Gourmaison

Cheese and More

Bombay, indeed all of India was waiting for someone who would offer you cheese on a platter! And now the void has been filled. We finally have someone who takes cheese seriously. Phew, now to simply party on...

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

To begin with, I must say, Sherry Singh has found herself a very clever and appealing name for a company which to you and me is a fabulous endeavour selling exclusive cheese platters, but which for her is clearly a passion; pure and unadulterated. Gourmaison- how utterly charming. Maison is French for house and I can only translate it as "The Gourmet House'. Which it is, considering what Gourmaison does. Bring us some delightful cheese, blended with Sherry's personal touch and immense creativity.
In Bombay society circles, Sherry and Tony, her husband, rate fairly high. Part of the chic circle, Sherry was always interested in food. Not just as in indulging in the good life, but getting right down and dirty. So if you were invited over for a dinner Chez Singh, you would find her in the kitchen, not just giving perfunctory last-minute instructions to her kitchen staff, but actually dunking her head into the oven to see if the lamb roast was done, simultaneously turning around and tossing up a salad in a huge bowl and seeing to the hors d'oeuvres too!

Meaning food runs in her blood. She has been dabbling in cooking since the ripe age of 10! She loved baking even as a child. Once married, not one to just stay put, she started making cookies and brownies and supplying the goodies to shops at clubs such as Willingdon and Bombay Gym.

A few years ago, one lazy Sunday when Sherry was chilling at home with some friends, Sherry's son, Rahul piped in with a question. He asked his mom why she did not think of converting her passion for all things food into a commercial gain. Before she knew what was what, names for the company were being thrown around and someone came up with "Gourmaison'. Tony promptly went ahead and registered the name. That was four years ago. Then two years ago, Sherry went on a solo trip to Paris and London and indulged herself on culinary feasts, checked restaurants, walked around, visited farmers' markets, delicatessens and generally was on a culinary window-shopping binge. She felt, with all the cheese available in Paris, she was not satisfied with all that she was looking at. She had something going on in her mind and she could not find a match for it on the shelves of all that she surveyed.

Once back in India, she felt she wanted to do something with cheese. Put her fantasy into creative practice. She wanted to offer the discerning foodie, food that was neat, clean, of high quality and something that really, really looked good, enticing!
And Sherry's cheese platter was born. It was a modest beginning and not easy at first. Sherry had to let the world know what she was up to. Her first public interaction was at the UpperCrust Show where she showcased her unique cheese platters- European cheese, encrusted with all kinds of ingredients that captured Sherry's imagination.
Hard work and pure passion always pays. Word-of-mouth, the best form of publicity, spread the good news and soon Sherry's fan base multiplied and before she knew it, she was in business! Sending cheese platters of various shapes, sizes and hues all over the town, even other cities.

So what is it that got Gourmaison clicking? Quality, I'd say. Uniqueness, Creativity. And ease. All you had to do, if you were throwing a party and wanted something to set the tone, was get something the whole world loves. Cheese. Not just any cheese, but the best of cheese. All dressed up, laid out nestling between seedless grapes and what have you, ready to be set on the table, just before the guests arrive. So cool.
Well, research for what Sherry wanted did not come easy. She tried dozens of Indian cheese and gave up. She indulged in European cheese as a base, blending it with assorted ingredients such as pistachios and almonds, pepper and chive, olive and caviar, honey and truffle oil (which she blends), among other interesting concoctions. The menu at Gourmaison which you can order from is not large, not meant to be, given the nature of the product, but they have gone beyond cheese platters. To dips and spreads as in hummus, labneh, amazing stuff that also comes out of jars like Truffle and Edamame Snow, Avocado Bomb, even a Wasabi Crunch!. Fig Chilli Jam is Sherry's speciality, something she says she is rather proud of.

So what does it all cost? And how do you order? Well, it's a customised process. You call them and let them know the number of people you intend to serve. And your preference of cheese. And voila! They will recommend the platter size, as well as what will go on the platter. The smallest is a four cheese platter which comes with freshly-baked mixed crackers and costs about Rs. 2,500 and the largest is as large as it can be and can go up Rs. 30,000. I am not naming names, but Gourmaison cheese is all the rage at homes of our Bollywood stars. And Sherry actually went down to Delhi to set up a cheese table at a wedding at one of the Delhi farmhouses. How large? Well, the cheese table was 14 feet long. That's a lot of cheese. And a lot of fun. For Sherry in doing it up and for the guests, in devouring it.

"Cooking makes me happy. I sleep happy doing what I do," says Sherry, summing it all up.