Eating your way through history

The city has come a long way and the culture of fine dining has changed quite a bit. A new dining concept however promises to take a food lover on a journey through Bangalore's vivid culinary past

Bangalore's cantonment legacy may have disappeared from most past of the city, what with re-naming areas, re-populating areas and a general sense of an incontrollable influx of outsiders that the city has faced in less than two decades.

One part of this legacy has however lived on, in the city's partying spirit, the city's horticultural habits, the city's obsession with walking and most importantly in the city's food habits that seemed to have lived on through time. We'll always be a city of people who can never make-do without our weekly pilgrimage to the welcoming doors of a Koshy's, a Tavern or even a Taj West End.

Taj West End has thus in true Christmas spirit in an age of looking into the past with pride, come up with the concept of an 'Old is Gold menu'u00a0-- a food festival that depicts and celebrates food from menus across the last fifty years, that have graced the eateries' tables. V K Chandrassekraran, executive chef, The Taj West End says, "We picked the most popular dishes from the past, in an effort to re-create those forgotten times." The menus were created by looking at the "past records, books and several conversations with old guests and regulars to ensure that we knew what was popular then. We also needed to see if we've managed to get the same taste all over again," he adds. After much deliberation and choosing, the present team of chefs at Mynt at the Taj decided on a menu that features dishes from years as long ago as 1887. The menu features classics from the past along with, hors d'u0153uvres, soups, entru00e9es and desserts.

We reviewed the menu and here are some picks with stories that would fascinate any gourmand or history buff:
Marry Pick Ford, a drink that dedicated to the beautiful Marry Pick Ford who won an Oscar for best actress in the film Coquette in 1928 became a favourite within a decade. An American bar made the cocktail to celebrate her exclusive performance, and the Taj soon caught on in Bangalore.

The Americano, a bitter liqueur is a native of Milan and was introduced at the Taj during the 50's. In the early 1900s, the Italians noticed a surge of Americans who enjoyed this cocktail and as a compliment to them; this cocktail came to be known with its present name. Incidentally, This is the first drink ordered by James Bond in the first novel of Ian Flemings Casino Royale.

Other 'concoctions' are the XYZ cocktail, from the 1800's, that is a perfect mu00e9lange of cointreau, white rum and lemon juice. Another special to check out is the French 75 a World War I special, which is a rudimentary cocktail of champagne and cognac, created only because someone wanted to drink champagne with a stronger 'kick'.

When it comes to the main course or the hors d'u0153uvres however, the menu focuses entirely on menus created by Mr and Mrs Bronson, the earlier owners who looked after the West End property. Based on the best sellers from their menus across the 50's, 60's and 70's, the chefs have chosen a favourite few. The dishes have been added into two menus u2014 a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian, that feature a packed 4-course meal.

Some of the dishes you can look forward to are the quintessential Russian salad, mulligatawny soup, prawn cocktail, pomfret almondine, tournedos (tenderloin grill) and winter baked vegetables for vegetarians. Don't forget to tuck into some delicious caramel custard, bread pudding and lemon meringue pie as the delectable dessert options to finish off your gastronomic journey through time. Like that's not enough, the first cocktail from the menu that is ordered will be charged for less than Rs 10, just so that you remember the days gone by.

At: The Taj West End, Bangalore
Between: December 21-30,
Call: 6660 5660

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels