Focus on flavour: Why Indian chefs are fascinated with smoked and cured meat

Chef Christopher Fernandes has always had the passion for smoked and cured meats, so when the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown hit, he took the opportunity to nurture this love for cooking meats into something more. "I built my own custom offset smoker and started researching and developing my own recipes and built my brand ‘Cravings by Chris' on Instagram specialising in cured and smoked meats." Today, Goa-based Fernandes is popularly known as one of India's few pitmasters, creating dishes incorporating cured meats smoked at varying degrees in metros including Mumbai and Bengaluru.

With the party season here and Christmas and New Year around the corner, different kinds of preparations of chicken, pork and beef are really popular. Interestingly, there is a silent celebration of smoked meats going on in various parts of the country apart from Mumbai, and the season only demands more of it. Ahead of the celebration observed by followers of Christianity in Mumbai, mid-day.com spoke to chefs who experiment with the cooking technique with meats, especially around this time of the year. In fact, Fernandes's love for meats is visible when he reveals that his home usually boasts of either a roast chicken or smoked leg of ham - easily putting his passion into practice.

Uniqueness of cured and smoked meats
While meats are loved by many people, there are different kinds of preparations that people explore. So, what really is unique about cured and smoked meats? He explains, "One lesser-known benefit of cured and smoked meats is their extended shelf life. The curing and smoking processes help preserve the meats, making them last longer compared to fresh meats, which can be advantageous in terms of storage and reducing food waste. Additionally, these methods often impart unique flavours that enhance the taste profile of the meats."

Closer home in Mumbai, chef Vincy Rebello, chef de cuisine at Silver Beach Cafe in the city, says the flavour is aided by the burning wood, charcoal or hay. "Cured meat is also basically meat without or very little moisture. It is elevated with the dry rub, when it is cooked," he adds.

If one has to put a pin on it, then Fernandes says the reason why cured and smoked meats are getting popular because of a general interest influenced by global culinary trends, increased exposure to international cuisines, but more importantly a burgeoning interest in barbecue and grilling techniques, and Mumbai is quite in the thick of it. "Mumbai, being a diverse culinary hub, has witnessed a rise in the availability of smoked and cured meats in restaurants, specialty shops, and food markets. The city's vibrant food scene has embraced these techniques by offering a variety of smoked and cured meat options such as smoked sausages, bacon, or smoked cuts of poultry and pork in restaurants and specialty stores," he adds.

The rise of social media and food blogging, believes Fernandes, has also contributed to the growing awareness and popularity of these meats, as people share experiences and recipes, further fuelling interest in trying and creating smoked and cured meats at home.

Fernandes isn't the only one who has made the observation. Chef Adesh Ramesh Vast, sous chef at Novotel Goa Resort & Spa, believes smoked meats are getting popular faster than ever in many cities including Mumbai because there is an advantage while consuming them. "They require no cooking knowledge or expertise and can be eaten directly with bread or any other suitable accompaniment." All it requires is some natural brine or seasoning.

Interestingly, his journey started long before he entered the kitchen as a professional chef because he has fond memories of being around smoked meat while growing up. "It all started when I was a kid. My aunt used to get hay and smoke meat in a clay pot with a makeshift lid of green leaves," shares Vast, who adds, "It has a nice smoky flavour with a Maillard reaction."

Culturally, the Goan chef says curing and smoking has always been a part of the Goan kitchen. "We have Goan pork sausage, which is smoked, Goan kokum and our traditional sardines and mackerel during Christmas parties," he explains. Apart from pork, Vast smokes chicken and fish, as beef is banned. So, when we ask him, what's cooking for this Christmas in his home? He immediately says, "Definitely sardines, with its rich omega oil and its flavours bursting in our mouth."

At the Goa-based property, he does a lot more as he has been trying different desi flavours to offer diners something new. He explains, "So far, we have used spiced infused oil and brines for smoking, we have tried kokum red snapper, turmeric leaf-smoked chicken and smoked Madras paneer. In the future, we will use more Indian spices for brine as it helps the meat to absorb flavours to its fullest."

Favour for flavour
With flavour reigning supreme, Rebello says he would definitely experiment with tandoori marinades for smoked meat because it would help keep the meat moist. In fact, the Mumbaikar believes the smoky flavour of the meat is also what has made many kitchens today opt to cook meats on a barbecue grill. Accompanied with a salad or grilled vegetables, it is the perfect combination on any given day. For Christmas, he says, "It is going to be a classic Goan dish of choris. The simple Goan choris is boiled, salted, then spiced and smoked to dry." If pork isn't available, he recommends smoking mutton, which also doesn't disappoint.

Being a lover of smoked meat, Sahil Makhija, city-based musician and founder of the band Demonic Resurrection, has also loved smoked meat for a long time now.

He explains, "For me, smoked meat has an incredible flavour. The combination of meat and fire has been the ultimate flavour bomb for centuries. So when you have smoked meat you get the perfect combination. With cured meats, I love the convenience of it. Just stick them in a sandwich, use them in dishes, they are versatile and extremely tasty."

Drawing comparison with tandoori chicken, another party favourite, which is a smoked meat as it is cooked over coals, one of his earliest memories was buying smoked chicken breast in the supermarket but didn't like it much because it had a very artificial smoke flavour. "Later on, as I learnt more, watched more YouTube and understood about smoking -- that changed the game. A more recent memory would be Chef Chris from Goa sending me smoked duck breast to try," adds the city-based Youtuber, who also runs the food channel, Headbanger's Kitchen.