EVER WONDERED how the world’s top chefs plan their menus to suit both meat- and seafood-eaters, as well as vegetarian diners? It’s heartening to know that the world over, chefs plan for and create special menus that are balanced — for those who prefer alternatives to non-vegetarian dishes.

THE WORLD’S NO. 1 RESTAURANT IS HERE!

The Oberoi, New Delhi, celebrated its 60th anniversary by hosting the world’s No. 1 restaurant, the three-Michelin-starred Disfrutar in Barcelona, and its co-owner and head chef Oriol Castro at a special session in partnership with Culinary Culture. “Our approach is techno-emotional cooking,” says chef Castro, “A fusion of precision, creativity, and emotion. Each dish forges a human connection.”

Castro, along with Disfrutar co-owners Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, have been head chefs at the world-famous ElBulli restaurant. “Our 18 years at ElBulli shaped the way we cook and create,” says chef Castro. “India has left a lasting impression with flavours and ingredients, especially visits to the spice market to make biryani and appam with The Oberoi team.”

Having infused the Spanish staple, tapas (small, shareable plates), with fine-dining sensibilities and modern techniques, chef Castro reimagined the classic Gilda tapa (with olive and mackerel) with “olive spherification, encapsulating the liquid in a delicate membrane”. He then created a version with cocoa-coated olive spheres that break, releasing a burst of flavours.

For chef Castro, a vegetarian menu needs to stand on its own, as a creative journey with equal depth and ambition. “As an alternative to sardines, we could use asparagus. Cured and seasoned ,” he says. “For our signature bao dish (filled with caviar and cream), we would keep the bao dough, with a rich pesto replacing the cream, and tapioca pearls mimicking the texture of caviar.”

As for his Tatin of Corn and Foie, another signature, chef Castro opts for a creamy, luxurious texture. “Silken tofu, set in a soft gelatin,” he says, “making it refined and elegant”. To mimic meat textures, he recommends vegetables such as jackfruit, which is rich and versatile, and when paired with the smoky black salt, turns into something “unforgettable”.

When it comes to pastries, the most adaptable pastry dishes for both veg and non-veg palates are savoury tarts, puff pastries, and choux with fillings.

FROM THE KITCHENS OF NAWAB WAJID ALI SHAH

At the newly opened Qissa — A Dehlvi Tale at Le Meridien, Gurugram, Old Delhi’s magical dishes come to life, helmed by executive chef Birjesh Kumar and fourth-generation royal Nawabi chef Mohammed Farhat Qureshi from Lucknow. “My great-great-grandfather started as khansama (a male cook) in 1855, during the time of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh,” says chef Qureshi, of his family’s storied legacy (that includes late chef Imtiaz Qureshi, Padma Shri, who founded Dum Pukht and Bukhara at the ITC Hotels).

Known for their tenderest of meat preparations, the Qureshis of Lucknow also created their counterpart vegetarian dishes. “We have Paneer Gulnar (cottage cheese, apricot, and mint) and Paneer Gulistan as starters,” says chef Qureshi, “We also have Subz ki Galawat (which substitutes Mutton Galawat), where I cook vegetables like beetroots, carrots, cauliflower, and lauki, crushed with a silbatta (grinding stone) and use a binding of yam and raw banana to give it a melt-in-the-mouth consistency, just like the Mutton Galawat Wajid Ali Shah enjoyed [as he had lost all his teeth].”

Chef Qureshi visits Old Delhi to pick up spices such as pipli (pepper spice), mixed with his own secret spices from the Qureshi family recipes, all crushed with a silbatta. For the Paneer Gulnar, he marinates the cottage cheese with hung curd and cashew paste, and stuffs it with figs and nuts. This replaces the Murgh Tikka on the menu.

For kebabs, Qissa serves Kakori Kebab and Rampuri Seekh Kebab. Another Qureshi creation is the Dahi Bhalla with curd, marinated with secret powdered spices, jalapeño and chilli, with sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts, to give it a tangy taste.

Chef Qureshi’s Subz Dum Biryani is a rich option, with carrots, potatoes, beans, and cauliflower in vegetable stock. “We do what others don’t,” he says. “We use dum (cooking in a sealed container) to cook the vegetables. My biryani masala is a secret Qureshi recipe!”

“My grandfather created a malai dish slow cooked in milk with gulkand (rose), fennel, and paan stuffing; it’s a sweet dessert,” says chef Qureshi.

RARE ORGANIC VEGGIES FROM THE HEARTLAND

Chef Nishant Choubey is a champion of vegetable produce and is known for using some of the rarest and most elusive of greens, mushrooms, and millets. Currently culinary consultant at Organic Bistro, in the Capital’s tony Khan Market, his menu is rife with seasonal vegetables and ethically sourced ingredients.

“We always look at paneer as the most prominent Indian vegetarian dish, which is dairy, but considered as a vegetable!” says chef Choubey. “India has an abundance of ingredients to cook with. I’m from near Jharkhand, with its tribes; and we have 150 varieties of greens.” Some of Jharkhand’s vegetables like sea buckthorn are also found in the hills, as machhli saag.

“Then we have Chakor saag, ragi (fingermillet), and mahua (used to make a kind of flour), which is a lost and beautiful ingredient, and bokphool (Agastya flower), used to make pakoras,” says chef Choubey. “We also use rice flour, and kolnar saag, which is high in iron. For memory loss, people eat the brahmi plant as a chutney, with meat or vegetable starters. We also have lovely purple yams in Jharkhand, and a small, sweet corn. Then we have phutka (or rugda) and khukhri, wild mushrooms that only grow after thunderstorms.”

He says that kathal (jackfruit) is a great substitute for meat, as are mushrooms. “Kathal ki Nihari, Kathal ka Rogan Josh, Kathal ki Biryani — these can substitute a lamb biryani.”

“Vegetables can be so versatile and can be used in so many different ways,” says chef Choubey, who has trained in Asian, European, and Indian cuisines.

THE SENSORY DELIGHT OF LE PETIT CHEF

If a diner wants to experience theatrical storytelling with appetising dishes, Le Petit Chef, conceived by Belgian company Skull Mapping, offers six ‘shows’ all over the world. With interactive visuals that are beamed onto the dining table, complete with a tiny talking chef, they hosted an experience for 24 guests at Zahara, Shangri-La Eros, New Delhi, called ‘Become the World’s Greatest Chef’ (the first show came out in 2017), before travelling to InterContinental Tokyo and The Grand Hong Kong (they’ve also done key U.S. cities such as L.A., New York, and Chicago).

The chefs at Shangri-La New Delhi, led by chef Gagandeep Singh Sawhney, had a lot of leeway to interpret the dishes according to the visuals. For the story of the tomato section, in Malaysia diners were served a cold gazpacho soup, but in Delhi it was a Candy Tomato and Burrata Tart (with a puff pastry base, layered with burrata cheese, basil and pesto sauce).

Another dish was a Miro-like modern art on a plate which included a beetroot and broccoli sauce with carrots, zucchini and, tomatoes, and ravioli, filled with spinach and ricotta cheese for the vegetarians, and lamb for the non-vegetarians.

Then as an ode to his grandma’s home-cooked meals, the ‘Petit Chef’ introduces a roulade sitting on a bed of mushrooms. The original recipe calls for chicken thigh mousse filling enveloped by chicken breast; while the vegetarian features potato with truffle.

An example of how chefs create vegetarian dishes to match the visuals beamed on the plate, is when the video depicted a lobster. They took a red tomato, put it in a mould that looked like a lobster and even created a special shiny ‘skin’!

A JAPANESE AFTER-DARK IZAKAYA RITUAL

In the dimly lit Kioki at 32nd Avenue, Gurugram, one is greeted with dark wood interiors and Japanese-style latticed screens, with walls adorned with fishermen’s nets, steel-sheets on windows (evoking a fisherman’s shed) and navigational instruments at the bar.

“With Izakaya as our core concept, we kept dinner heavy on small plates, and tossed out the soups and salads,” says chef Vikram Khatri. “We wanted dishes that are quick and shareable, that’s the vibe of Izakaya, perfect for after-work socialising, chatting with friends to discuss the day.”

As much as Japanese cuisine is known for its seafood and red meat, it is also famous for its vegetable-led Shojin Ryori (traditional Buddhist cuisine). “This began in Buddhist monasteries for monks,” says chef Khatri, “Any ingredient should speak for itself, and not be over-doused with any other flavour.”

Take teriyaki sauce, which is balanced with the umami taste of soy and sweetness. “It’s used in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes,” he says. “Or even salty miso sauce, it gives the fullness of flavour of what you have in season, such as sweet potatoes and mushrooms.” (All sauces are procured from artisanal producers in Kyoto, and seafood is freshly flown in from Japan’s Toyosu market.)

For vegetarians, the sweet potato is skewered and served just like a yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken), which expert cooks dissect with 18 cuts from beak to gizzard and feet. And sushi, instead of prawn, yellowtail or salmon, can be avocado and eggplant of the Rainbow rolls (Tazuna sushi, diagonally placed colourful sushi) — which mimic the fish and have a cucumber, avocado, and leek kimchi filling, covered by pieces of pickled red and yellow pimentos.

AN ODE TO MOROCCO

Morocco has a rich history of not only meat-based dishes, but vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and eggplants. One of the best places to taste authentic, elevated Moroccan dishes is at Le Marocain restaurant in palace-turned-luxury hotel La Mamounia, tucked within an ancient medina in Marrakesh.

Chef Rachid Agouray of Le Marocain says even in meat dishes, starches such as lentils and chickpeas play an important role. “Prunes, figs, and almonds are eaten on their own and incorporated into meats and fish alike,” he says. “We have created vegetarian dishes that are true to Moroccan culinary traditions, using the same slow-cooking methods and spices to maintain the depth of flavour. Our menu includes Moroccan salads, vegetable pastilla, vegetable tagines and soups.”

The most emblematic of Moroccan dishes is the vegetarian Harira soup, which is made during Ramadan. “It’s made with lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, celery, and fresh herbs like coriander and parsley,” says chef Agouray. “At Le Marocain, we serve it as a starter.”

Couscous is another North African staple, and Le Marocain offers a seven-vegetable couscous. “It includes seasonal vegetables such as pumpkin, carrots, eggplant, zucchini, and cabbage, steamed and served with fine-grain couscous and a fragrant broth,” says the chef. “It’s a true homage to the tradition.”