Fake vegetarian

Despite the prevalence of “Jain” Chinese and Thai (particularly in Mumbai), Udupi restaurants, Gujarati thalis and vaishnav bhojanalays, it is a truth universally acknowledged that vegetarians do get a raw deal when eating out.

The easy availability now of more exotic vegetables and ingredients — morels and truffles, for instance, are much more expensive than the choicest of imported fish and meats — have eased vegetarian pains somewhat but most restaurant menus are fairly lopsided. Not only isn’t there equal representation in terms of number and quality, but often a restaurant will subsidise meat-eaters at the cost of vegetarians. What else can explain a Rs 500 dal or Rs 1,000 for two pieces of paneer-stuffed-with potato kebabs?

 

So, visiting an all-vegetarian restaurant this week in what is perhaps the country’s, and the world’s, only all-veg five-star hotel — they do not even use eggs — in the NCR was an interesting experience. Country Inn and Suites, a chain known mostly for its budget hotels, has launched its first five-star property, of all places in Sahibabad, well in time not just for the Commonwealth Games but also to attract business travellers from nearby Noida. Their market research suggested that guests from traditional business communities would prefer an exclusively vegetarian restaurant, not to mention travellers from countries where that is the latest fad.

At 64/6 (that is the restaurant’s name), the quality of food is really good — and the restaurant, luckily, makes no attempt to even approximate the non-vegetarian experience either through the use of soya products made to taste and look like fish or meat in its oriental section (a concept popular in Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore) or even in serving up “vegetarian” steaks or “biryanis” in its Continental and Indian sections respectively.

In fact, the effort, rightly, is to be distinct and purely veg even while serving global cuisine. (The restaurant does not even use bone china crockery.) And there are no short-cuts: The mushroom soup, for instance, is full of mushrooms instead of being the regular cornflour-concoction garnished with a few fungi slices. Also, exotic vegetables are hardly used — the produce is strictly local and fresh — which is again a refreshing change from much of vegetarian restaurant-cooking as we know it. On the other hand, there is no short-changing on the quality of, say, olive oil or balsamic vinegar, or even ice-cream: The ice-cream teppanyaki counter (another novel offering that uses a freezing steel plate instead of the regular hot one) uses flavours from Baskin Robbins — this in a buffet costing just Rs 500 per head.

But I came back with more than a good meal from this all-veg hotel. Sumit Sinha, F&B director, a former Taj chef, gave me a few tips from his research which the vegetarians and vegans among you may find interesting. Next time you pick up any of these “pure veg” products, be careful.

1. Kaju Barfi, er, with egg: Kaju barfi should be full of cashews. But in the absence of strict labelling laws in India, mithai shops are known to cheat with more khoya, less nuts. What you may not realise is that manufacturers could even use egg for binding. “The barfi spreads out better; it is a trade secret,” says Sinha.

2. Bread sticks, profit rolls: It’s not just cakes and pastries that have eggs, bread is usually glazed with egg white. And those delicious profit rolls are, in fact, impossible to make without eggs.

3. Gelatin: Is made from boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals. In fact, “vegetarian gelatin” (Agar-Agar, derived from seaweed) is not available commonly in India, says Sinha.

4. Cheese: Unless you are having specifically-labelled “vegetarian cheese”, a practice makers follow in the West, your mozzarella or cheddar may have been made using rennet, an enzyme obtained from the digestive tract of slaughtered calves! Ugh!

5. L-cysteine: Is a common dough conditioner (used for doughnuts, pizzas et al) and an approved flavour enhancer. But according to research by the Vegetarian Research Group, its most common origin today is duck feathers though there’s some synthetic production too. Check: http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm#carmine.
 

A clarification

Our report, Fake vegetarian, published on July 4, 2009, had quoted Sumit Sinha, F&B director of Country Inn and Suites, to say that eggs could be used in kaju barfi for binding. Pradeep Jain of Shree Mumbai Mishtann Vyavasai Mandal Limited, an association of manufacturers and sellers of Indian sweets, has stated that eggs are never used in kaju barfi.

(anoothi.vishal@bsmail.in)