Continued....

Dilip De admired the aroma of the herbs and Ravi was in an obliging mood and liked everything. It is always nice to have one uncritical guest like Ravi Shastri on the host's table.

To complement the scallops was a fine wine from New Zealand (does NZ fall in the old world or new?), Cloudy Bay, a Sauvignon Blanc, 1996. It is fruity, with a taste of gooseberries, also a little of peaches. In the 1980s, this had become a cult wine in England and in 1996 Spectator voted it one of the ten best wines in the world. And this was 1996 vintage. The production is not very large, so it is rationed out to the best restaurants in the world. Which is a blue ribbon for the Taj's cellar. Also, it may be noted that we have been progressing from the very dry to more aromatic and fruity wines.

Intermission. We cleaned our palates with a longan and lemon sorbet. Ravi Shastri talked of a subject I am particularly interested in � the psychological effect of Hansie Cronje's absence from the South African cricket team. He said it took a long time for them to accept this, because deep in the game, when things went wrong, you could see them looking over their shouders for Hansie, but now it was over, they had become used to his absence. And Nina Pillai, who does not believe in crying over people's shoulders, talked of the late Rajan Pillai comfortably. She said that the evening's two main wines were his favourites, the best of Burgundy and the best Red (Chateau Latour coming in next). And she talked about the kind of host he was, if a guest wanted one more drink, Rajan Pillai would open a new bottle, never mind that the room was filled with untouched glasses left behind by earlier guests. And in Singapore he enjoyed a special position, the restaurateurs� association had voted him their best customer and put up plaques announcing it. I am sure it is Rajan Pillai who has provided Nina her wine education, her knowledge is amazingly deep.

Earlier in the evening, before he retired to his kitchen, Mosimann had been talking to me. His food, he said, was a collection of his past history, in Italy he learnt to do a good risotto (which Zeenat confirmed), in Japan he made sushi, French cooking, of course, he took seriously, and he was ready to serve Indian food, especially tandoored, which was healthy, light and easy. His club had a royal warrant � by appointment to Prince Charles, and about the royal he said: "He loves his food. Of course, he also loves his organic food." Another favourite client, though he is too modest to drop names, is Elizabeth Taylor. I understand that when she visits London, she first rings him up from the US and discusses her menu. He has cooked for British Airways, various hotel groups, the international economic conference in Davos, and runs a cookery school in Battersea. His favourite Indian customers are former tennis star Naresh Kumar and wife Sunita, and the chairman of Cipla, Dr. Yousouf Hamied. With a good percentage of Indians living abroad or visiting it, the knowledge of Western food and wine among Indians is good.

But to return to the dinner. Waiters in white gloves brought in the entree, as throughout the evening it came plated. Saddle of lamb, each guest apportioned three pieces. And with the lamb we got to the heart of the matter. This was the purpose of the entire evening, to gradually build us up to the ultimate in French gastronomy. There were no concessions, it was lamb as in French. Great meat, perfect pink, the right touch, the correct cut, the accompanying vegetables more like salad than vegetables, baby asparagus and cabbage, marinated in coconut oil, stir fried. The lamb was touched with caraway seeds. And it came with Caesar's Salad, another item that he has put his signature to.

Accompanying it was the Chateau Latour, Premier Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 1993. Asit had prepared the wine list, or helped in preparing it, and he had no difficulty in picking up the great Bordeaux, you can't go better than that, but he had difficulty deciding the year, between 1992 and 1993. Both are great vintage years, but he finally selected '93. It is among the five greatest wines from the region and one of the great red wines of the world. Asit was given the honour of first sniffing, then trying the wine. As he twirled the wine in his glass, taking in the bouquet, he announced: "This is the highlight. Absolutely first class. The wine and lamb are mesmerising, you won't get a dish like that anywhere else in the world. This is Mosimann at his best." And Shobha De was uncharacteristically ecstatic. "I don't care for red meat, still I ate a piece of the lamb, it was extraordinary. Just so perfectly done. I liked the veggies better. It was a very eccentric combination of meat and vegetables that worked. He's a genius. The test for a great chef is the authority with which he combines unexpected flavours and tastes and makes them come together in the mouth. Only Mosimann could have the confidence to take traditional Kerala vegetables and treat them delicately with a perfectly done lamb. A lesser chef would have been lynched for this. The wine... I've always liked Chateau Latour. Tonight it came with stars attached."

Nina, who comes from Kerala, said that Mosimann had recreated his cooking with local ingredients. Using French cooking as a base, to mix and match and bring out the flavours of the local elements, it was a thali of flavours... two, three elements. After that, all that was left to prop up the night was the Bread and Butter Pudding, and the cigars, plus Anton Mosimann closing his kitchen and arriving to accept the honours. All in the day's work, I should think. Just a word about the B&B Pudding and I have done. All cooks make Bread and Butter Puddings and they all remind us of our boarding school days. But Mosimann adds one extra ingredient to it - a touch lf magic.