This time Taj Group offers cuisine that’s unknown, flavours that are unexplored Argentine Culinary Celebration ongoing at the Machan, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi presents simple, pure, authentic, unadulterated and most importantly un-Indianized version of the lesser explored Latin American cuisine.
I love to try new cuisines so I was really looking forward to trying the Argentinian food and since my palate has never experienced it before, it made it all the more exciting.
The menu has been curated by celebrated who comes from Mendoza, the famous wine-producing region of Argentina and is the Head Chef at a well-known restaurant called La Vid. It has consistently got superlative reviews on Tripadvisor which speaks a lot about the food served there. Chef Patricia is from the background of Visual Arts and I believe that is the reason why the plating of her dishes is so gorgeous. With her, the menu is co-curated by Chef Arun Sundarraj, Executive Chef at the Taj Mahal, New Delhi.
Coming to the food, dishes like Tomato Confit with veggies/egg, Empanadas with Chimichurri and my favourites Chicken Stew and Spinach Tortellini were extremely good. The flavours were mild yet tingled my tastebuds at all the right spots. Since here in India also there are two versions of every food, the street version and the fine dine version. This was the fine dine version of the Argentinian Cuisine though really simple and low on chillies even though the South Americans need their share of hot peppers.
I must admit I really missed Asado, the South American Barbeque which is an inseparable part of the Argentinian cuisine but the interaction with the Chef Patricia revealed that it was part of the original menu but they removed it since they can’t serve beef here.
All the desserts were fantastic to be it Poached Pears in Red wine served along with fresh cream, simple caramel custard or the Yerba Mate Sorbet. Yerba Mate is a unique South American herb which comes from a caffeine-producing plant just like tea or coffee. It is used to prepare various kinds of infusions and is also the national drink of Argentina.
Sunshine Tea, which has a line of Yerba Mate (a unique Argentinian herb) based infusions are also launching their Mate based teas in India through this festival.
Chef Arun Sundararaj said that Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi constantly endeavours to offer unmatched culinary experiences to their guests and the Argentine Food Festival is another attempt to bring something unique to the table. I so agree with him.
Disclaimer – This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
