Would care to try Spanish Cuisine, in Mumbai?
Hola amigos!!
Spanish cuisine known to only a handful of people, and understood by even fewer. Not many are familiar with it, nor have they had the opportunity to taste something close to authentic Spanish food. More often than not, it is casually mistaken for the infamous Mexican cuisine. But today was different — my gastronomic enthusiast acquaintance and I decided to finally give this cuisine the credit it truly deserves.
A cuisine born in Spain -
a land situated in the Iberian Peninsula, framed by rugged mountain ranges and blessed with an expansive coastline touching both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Like every great cuisine, Spanish food is a product of colonization and the rule of various kingdoms over time.
These kingdoms, in their relentless search for wealth, invaded Spain through different means. Yet while they came to claim the land and swell their treasuries, they unknowingly left behind something invaluable. Something that Spain, to this day, does not forget; something it has today made a part of its culture and daily life.
These invaders blessed Spain with foreign ingredients unknown to its people; what they gave was cultural exchange, cooking techniques, and the know-how to work with all of this in complete harmony.
You would ask, what actually is authentic Spanish cuisine?
I answer this question in a little different way.
What we know today about this cuisine, or for that matter any cuisine, is just confined knowledge of the past few hundred or so years. Because as we continue to research about the past and try to reach that point where we can call it the ‘authentic’ origin of a food habit, then we are just walking in a dark tunnel with no end. Because nothing is more evolving in nature than food itself. What we eat today is just a replication of previously made dishes, which in fact were replications of dishes made before them. So this infinite loop will go on, as the various factors, while curating a dish, are continuously changing and evolving. Hence, nothing is authentic; it is just an effort to come as close as possible to a replication with the available factors.
Let's see how the Spanish cuisine has evolved over time,
Starting with the point in history up to which I was able to dig:
The Romans — with them came wheat, and they taught the cultivation of wheat, olives, and vines, which in turn gave way to bread, olive oil, and wine in the Spanish diet.
The Visigoths — developed livestock farming in this land, without which the Spanish wouldn’t have been so proud of their jamón ibérico.
The Arabs — the timespan being the longest compared to other regimes — introduced the core ingredient used to make everyone’s beloved paella — ‘grains of rice’. Along with this, they also brought citrus fruits, almonds, and spices like saffron and cumin; the cuisine was revitalized into a whole new thing.
Its own discovery — the discovery of the Americas — resulted in Spain gaining ingredients like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and cocoa beans, which were some jewels they took from America, apart from the other riches.
To find out how these revolutionized dishes due to the passage of time, culture, and kingdoms, actually tasted, we visited
by Chef Manuel Olveira —
a neighborhood restaurant nestled on the streets of Pali Hill, Bandra.
It is a restaurant paying homage to Spanish cuisine with a touch of modernism. As you enter the restaurant, your first encounter will be with a wooden door, which won’t need much effort to open. We were then greeted by the hostess, who escorted us to our table. (I highly recommend you reserve a table in advance, as the restaurant is usually packed to capacity.) I was struck with awe after seeing the interiors. Embracing a European old-world aesthetic, the space plays with beige, white, and brown tones, adorned with beautiful ceiling paintings and artifacts etched into the walls.
Enough about the non-gastronomic part, let’s jump to the appetizers. For that, we decided to go a little bold and wild; Pulpo, aka octopus, was the first course that we ordered.
1. Charred Octopus (7.5/10)⭐:
It was served on a bed of tomato chutney along with some tossed baby potatoes and arugula. The spicy paprika-marinated octopus played quite well with the fusion tomato chutney. This dish truly hit a homerun when it came to textural diversity on the palate. Safe to say, this plate had me quite tentacled in its flavours.
This was then followed by
2. Corn Crusted Chicken Tacos (8/10)⭐:
A beautiful looking taco that hit all the right spots with the pairings of macha salsa, spicy mayo, sour cream and, of course, chicken.
For the first main course, traditional and classic had the upper hand — the renowned Paella.
3. Chicken and Wild Mushroom Paella (7/10)⭐:
One thing I truly appreciated about this dish was that the Chef served it to us in a paellera, taking a traditional and rustic approach. It was a satisfying dish overall, with a portion generous enough for two people. One spoon in and you could almost hear Spain whispering olé from the pan.
Next, we tried something from their seasonal black truffle menu.
4. Dry Aged Duck (5.5/10)⭐
Pan-seared duck breast served on a bed of delicate duck leg ragout and sushi rice, accompanied by miso consommé and shaved black truffle on top. I personally was very excited for this dish, but as fancy and umami-rich as the description sounded, the execution did not quite meet my expectations. The excessive use of truffle oil and truffle unfortunately overpowered every other element of the dish, which made the overall bite rather unpleasant.
And now, finally, we have our showstopper.
5. La Loca Maria Tiramisu (9/10)⭐
Though this is not a dish from Spanish cuisine cookbook, this dessert absolutely deserved a chef’s kiss for its creativity, thought, plating and execution. It hit the sweet spot — quite literally. It was a reimagined version of the tiramisu, but my friend, this was playing in a different league altogether. The dish featured an airy and light mascarpone cheese layered between a coffee meringue. I particularly loved how they replaced the traditional savoiardi with that crackly meringue, which elevated the entire plate. And to put the cherry on the cake — or should I say tiramisu — it was accompanied by a house-made coffee ice cream that I quite enjoyed as well. Overall, this dish definitely deserves its own place in the hall of fame.
to conclude,
Dining here was one hell of an experience. My kudos to Chef Manuel and his team for bringing Spain as close as possible to the land of Mumbai.
And as I always say, these are just my personal opinions.
If you want to make yours, go and try it yourself — or don’t.
Either way, the paella will keep cooking and the tiramisu will keep stealing hearts.
Adiós amigo!!!
Also, you can read my reviews on some Asian restaurants I recently visited. By CLICKING HERE.
And click exactly HERE to read my recipe blogs.
