Chef Maitreya Sen - The Indian chef who fell in love with Italian food

Chef Maitreya Sen, Chef de Cuisine at La Cucina, Hyatt Regency, Kolkata  

“Let me first say one thing,” says Chef Maitreya Sen when we meet him in La Cucina, Hyatt Regency’s authentic Italian restaurant: “I am not an Italian but I have a passion to cook Italian food.”

It may sound like a paradox – an Indian chef surrounded by influences of the great cuisine of Bengal who falls in love with the joyous tastes and flavours of Italy, but it’s evident that Italian food has become a part of Chef Sen’s heart and soul.

Maitreya gained his first experience of Italian gastronomy in hotels, including 16 years at the upmarket Taj, when he often found himself working alongside Italian colleagues.

“I gained almost all my knowledge from them and that was what gave me the passion for this type of cuisine,” he tells us. “From when I first started cooking at a junior level I always had a dream to, if possible, become an Italian chef and I’m happy to say I turned my dream into a reality. I feel that Italian cooking is in my blood.”

Chef Sen and his team at La Cucina

At the Hyatt Regency where Kolkata born Maitreya has worked since its opening in 2002, the management could have employed an Italian chef to oversee their flagship dining destination, La Cucina. Instead they recognised that they had a unique asset in their incandescent chef. They decided to send him for a month’s training in the country itself under Michelin-star chef Davide of Il Sole di Ranco, at his family-run relais in Milan. It turned out to be a wise investment La Cucina is now the most popular Italian restaurant in town.

“It was a very small property near to Lake Maggiore – a beautiful place,” remembers Chef Sen of Il Sole. “The restaurant had a 60 years’ heritage, starting as a hotel in 1957, and the kitchen had never changed since then with big hotplates and old stoves. But the experience was something I shall cherish all my life.

“Chef Davide was very welcoming and kind. The biggest problem is that he rarely speaks English and doesn’t understand that much and I have tried to learn Italian but I don’t have much time. As you can imagine we had a lot of fun – I used to ask him ‘Chef, what is this?’ He would look at me, say something in Italian and then I would look at him! Luckily the waiter, Fabio knew a lot of English and used to interpret for us. But I learned so much. After that experience I shifted to Milan where the hotel supplier moved me round speciality restaurants – Tuscan, Sicilian - all kinds. The chefs in each were really happy to show me around their kitchens and how they cooked various dishes. It was the first time anyone had travelled from this part of the world to learn about their cooking. I also visited all the markets in Milan: fish and vegetable markets and cheese and wine shops so I gained a complete picture of the Italian food.”

On his return to the Hyatt, Maitreya was able to make new changes to the menu to reflect the truly authentic north Italian cooking. The flavours and ingredients are simple yet the results are a revelation to the taste buds. One of the most important innovations was to introduce homemade pasta. “I learned from Chef Davide that pasta is the most important thing in Italian food,” says Maitreya. “You get pasta in all restaurants but it is the kind of commercialised readymade pasta that you could cook at home. I learned you should go deeper into the traditions of Italian food, to get to the ‘mama’s’ and grandmothers’ style of cooking; the ones who used to make the fettucinne, the gnocci, the pasta and the dumplings in the traditional kitchen. So I am still implementing this – I have a small machine to make all types of pasta: the capeli d’angelo, fusilli, fettucine, angelo, ravioli and so on, and it tastes completely different from the dried variety.”

 

With homemade pasta, a wood fired stove for fresh pizzas, risottos, dolcis, Italian aperitivos and wines, La Cucina has become a corner of Italy – Lombardy to be precise.  Working with a team of seven chefs, all trained in Italian cuisine, dishes use a few simple but fresh basic ingredients. Chef Sen recommended some of his favourites learned during his time spent in Italy. For pasta de cecco we had the Crema di asparagi con parmigiano e paprika: a creamy asparagus orzo with parmesan, breadcrumbs and paprika. The asparagus dish is a very simple recipe using just a few ingredients,” said Maitreya. “This is the kind of asparagus we get in the market, not like the European one. We just blanch it for around 80-90 seconds, make a simple sauce with unsalted butter, juice of the lemon, some herbs, parsley and basil and a little salt – you can also have white wine if you like - and add the sauce to the asparagus.” The result was fresh, light and refreshing. The Ravioli Carbonara we had for second course, he explained, was a recipe from chef Davide’s great grandfather. Made with a simple reduction of the cream, crushed peppers, onions and pancetta bacon, the hidden egg yolk bursts out in a golden pool across the plate when you cut into it. The Tiramisu dolce which completed our dining experience contained no egg however. Maitreya told us many of his customers are strict vegetarians, but the layered dessert soaked in coffee with sweet Mascarpone cheese was a credit to its Venetian origins.

The married father of one 12-year-old daughter, Maitreya now has another dream – to travel back to Italy at least two or three more times in his life. And when he does he hopes to take his family with him: “My daughter has also grown a palate for this type of food,” he says with a smile. It’s not surprising!

Out and about in Kolkata - Famous Places and Good Value Eateries

Famous Places and Good Value Eateries

The Best Momos in Town

 We were told we must visit The Blue Poppy Restaurant to sample the cheapest and best momos in town. At the time we weren’t sure what a momo was, but discovered it’s a Nepalese dumpling with meat, vegetable or cheese filling either steamed or fried made with a white flour water dough and served with garlic chilli or sesame sauce.

The Blue Poppy is on the second floor of Sikkim House which is hidden away without any clues as to its location whatsoever, at Middleton Row just off the Park Street area. The ground floor has a tourist office with information about Sikkim, very useful if you want to get a pass to visit the neighbouring state. Bearing in mind the fact that we entered the restaurant at 3.45pm and it was due to close at 4pm, the waiters were surprisingly friendly (and very speedy). Even if the room was a bit like a comprehensive school classroom with plastic furniture, it was also clean and hygienic (always a plus) - and we soon cheered up when we saw the prices.

Food on the menu includes Tibetan, Bhutanese, Nepali, Chinese and Indian. We ordered chicken steamed and pan fried vegetable momos with Chinese noodles. Within a matter of minutes, the delectable dumplings were revealed in all their glory.  There are several different types; Kothays for example are a type of steamed momo, lightly fried on the bottom; Phalays are rolled like a stuffed paratha with a choice of fillings. Thukpas and Tibetan flat noodle soup and Bhutanese food including Datchi – a chilli cheese stew, plus Pork shyapta were also on offer. The chilli and garlic sauces were hot and spicy and the momos delicious. Undoubtedly the restaurant is an ideal venue for hard up students (or food critics) as the portions are huge and tasty. And, incredibly cheap - including a bottle of Pepsi, the total cost came to 300rupees (about £3).

In fact for us first timers, visiting the Blue Poppy was a truly momo-entous occasion.

Arsalan – best Biryani ever!

We visited Arsalan on our last visit to Kolkata and it is one of our favourite restaurants in the city where you can get really good, fresh Indian food. The restaurant at 191 Marina Garden Court, Park Street serves Mughlai and North Indian cuisine but it’s also renowned for its biryanis and for its succulent kababs. The restaurant is always packed and you have to wait for a table before being called by name. There’s also a serving area for street food where perfectly spiced kababs sizzle on an open grill and there’s a never-ending queue of people to sample them.  The perfectly flavoured and un-oily biryanis are delicous - especially the mutton and special chicken which have double serving of meat and egg.  The place is rightly famous for its kababs with Murg bara kebab, murg reshmi kabab and murg makkh malai well recommended.  Chicken tikka butter masala with butter naan is said to be tasty. Phirniis is good and Murgh Chatpata is spicy. And a meal for two costs around 500 rupees – yes folks – that’s around £5!

Here’s a list of other good value restaurants recommended by our tour guide Ritwick (and us):

Bengali food:

Bhojohori Manna - 18/1A Hindustan Road, Near Rash Behari Avenue – cost 400 for two people approx.

Muglai:

Anokha Bagicha -  173 Park Street, Near Park Circus, 7 Point Crossing

Zeeshan - 17 Syed Amir Ali Ave, Park Circus Area – cost 300 for two people +VAT and service charges.

Italian, Mexican, Thai, North Indian, Continental: KK’s Fusion – 89 C, Narkeldanga Main Road, Swabhumi Complex (almost opposite the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Salt Lake City), EM Bypass – cost around 1200 for two people +VAT and service charges.

Italian:

Spaghetti Kitchen – 4^th Floor, Forum Mall, Elgin Road – cost around 2000 for two people + VAT.

La Cucina 

– The Hyatt Regency Hotel, Salt Lake City (the best Italian in Kolkata!!)

- cost from 1450 per person for three courses

              

Out and about in Kolkata - The Indian Coffee House

Famous places and good-value eateries

The Indian Coffee House

 While we were in Kolkata we paid a visit to the famous Indian Coffee House on College Street to drink in the atmosphere and a murky cup of coffee.

The Indian Coffee House – a historical meeting place of the city’s more bohemian citizens - lies close to the university. True to its academic setting, the surrounding streets are full of stalls with teetering piles of academic papers, manuscripts, text books
and large volumes. Who says no-one reads any more!

It’s a pleasant place to wander, without too much street hassle, with a mix of architecture and buildings, some of which are sprouting their very own trees. After having to ask for directions several times, we discovered our destination on a gloomy looking building on a corner of Bankim Chatterjee Street.

The Coffee House was first established to commemorate the visit of the prince consort to Calcutta in 1890 when it was named Albert Hall, but is now run as a co-operative by its employees who share ownership. After its opening the place became a breeding ground for intellectuals, patriots, and activists who met to discuss politics and the arts before the Indian Coffee Board turned the premises into a formal coffee house in 1944. Sadly, nowadays the customers are more ordinary folk: students, pensioners and a few intrepid tourists drinking (a trifle gingerly) from less than white cups.

A dingy set of stairs, lined with buckets lead up to the second floor. Judging by the red stained splashes on the wall, they’re used as spittoons for paan chewing customers with a bad aim. A clattering din and echoing chatter emanates from the interior which is packed with canteen tables and chairs. Fans whir on high ceilings above an art deco balcony. The walls are sepia and a full length picture of Rabindranath Tagore is hung reverentially at one end of the room. Waiters wear a distinctive (if grubby), uniforms with fan-like hats. Behind a door a peek at the kitchen reveals that it would not have looked out of place in a Victorian workhouse with grimy butler sinks piled high with dishes and cups.

The paper menu which has possibly been used to mop the table since 1944 offers an eclectic selection including Onion Pakoras, Chicken Cutlets, Egg items, Mutton and Fish fry, an extra 2 oz milk or cream can be ordered to enhance the muddy coffee which comes both hot and cold or filter. Prices are around 35rupees for a chicken sandwich and 25rupees for a hot coffee with cream. Our coffee tasted a lot like dishwater (I’m told the Darjeeling leaf tea would have been a wiser choice). But, who cares - you don’t visit The Indian Coffee House for the quality of its coffee. The place is a legend!