A night before the end of our trip to Aurangabad, we headed for our dinner reservation at Accentuate, a food studio pioneered by the extremely talented Chef Mohib Farooqui whose profile we’ll be coming towards the end having reviewed the delicacies he prepared. A 10-course global menu curated by the chef along with a conscious effort to serve dishes with a nostalgic reference and innovative fusion of classic combinations got us very excited to say the least.
Spiced and smoked lamb tzatziki
Deeply spiced, smoked lamb rolled up in a crunchy pastry roll and to go with it a chilled dip or sauce called Tzatziki which is commonly found in the cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle east. Tzatziki is made simply with strained yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, sometimes vinegar or lime juice and fresh herbs (mint, dill). The two made for a revivifying combination of piquant lamb filling and refreshing dip making for an absolute welcoming first dish, bracing us for the 10-course meal to follow.
Compressed and charred watermelon
Served with smoked green olive caramel and feta frozen with liquid nitrogen was a dish with the perfect amalgamation of textures, especially with the feta popping in your mouth.
Mother’s Pizza
Activated charcoal, tomato chili jam, cream cheese. The chef relives his childhood memories recreating his mother’s hack for late-night pizza cravings in this aptly named dish ‘Mother’s pizza’. The base was activated charcoal biscuit in the form of a cracker, topped with delightful grown-up tomato sauce that goes beautifully well with it. And of course, finished with a generous serving of cream cheese.
Maharashtrian in Italy
The chef’s love for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is the inspiration behind ‘Maharashtrian in Italy’. Handmade linguine served with garlic chilli thetcha and curry leaf oil is a brave and successful attempt to give an Italian classic a desi twist.
Quail, oyster mushroom, raspberry, and rosemary jus
So, for those of you’ll who haven’t tried quail meat, it’s a ground-nesting game bird so the meat is usually chewy, but Chef Mohib has done an excellent job with this one in terms of cooking the meat. The oyster mushrooms were thin, textured, subdued in flavor, and drenched in rich raspberry and rosemary sauce was pure decadence. The depth of flavor and vibrant color of jus added a sparkle of luxury to the quail meat absolutely complimenting it.
Dry-aged short ribs
Cooked with fermented Korean chilli topped with tapioca popcorn with sliced mango to go with on the side not only balance the flavors of sweet and spice but gave the dish a much-needed crunchy element.
Chicken kafir lime, edible canvas, marinated char-grilled chicken
Allow us a moment to reminisce the visual of how incredibly beautiful was Chef Mohib’s edible canvas plating for this dish. Not only was it a treat to devour but a feast to the eyes with a variety of vegetable purees laid beneath the chicken celebrating chef Mohib’s Jackson Pollock inspired abstract culinary art.
Gazpacho sorbet
A classic of Spanish cuisine, gazpacho made into a sorbet, served alongside garlic toast was one of our favorite dishes of the night. A dish which took around 6 months to get the perfect consistency brings across a unique idea with the most refreshing taste.
Coconut & Mango with lemongrass and black pepper
The theme was breakfast for dinner. What may look like your regular run in the mill sunny side up, it is the chef’s version of a deconstructed panna cotta. Panna cotta isn’t a very complicated indulgence but at Accentuate, simplicity reigns but in an elevated fashion, making this a dessert we crave. Delicious and velvety deconstructed panna cotta topped with tropical mango jelly. The panna cotta had a solid consistency with a soft bite to it. A spoonful gives you a hit of creamy coconut and flavorful tangy mango automatically transporting you to a tropical land.
Ugly delicious
The last dish of what has been the best dinner of our lives was the ‘Ugly delicious’, and our exact reaction being, “If this is ugly, we don’t know what beautiful would be for the chef!”. Banana custard and Belgian dark chocolate sandwiched between freshly baked crispy feuilliteine, sprinkled with coffee dust was a dessert we’ve been deprived of all our lives, justifying its name being truly delicious.
The love for food, passion for culinary art, personal touch to each dish is the very soul of ‘Accentuate’. In today’s age and time, where the emphasis on making a dish look more instagrammable rather than flavoursome is becoming mainstream, Chef Mohib Farooqui manages pulling off both, with appearance being king and taste being ace.
Chef’s Profile: Mohib Farooqui
An alumni of renowned Le Cordon Bleu school of culinary arts, Sydney where he received “DUX’ award for highest academic achievement in his class, Mohib has over fourteen year’s culinary experience in India and abroad. He returned to India after working in Sydney and Northern Queensland, Australia for 6+ years. While in Australia, he did many stints, a few of them being at Urbane (2 Hats/Michelin Restaurant) under Chef Kym Machin, Chefs on Moreton Bay under a Michelin Pedigree Chef Brian Grunewald, and under award-winning Chef Kenny McHardy at Great Barrier Reef.
He has taught at Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts school in Gurgaon, Ecole Hoteliere Swiss Hotel School in Lavasa, and at IHM- A, Aurangabad where he was involved in holding “Food Presentation and Styling” training sessions and workshops for Taj Group of Hotels chefs and students. He is the first chef to do a multi-sensory degustation menu of 13 courses at a hotel school in India. He currently conducts training workshops for professional chefs and consults restaurant and hotels across the country.
In November 2018, he won the best chef Academician of India for the year 2018 awarded by the International Society for Hospitality Education and currently holds the title until November 2019.
Mohib with his passion for cooking, has been doing avant-garde cooking since 2008 and has specialized in French Cuisine, Mediterranean, Levantine cuisine, Modern European and uses classical and modernist techniques in his Kitchen. He is actively involved in integrating the Slow Food Movement and Food Sustainability concepts, along with his interest in contemporary cooking techniques and Food Styling. He is currently associated and working with Reveri food design services, Pune and Accentuate food studio, a private dining venture of his own after serving as the culinary director at Indian School of Hospitality, Gurgaon which is one of the seven Ecole Hoteliere Lausanne affiliated schools from Switzerland.
Amit Singh
