KOCHI: For chef Sijo Chandran, each plate is a blank canvas desiring to be designed and adorned with food to make a masterpiece. His Instagram handle @sijochandran is a garnishing manifesto where dishes are delicately, diligently and exquisitely plated to resemble an evocative artwork, each serving a marvel by its own.
If a platter of shrimp, scallops and salmon dressed in lobster bisque cream, citrus snow with sides comprising squid ink, pickled vegetable and lemon sponge reminds you of summer, his Indian dessert combination -- rice kheer, achappam crumble, Kozhikodan halwa, gulab jamun syrup and kalathappam -- is a jog down a sweet memory lane. The 30-year-old Kannur native is a perfectionist, by all means, a scientist in the kitchen and an artist in food presentation. For him, food is a multi-sensory experience, that needs to satiate the eye first.
Currently working as the sous chef on the Crystal Yacht Expedition USA, the world’s most luxurious cruise expedition, Sijo mastered his culinary skills as the demi chef de partie at Sheraton and Radisson Blue, Bengaluru; as chef de partie at The Leela Palace, Ritz Carlton Bengaluru and at Radisson Blue, Chennai. “My plating techniques were elevated under the tutelage of Adam Jenkis, executive chef on the Crystal Yacht who worked at the Ritz London, a Michelin-starred restaurant.
There is more to food serving; decorating the plate with food as a complex arrangement in harmony with flavours and colours is imperative at the place I work. Symmetry and accuracy on the plate transforms the dining experience and heightens it by several notches. We design to appease the eye and the palate,” says Sijo.
While the culinary representation might seem laborious, a chef has the liberty to alter elements as he pleases, as long as every dish in the same course is decorated as an original. “Classical cooking and plating had specific rules albeit most of us employ modern techniques, which are flexible. However, before plating, it is important to have the main element, side dishes and a creamy base, which functions as a sauce.
If my appetizer comprises seafood as the star, I’ll pair it with purees which are highly flavourful, citrus-based vegetables to balance the flavour, edible decorative flowers for colour and a sauce, lest the dish is dry. Similarly, the presence of a starch element is mandatory with the rest for main course,” explains Sijo.Another aspect that sets the tone in place is the choice of crockery. “Chinaware plays the most
important role; food presented might be admirable but if the chef has made a wrong choice with the platter, the rhythm ceases to exist,” he adds.