31 March,2009 08:11 AM IST | | Jayita Bandyopadhyay
Australia, Italy and Asia meet at a scrumptious seafood fest in town. We take a table Mussels with fregola - A seafood preparation at the festival
It's Italian but from Down Under. So the risotto comes with chunks of fresh lobster and the Australian signature sea fish barramundi gets a black olive dressing. The visiting Italian chef Alessandro Pavoni at Hyatt Regency's La Piazza restaurant has been working in Sydney and has mastered the art of cooking Italian with Australian produce. But for seafood lovers in Delhi, this mix-n-match of flavours is manna from heaven, for whatever else the capital dishes out, good quality catch from the sea is not always among it.
Coast to coast
"Australia doesn't allow the import of any wet food material. So chefs have to improvise with local produce. Australia also has culinary influences from Asia and I have tried to incorporate it all to create signature dishes," said chef Pavoni. Thus, the special menu includes traditional Italian dishes like risotto but cooked with smoked trout that is intrinsically Australian and to suit our demanding Asian palate, you will find an added dash of tomatoes, saffron and cumin seeds. Even the use of Italian musts like garlic and basil is slightly liberal to give the food a burst of spicy flavours.
Start the meal with the succulent lobster poached with butter and served with salmon trout caviar in a white tomato soup. So adroit is the chef in creating new tastes that even the most seasoned seafood lover will need two thoughtful bites to realise that though the delicacy is distinctly Italian, the lobster is from Indian waters. The same goes with the barramundi, a sea fish from off the Australia coast that swims to fresh water to lay eggs. Its boneless meat makes it a chef's favourite. Though the barramundi served at the meal is not from Australia, the chef makes is special with an olive crust and orange puree.
Rice, rice, baby
The menu offers two risottosu00a0the first one with smoked trout, peas and the fresh taste of mint and in the second, the trout is replaced with teleggio, a soft cheese from the Lombardy region of Italy. Though both the dishes are not commonly served in Italian restaurants in the city, the trout is the real treat. Fresh and with a smoky flavour, it blends smoothly to elevate the otherwise pedestrian risotto to a king's feast. Even the common semolina gonococci, an Italian pasta dumpling, get a connoisseur's makeover with orange puree and a crispy black olive crust.
With the dinner try the best of Australian wines from the vineyards of Tyrrell's and the Hunter Valley.
Where: Hyatt Regency's La Piazza restaurant, Bikaji Cama Place
Till: Today (But you can ask for some of the dishes later too. Just give the kitchen some time)
Meal for two: Rs 2,500 (excluding taxes)
Ring: 26791234
