Get your high with mushrooms

Forget sourcing them from France or Italy, just try some desi, homegrown truffles from Chikmagalur instead at this mushroom promotion at Caperberry

Who knew that Chikmagalur coffee estate owner Suresh Pai, who stumbled across a group of yellowish growths around Chestnut trees in his plantation around two years back would perhaps have come across India's very own indigenous truffles.

Both white and black truffles have been found in this estate in abundance during season (June to October).

Truffles, cherished all over the globe as a delicacy, unfortunately have a limited shelf life. So, before they go past their use-by-date, you ought to hurry over to Caperberry, to sink your teeth into a special menu created with Chikmagalur truffles and other kinds of mushrooms like Porcini, Morrel, Shitake, Cloudy Ear Fungus, Black Fungus and Oyster mushrooms at the Truffles and Mushrooms Promotion. Chef Abhijit Saha, owner of Caperberry, has whipped up a couple of truffle classics as well as his own creations for this promotion.

Before we started off our meal, we did demand to see the truffles in all their glory. Two yellowed and gnarled beauties (if you are into that inner beauty kind of thing) arrived on a plate for us to admire. Once cut into two we had a chance to smell them.

While, the white truffle was faintly aromatic and smelt of the fresh earth after rains, the black truffle made its presence felt at once and smelt up our hands with a slightly pungent and almost sexual aroma. After admiring these beauties, they were sent off to the pantry to perk up our dishes.

We started off with a warm mushroom salad with a brie melt, arugula and shaved truffles (Rs 275).
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The melted cheese and the Porcini complimented each other with the truffle shavings adding a rather piquant taste to the whole affair.
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It was, however the Olive stuffed Morrels served with steamed asparagus spears and a warm mushroom jelly (Rs 375) that was the height of our entrees.
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The Morrel was absolutely delicious with the stuffed olive mince bursting into our mouths after a bite; the jelly was not overpowering but still carried the memory of mushrooms.

By now we were hot on the mushroom trail and settled for Tenderloin Carpaccio with Indian Truffles and Arugula (Rs 300), a Truffle Risotto (Rs 450) and a Porcini crusted Rawas fish with carrot custard and porcini cream sauce (Rs 475).
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While the Carpacciou00a0 (thinly pounded or sliced raw beef) was thin and sticking to the bottom of the plate, it was served with shaved black truffles and parmesan, caper berries and drizzled with loads of olive oil.
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The Carpaccio was sublime to say the least with the meat melting in our mouth paired with the pungent truffle shavings, slightly nutty Parmesan and woody olive oil.
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The risotto came scented with truffle oil and other mushrooms like shitake and button. It was nutty, gooey and was almost smooth like butter with the mushrooms adding a crunch. However, we died and went to heaven over the Porcini crusted Rawas.

An original by Chef Saha, the Porcini crust on the fish was crunchy and made for a very interesting top layer before we bit into the delicate fish beneath. Moped up with the slightly caramelised Porcini sauce, it tasted heavenly. The carrot custard served was mildly sweet and was the perfect foil to bring out the savoury flavour of the fish.

We were reeling back from the delicious effects of our mushroom infused meal, but how could we end our evening without finding out how truffles have been experimented with in dessert at Caperberry. Needless to say, they came paired with a rich dark chocolate mousse (Rs 250) as flecks and scented oil and as part of a Vanilla Panacotta (Rs 225).
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While we couldn't really make out the strong scent of truffles in the dark chocolate mousse, it made its presence felt very obviously in the Panacotta.

For purists, having a slightly musty and even garlicky smell to your favourite vanilla dessert might be blasphemy, but somehow the truffle flavour added that savoury zing to a sweet and sublime dessert and is a must try here.

At Caperberry, Dickenson Road
On till September 18Call 2559 4567
Meal for twou00a0 Rs 2000