The Latest Recipe restaurant at Le Meridien hotel is a vast, tastefully decorated space, where the counters are usually filled with Indian and Continental fare aplenty. But the latest recipes at Latest Recipe (cheesy pun intended) are of the Thai variety. Under the watchful eye of Chef Jatsalid Sirimongkolthong, a range of exotic dishes from Thailand present themselves to be experienced.
Jatsalid says Thai cuisine is similar to the local food, except for the Malayalis reliance on spices while Thai food uses ingredients like basil leaves and lemon grass to great effect. As he explains the preparation of tom yum goong (a soup, not the movie), he brings a plate filled with its ingredients, most notably the galangal, a form of ginger that gives the spicy soup a minty, herbal freshness.
The tom yum goong soup provides a soothing warmth to the throat as it goes down, with its spicy edge tempered with the lighter flavour of kaffir lime and lemongrass and some prawns to chew on. Follow this up with some stir-fried chicken cake with bright chilli paste and home grown basil leaves for some more spice. If a little breather is required, there is always lamb phad ka paon, crisp fried lamb that is stir fried with garlic chilli and hot basil. A bit on the chewy side, but a welcome compliment to the spicy starters that preceded it.
If meat is not to your taste, tom yum tofu is a tofu and mushroom soup that can substitute tom yum goong. Yam phak krob puts some crispy fried vegetables in chilli sauce, with spring onions and coriander while gaeng kheaw waan phak mixes vegetables in the famous Thai green curry, with basil making an appearance yet again.
Executive Chef Jatinder Pal Singh recommends some luk sin kai phad phet, the chicken minced ball marinated with egg having a smooth creaminess that goes well with fried rice (khao phad phak). Noodle lovers can help themselves to the inviting golden tangles of nee ki moong. Jatinder explains that the Thai selection (an extravagant affair with dishes boasting basa fillets, calamari, crabmeat and roasted duck as ingredients) is complimented by Indian and Continental selections. The salad and ice cream counters urge patrons to experiment, mix and match with ingredients of choice, while spurts of sudden smoke from the live counters mark the creation of personalised dishes on request. Selected a la carte dishes are also available.
The Thai cuisine is an exercise in experimentation, as different tastes make themselves known in creative combinations, and by and large provide a satisfying, and at times educational experience.
The Thai food fest is on at the Latest Recipe restaurant at Le Meridien from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. till June 1.
