Since the opening of Masque in Mumbai in 2016, chef-patron Prateek Sadhu has gained a reputation for being innovative, and that year was even named Most Innovative Chef Of The Year by the Western Culinary Association of India.
Yak cheese, apricot, buckwheat.
Masque is an ideology and philosophy, says Sadhu. "When we opened Masque, we were the first people who questioned the hows and whys of Indian food. That is where the ideology comes in. The philosophy comes by talking about Indian food and the future of it. I want people to get a sense of India through our food -- through flavours, ingredients and nostalgia -- not through chillies."
Sadhu says the focus lies on three things: seasonality, ingredients and nostalgia. "These three are important when you plan a menu or dish. It should evoke a sense of nostalgia, a sense of where you are, a sense of time and place -- this is also equivalent to the seasons." A step in that direction is the new Masque farm in Pune, where in collaboration with the Row 7 Seed company, Sadhu has begun testing seeds. "When you talk about Indian food, it is important to look at the future. Though it is important to also look at the past, you cannot be stuck in it. We have to look at a lot of things in terms of food and agriculture, and we are blessed that we come from the land of agriculture."
At the farm, Sadhu has started with seeds that are indigenous to India and from other parts of the world. "At one point in time, chilli, tomatoes and potatoes were not indigenous to India. These became an essential part of the cuisine because of migration. This cross-culture migration is what has changed Indian food over centuries. We need to look at it in a practical way; migration changed before and will keep changing. That is how food has evolved. What we eat now at home in India, we didn't eat 50 years ago because the vegetables have changed. Broccoli was not part of the Indian diet, but is now widely available. Eventually, even celeriac, which we grow, will also be part of our diet … it will be as Indian as it is Western. Evolution is very important," he stresses.
Squid, sea buckthorn.
Sadhu has also set up a research lab, where he wants to change the map of India, so to speak. "My biggest problem is with the perception of Indian cuisine, though no one is wrong when they talk about Indian cuisine, because that is how it has been marketed. It is a theory that when the British left, they left a mark on the world about India being a curry nation. No one asks, 'What curry have you made today?'. It is a very vague term as the concept of curry doesn't exist in India."
The future of Indian food, the chef adds, lies in its 29 states to tell their own story. "It is so distinct. It is a bit like Europe, we cannot describe Italian food as European. When you talk about Indian food, no one will say it is butter chicken or chicken tikka masala. We don't cook that; it is a very restaurant dish. But this is how history has been written, and that needs to be rewritten, and this is what we are trying to do at Masque."
Referring to India as a curry nation is insulting, says Sadhu, who adds that even the term "Indian cuisine" doesn't define what's on a plate. "India on a plate is about nostalgia and the flavours the diner resonates with. It is a very interesting time for Indian cuisine. People are going back to their roots and opening restaurants that are region-focused. The future is regional. People talk about the cuisine of Bihar and Nagaland, and even I keep talking about the cuisine of Kashmir, because that is I where I am from. That is where the future of Indian food lies."
Even after three years, Masque and Sadhu are trying to convince diners about fine dining because in India, the market dynamics are different. "Though Bombay is a melting pot with people from all over India, the commercial capital of the country, a place where the middle-class is big and has money to spend, getting people to spend on a 10-course meal is tough. We are competing with restaurants with 200 dishes on the menu and that please the palate and pocket," he says.
Chef-patron Prateek Sadhu. (Photos courtesy of Masque Bomba)
At India's most ambitious restaurant, there is interaction between the chef and each diner, which has contributed to the word-of-mouth marketing more than anything else. "There has been a big shift in the last three years, but it still takes plenty of explanations about the nuances of fine dining and how each dish is created. Only if we understand the backstory can we realise what goes on in the creation of one dish. We are not there yet, but we are getting there slowly," says Sadhu.
The chef, who is changing the way India dines, does "understand" terminology like "modern" and "progressive". "The cuisine at Masque is as Indian as it gets. We are a restaurant based out of India, use Indian ingredients and flavours, which we understand. Because I travel to various parts of the country, these flavours are synonymous to each part. It is just the way we present these dishes, which is perhaps modern. Times have changed, we are in 2020, and though I may have the same ingredients as the person who created a particular dish years ago, I am more aware of technology and techniques. Today I see all those ingredients in my own interpretation. Can I call it by the same name? Maybe I can."
As far as growing food in farms, Sadhu says we need to look for produce beyond farms. "No one talks about ingredients found in the wild. In the north of India, we found cloudberries, which are known to be found only in the Nordic region. These are as Indian as they are Nordic because the terrain is similar. It is also about knowing your own backyard. We are trying to learn about India and as we are learning, we are evolving. It is a process," he explains.
Masque is about evolving every day and discovering India. "This is a new India for us," adds Sadhu.
Blackened sunchoke and burnt honey ice cream with damask rose.
