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: Rajesh Variyath

Executive chef

Radisson MBD, Noida

Chicken a la Kiev. Chateau Briand Bercy. Hoamard A la Thermidor. Canard a l’ Orange. For a gourmand, these are magical names from another era, names likely to bring nostalgia pouring forth by the plateful. In our health conscious times, dishes like have been replaced by healthier, leaner recipes. But the memory lingers, and the occasional craving is what chef Rajesh Variyath has counted upon to present his selection of recipes from a more classical era, at least gastronomically at his restaurants —S18, R.E.D. and Made in India in a unique celebration he calls Immortal Classics. Suman Tarafdar hears why Continental dishes could well make a comeback as the butter oozes out of the Kievan fowl.

Continenetal fine dining, chiefly, French, Austrian and Swiss, which once ruled globally in gastronomic terms, is dying. It’s has been a downhill journey for a while for a number of dishes from the classic period.

Tradition plays a crucial role here. Unlike Indian cuisines, where every house and city has its own recipe for a particular dish, and they are all as ‘genuine’ as any other, for Continental, the recipes are clearly written out. If the recipe calls for rosemary, it cannot be replaced by thyme or basil. We chefs are here because we are passionate about food. And for most of us in the profession, traditional food is where the roots are, from where we have seen the emergence of dishes that are popular today.

The preparation style is usually laborious, taking up a lot of time and energy, and today most cuisines can be done without mistakes in a much faster way. Presentation is also simple, with none of the aesthetic pre plating so much in evidence today. Red meat is preferred, though fish has increasingly been the choice for the health conscious.