In April this year, I was in Singapore for the World Gourmet Summit. Started in 1997 as an initiative by the Singapore government to promote Singapore as a culinary destination, the summit has come a long way in bringing some amazing talent to the fore. The summit is organised by Peter Knipp and his subsidiary company A La Carte Productions Pte Ltd.

The summit was attended by a huge bastion of chefs, all with Michelin stars to their names, like Marco Pierre White, Anatoly Komm(Russia), Ronny Emborg (Denmark), Bruno Ménard (France), Dani García(Spain), Daniel Jordá (Spain), David Zhang (China), Fergus Henderson (United Kingdom), Ian Curley (Australia), Michel Sarran (France), PacoRoncero (Spain), Pietro D'Agostino (Italy), Pedro Miguel Schiaffino (Peru), Roy Brett (Scotland) and Vikas Khanna (United States).

Both Mugdha Savkar from my team and I were with New York-based Indian chef Vikas Khanna at the event.

The theme of this year's festival was ‘A Heritage Of Flavours', with events being hosted at Singapore's various heritage sites such as the Alkaff Mansion, Bukit Timah Fire Station, Hotel Fort Canning and the National Museum of Singapore. During the week, there were demos and lectures on food by each of the invited chefs and it was fun watching them up on the big stage. To put it simply, each chef at the summit was given a restaurant where he or she showcased their talent for a week. We had the privilege of working with Chef Manjunath of Song of India. The restaurant is a quaint place set within a heritage building painted white with black trimmings and a tiled roof.

Unique take

The food presented during the week was modern Indian cuisine. So what exactly is modern Indian cuisine? It's all about cooking Indian food differently using a vast array of techniques, new ingredients and creatively playing with spices. In a manner of speaking where less is more, we had created a menu that was definitely a fine dining experience, with plating that even seasoned French chefs would marvel at.

For starters we created a curried lentil soup with wild flowers and wafer thin slices of brinjal, topped with finely diced tomatoes, onions and fine sev dusted with chaat masala. We played around with Atlantic salmon and grilled them in a tandoor with cheese and a hint of beetroot that gave it a vibrant pinkish colour. The main course was a delightful dish of Australian lamb chops that had been marinated with three types of peppers and then grilled in a tandoor and garnished with micro greens.

A gushtaba of finely minced duck was baked and then served with a light, curd-based gravy. Also served was a Goan Peri peri prawn dish, where prawns were lightly tossed in chilli and turmeric and then wok-tossed and served with an Asian-influenced spice reduction. For dessert, there was a panna cotta flavoured with paan.

Jam Sessions

The highlight of the summit was when the chefs cooked at Sentosa. This event sponsored by Citibank was a first at this year's summit and the Jam Session took place over two days where Universal Studios has its big setup. Just before we were to take the stage, a chef was finishing off a beautifully sculpted piece of sugar work. On seeing this, I wondered if our dish was up to scratch. Here we were to showcase a dish made probably for the first time; a dish that was Indian, and yet not ‘desi' at the same time; one that was new and yet traditional for we usually never use the technique of smoking food in Indian cuisine. What would people think? We took a bunch of exotic tropical fruits like rambutan, lychees, berries and a hint of chilli and then proceeded to make a delicious chutney for the viewers. This was to accompany pan-tossed chunks of chicken legs that were marinated in spices and then wood-smoked directly on the plate.

As the lid was lifted revealing the final dish, there were audible sounds of appreciation through the room. The best part of this Jam Session was that one could watch these talented chefs cooking their best dishes in an intimate setting and interact with them on a personal level.

New ideas

Through the week there were several dinners, brunches and events taking place. One of the most notable was a brunch tiled “Norwegian Waters, Australian Pastures: The Best of Sea & Land”, paired with some amazing Australian wine. We saw the use of salmon at its best, from herbed gravlax which is raw salmon garnished with herbs to salmon in sushi, a whole section on fresh oysters which we ate while watching a waiter shuck them for us with his knife. The amount of caviar put on the sushi was sinful to say the least.

The summit not only highlights chefs and what they can do, but also shows what a small country can do to highlight global talent. Hopefully we will see a summit of this kind and at this level in India soon. The entire experience was an unforgettable one for the three of us.

(The author is a Cordon Bleu chef and food stylist)

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