain the spices and condiments used in his cooking. I learned that food should have a perfect balance of all the fundamental tastes without any one taste overpowering another.
A blend of taste also means perfect daintiness in the presentation and that is why every dish looked like a work of art.

Caveman

Mixed marriages, they say, produce stunning children. For Valentine’s Day in this cosmopolis midway between East and West, a fusion between the two is a particularly apposite dinner idea. And Vôi, at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, delivers on every level.

The restaurant has been on my radar for some time now, so when we were offered the opportunity to preview their Valentine’s menu, I accepted without hesitation. I’m very glad I dragged the Diva to this French colonial outpost of Vietnam (even if she did grumble about the distance!) We were offered a prominent table prettily decorated with rose petals in this grand salon of a restaurant, but the Diva wanted to sit outdoors instead, overlooking the resort’s magnificent gardens and gurgling fountains.

After a fizzy drink to set the mood, we were presented with an amuse bouche of blackened chicken, accompanied with a shot of lime and green apple juice. I’m no fan of chicken, but this was far better than the average battery variety, and paired with the drink, did exactly what these little bites are meant to do: whet one’s appetite for the main meal.

My embrace of all things Palaeo requires me to forego such treasures as steamed rolls and when I dug my chopsticks into the Diva’s starter and tasted the first-rate filling of guinea fowl and grilled fish was superb, I almost regretted not ditching the diet. But I turned to my own Bo La Lot, and I was more than rewarded. Minced Wagyu wrapped in pepper leaves and grilled – not only was my starter healthy and Palaeo-appropriate, but, delicately flavoured with lemongrass and cinnamon, it was absolutely excellent. I gave the Diva some, her quiet appreciation spoke volumes.

But the main course, duck breast with a spicy sauce of stimulating galangal and piquant moc-mat served on bed of pickled vegetables (including Brussels sprouts!), outshone it completely. This stellar dish was truly a marriage of two equals: French in plating and cooking, Vietnamese in spicing and treatment. The duck was beautifully done, pink in the centre and ever so slightly crisp, and even the Diva had to agree that medium rare meat trumps that more pedestrian failsafe, medium. Moc-Mat, Chef Pham Cuong explains later, is a dried berry with a sour, piquant flavour. I loved the sharp galangal and the savouriness of the duck, and the vegetables could have been a dish all on their own. Combined, the end result was a celebration of flavours, proof that fusion can have blissful results.

Vôi, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray. 04 453 0444

Shayan – Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana

Diabetic Diva
 The family next door ensured that I cut my baby teeth on Iranian food so many moons ago. The cuisine still tickles my senses and satisfies me unconditionally. Shayan was no different.
The Caveman and I had the privilege to taste its varied menu well before it actually opened and the fresh tastes of lamb, poultry, seafood and rice cooked the Persian way did not disappoint. Almost all Iranian food has aphrodisiacal qualities. The first course was amazingly light with eggplant and spinach as the main ingredients cooked with hung yoghurt and eggs. The mains got my heart beating with pleasure: Saffron prawns, tahchin (baked rice with scallops and barberries) and a selection of kebabs the Persian way; tender, juicy and aromatic.
I enjoyed the others but I couldn’t get enough of the pepper encrusted, saffron marinated lamb tenderloin. While the Caveman dug into the juicy lamb shank that was as big as his head I took a trip down memory lane. Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, baghali polow (the crispy disc of rice at the bottom of the pan) with dill and fava beans, soaked walnuts, fresh cheese, strawberries, dried rosebuds in my doogh (yoghurt drink) and to top it off the sikanjabeen sherbet.
It was so easy to overeat even as a child and sikanjabeen always came to the rescue. Would I go there on Valentine’s
Day? Yes. Iranian food has the capacity to love my senses and is really great for my body, so why not go back regularly?

Caveman

From Ferdowsi to Omar Khayyam, Persian poets have celebrated the love of food through the centuries. And Shayan, which opens this week at Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana, serves food sublime enough to inspire romantic verse – as we discovered during a sneak preview last month.

For those on low-carb and gluten-free diets, Iranian food, with a minimum of oil and a high proportion of vegetables, is the ideal healthy option. And because it uses a large amount of circulation-boosting garlic and onions as well as potassium-rich tomatoes, it should appeal to Valentine’s diners, too.

While the menu at Shayan was still being finalised when we visited, we were able to sample a variety of dishes. Two starters stood out. Mirza Ghasemi is a rustic salad of chopped grilled eggplant, fried egg and tomato, and topped with fried onions; the varied flavours working well together. Esfenaj nargesi, a sort of Oeufs Florentine with a fried egg served on blanched spinach, is a simpler, cleaner dish that packs a punch.

Mention must be made here of the regional custom of serving a platter of fresh vegetables at the start of the meal. Besides the standard fare, the platter at Shayan had a portion of cold walnuts that had been soaked in water so they were fresh and almost sweet. And since walnuts were regarded as a symbol of fertility by the Romans, I was happy to see the Diva get stuck in.

Of the main courses, my favourite was the Kabab E Barg, a tender grilled fillet of lamb that had been pounded to an even thickness of about 2cm and marinated in onion juice and saffron. This is no ordinary kabab; it is elevated by delicate spicing and a light touch of the grill, so it stays tender and juicy. Also excellent was the Baghali polow Ba Mahiche or Braised lamb Shank on rice and broad beans. I steered clear of the rice, but had several helpings of the lamb. It had been slow cooked, so the fat had all melted away and the meat simply fell apart in the mouth.

The Diva, of course, would have been happiest with fish, but in its absence, she was delighted by the Tahchin, a dish of baked, layered seafood rice topped with scallops and sour barberries. This Northern Iranian dish is usually made with chicken, but at Shayan, Chef Maqsoud uses seafood instead and the dish is one of his specialties.

Dessert brought the inevitable rice pudding – but also a platter of in-season fruits. Fresh figs were one delight, juicy apricots another. A Caveman couldn’t have been happier.

Shayan 04 293 3000