Celebrating the vibrant flavours of Australian cuisine, Pickwicks at Claridges Hotel, is hosting its first-ever Australian Spring Festival.
Setting the vibe are tables decorated with the Australian national flag and a special buffet with 40 plus items and an a-la-carte menu.
“It took us around two and a half months to do our research for the festival,” says head chef Vivek Rana, as neither him or anyone from his staff has visited Australia or trained in its cuisine.
“We read enormous amounts of books, dug out online information and even discussed with guests who were either from Australia or had visited the place. They taught us what real Australian home-cooked food is and even shared home recipes.”
Many ingredients were sourced from Australia, especially Barramundi and John Dory. “We also brought Australian lamb meat and Macadamia nuts that have been incorporated in various dishes.”
We started with the healthy Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Vegemite toast. Peeled pumpkin roasted with olive oil, garlic, cloves and onions is made into a puree that is cleaned and boiled with salt.
The only dairy in the soup is the cream that garnished it. The toast was slathered with Vegemite, a thick, black food spread made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives, a staple in most Australian households.
Overall, the soup was exceptionally creamy with pumpkin seeds that lent a chewy texture and a nutty flavour. And the Vegemite tasted rather salty with malty flavours, a must try.
Next, we tried the Australian Open Sandwich with salad on the side. This mix of perfectly cooked meat and cheese on bread can be traced to Italian and Mexican street food.Adding their creativity, chef Rana and his team have come up with steamed bread burgers.
The platter had three mini burgers with different fillings. One had edamame as a filling, known for its buttery texture and often used in Japanese cuisine.
“For this burger, we have used Indian edamame,” shared chef Rana. The other burgers had a mix vegetable patty and corn and potato fillings, served with crispy French fries, Kasundi mustard and a spicy dip.
Next was the Australian Lamb Pie or the Mini Meat Pie, pretty similar to the Portuguese Egg Tart. However, unlike the tart, the pie is left uncovered with pickled tomato on top to cut down the fat from the lamb meat.
The soft and crunchy pie is a burst of flavourful of herbs and meat, served with blue cheese sauce and arugula.
For the main course, we had the star dish, Herb Crusted Chicken; shallow braided and crispy, tender and juicy at the same time. It was served with plum tomato confit buttered spaghetti.
A simple preparation, as chef Rana called it, but rather flavourful.
Vegetarians can try the Mix Vegetable and Garbanzo Stew served with couscous, prunes and apricot or the Green Peas, Cheese and Macadamia Parcels, served with green bean pesto.
For the dessert, we were served Black Ant Lamington, Chocolate Chantilly, and Australian Sponge Cake. My personal favourite was the sponge cake dusted with desiccated coconut, black sesame and cherry cream. A perfect ending to a perfect meal.
Till: September 28
Where: Pickwicks at Claridges Hotel