Cocktails And Conversations: Black & White Scotch PLATTER With Food Talk India
A quiet Summer evening in Mumbai saw us making our way to Bandra’s popular Salt Water Café. The visit had a lot of surprises in store for us with the Black & White Presents PLATTER Curated by Food Talk India event.
A comfortable sit-down soiree, the event promised us a specially crafted menu that was #madeforsharing which magnified the flavours of the perfectly pleasant, classic blend of Black & White Scotch whisky over new friends and shared conversations.
Salt Water Café is known to create a symphony of timeless European flavours to provide its guests with an overall taste that is difficult to forget with the freshest ingredients, finest teas, and beverages.
So, we surely knew that meal that awaited us at the Platter was going to leave us starstruck!
Known to create stories behind every dish, Chef Gresham Fernandes, served us a menu that paired perfectly well with the Black & White 12-Year-Old Scotch cocktails concocted for all.
The cocktail menu offered the restaurant’s signature whisky cocktails; Calcutta Bitters, The Three Whisketeers, and Romeo & Julep.
The Calcutta Bitters with Black & White 12 YO, lemon, ginger ale, and angostura bitters was a tangy affair, smooth on the palate and a lovely addition to the conversations in the air.
The Romeo & Julep with Black & White 12 YO, lime juice, mint leaves, soda, and sprite was a highball delight. Cool and refreshing with the mint and sweet to taste.
The first course for the vegetarians was an assortment of fresh homemade cheese, pickled radish and carrots, and charred, pureed vegetables served with fresh sourdough.
The meat eaters chose to opt for a prawn, cuttlefish, and chorizo curry served steaming hot in cast-iron, worthy of second and third helpings.
Next in line was the broth; a filling concoction of mushroom, shitake, and yeast, smartly infused with Black & White 12 YO and served with fluffy steamed buns. The soft buns, when dipped in the flavourful broth made for a satisfying mouthful indeed.
Course number three was a complete meal in itself with a colourful mix of barbequed pork ribs, raw mango, and grapefruit salad on a plate. The pork was succulent, perfectly glazed, making the salad an excellent accompaniment. Satiating at its best, we balanced it out with a serve of Black & White on the rocks.
This lovely course was followed by the mains, roasted pumpkins carrots, served on a curried bed of coconut gravy and sprinkled with feta. The veggies were crisp, yet pleasantly chewy and at par with the sharp taste of the cheese. No points for guessing that this was an instant hit with the non-vegetarians as well!
And just when we thought we’d had the most of this ambrosial experience, Chef Gresham brought out the pies!
The apple pie served with smoked milk ice cream was luscious, stuffed with melt-in-the-mouth caramelised apple. In one word, heavenly!
Its non-vegetarian counterpart was the bacon pie (yes, you read that right). A dessert truly worth a wall of fame, it had the guests trying to scoop up spoonfuls even on a full belly. We’re hoping this one makes its way to Salt Water Café’s regular menu too!
What could only be described as an evening where we made new friends, rekindled old ones, and shared stories over food and good ole Scotch, the Black & White Presents PLATTER Curated by Food Talk India was by all means, exceptional.
