Page 96 - UpperCrust e-Magazine Third Quarter 2024

THE COMPL-EAT FOODIE | MOHAN KRISHNAN

The Art of Eating

What it means to eat! To eat well and to eat mindfully. To pay respect to what’s on your
plate and the hands that have gone into its creation, beginning with his wife, Mina.
UpperCrust introduces Mohan Krishnan, a genuine foodie, to indulge in all things food

am a good when you dug deep, Prawn Bhuzna lazily and enjoyed every moment. Only the
eater. I eat floating in a sargasso sea of onion and oily small-minded back off from luxuries for
we
I ll and I jus, Spaghetti Bolognaise from Len Deighton’s ideological reasons. We straddled the
drink well. I think Action Cookbook, straight to the waist French world of food from the simplest elegant
about what I eat, Onion Soup (Amul cheese tastes brilliant varan, with a floating layer of ghee and
and thanks to when cooked well), Fish Provencale, deadly crisp appalams on the side, to complex
UpperCrust, I now Sunday biryanis, Veal Escalope. degustations, and if the experience satisfied
get to write about Coq au Vin, infrequently, because the soul, we were content.
it. chicken was the expensive show-off meat. Before this paean gets out of hand, let
My food Magic on a shoestring. me leaven the mix with a story. After we got
journey started There was always the supporting cast married, we lived in a barsati near Colaba
when I turned 16, joined Elphinstone for each meal – French beans sautéed (in bus station. Tiny and lovely.
College, and met Mina. We were joined at butter after the money came in, and later One day, Mina decided to cook me a
the hip for 56 years – five years of dating, sprinkled with pine nuts that I steak. Much planning went
and 51 of marriage. Mina was a remarkable learned to call pignoli), mashed into the marinade, the cooking,
entrepreneur, photographer, motivational potato, roesti, a cold cucumber the sauce, the plating. The
speaker, and one of the world’s most mousse. Simple dishes that only problem – the meat was
talented home chefs. Thanks to her, I have knew their place in life. Their as tough as shoe leather. Not
eaten well all my life, especially at home. cameo roles rocked the plate and palate, but a Bally loafer – soft, buttery and pliable.
Our 56-year journey ended in 2022 not the pocketbook. Think Timberland heavy-duty. I tried, and
when Mina passed away. Born with a toque I learned that a great chef does not I tried, but I could not grind it down into
on her head, a set of knives strapped to her need lots of money to create magic. Get the swallow-able chunks. I also knew I was not
back, and tasting spoons in both right produce, the perfect protein rising from the table, without having licked
hands, Mina swept into my life (bone-in meat and chicken, fresh my plate clean.
as the Cooking Ninja. Nothing fish) and build on that foundation. Fortunately, the window was open, and
stealthy about her, the ninja Taste as you cook, tweak as Mina stepped into the kitchen to bring back
reference is to her attitude. Fearless, with you go, no wonder Mina was always sated more of the yummy jus. I picked up the
supreme self confidence in her skills. She at the end of her cooking – she had created steak, willed all my frisbee-throwing skills
looked brilliant in full Miyake, and always and savoured the entire meal. into being, took aim, and slung it out. It
cooked dressed to the nines. I went with Mina to the Grant Road sailed through. Soon I heard a bunch of
In the early days of our marriage, I was fish market, saw her sass back and forth Indie pooches fighting over the best-
an underpaid minion at an ad agency. This with the Koli women, shining in their full tasting, finely-sauced, toughest steak in the
was before the era of stock options, and zari nauvari shocked that this westernised world. The happiest dogs in SoBo.
global agencies panting to buy their way woman could diss them back in shuddh This column is about what I have
into India. I could never figure out how Marathi. Friendly abuse builds great bonds. learned, over these 56 years of exceptional
Mina kept me, and our daughter Ayesha, so We always got the best fish – the stuff they eating.
well-fed on my pittance of a salary. had hidden away for the real connoisseurs. You’ll hear about Mina’s 650 plus
Here’s how she did it. One dish per meal As the arc of our life proceeded, along came collection of well thumbed and flagged
which was the star – the showstopper. So, foie gras, caviar, truffles – black and white, cookbooks that I have stashed away at
our meals were studded with drop-dead Wagyu, Michelin and other fripperies. home. I will be dropping many names –
lasagna, evil kheema curry, cauliflower and All good things that we had earned Robuchon, Boulud, caviar and pâté on the
cheese – crisp on top and obscenely creamy the right to, so we made sure we loved Concorde, Beef Wellie at Ramsay’s, tea at

94 | UPPERCRUST | JUL-SEP 2024