Hello there, welcome to the second edition of Foodgasm – a five-course meal for your inbox. If you haven’t signed up yet, just click here. 

Last week, we discussed the role of cooking in evolution, and, if you are interested in the subject, here’s a tiny tome by British Primatologist Richard Wrangham Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human.

Now, World Gin Day was last week and we’ve got a twist to an old-fashioned cocktail this week, an appetizer that elevated Chindian cuisine that was created in Aamchi Mumbai, a main course that shows China, India, and America can collaborate, a dessert worth dying for, and finally to wrap up, a rebuttal to the heinous propaganda being spread about lettuce. 

But before we start, here's a dad joke: 

What would you call Obi-Wan Kenobi if he was a vegetable? 

I apologise to all Star Wars fans, those with a sense of humour, and any cauliflower enthusiasts offended by this joke. Speaking of things that are streaming, our award-winning friends at OTT Play just launched OTT Play Premium, and even the dark side can’t promise a deal this good. You can save anywhere between Rs 3000 to Rs 12,500 per year.

To paraphrase our friend Mace Windu: “The party’s just beginning.” 

Without further ado, let’s begin this week’s food trail:

June 11 was World Gin Day, and it’s a tipple that’s close to our hearts and making our presence felt – whether it’s bothering Humphrey Bogart’s Rick in Casablanca (Of all the gin joints in the world, she had to walk into mine), inspiring Billy Joel (There’s an old man sitting next to me, making love to his tonic and gin) or giving solace to Bertie Wooster.

Fun thing, the classic G&T cocktail is a quintessential “Made in India” product. 

An article in Hindustan Times notes: “It was sometime in the 1800s that an officer in the British Indian Army dreamt up this combination to disguise tonic water’s bitter taste. Tonic water, a carbonated drink with malaria-fighting quinine extract, had been devised as a more palatable alternative to the extremely bitter quinine- essential in Indian conditions. Not surprisingly, British troops weren’t exactly fans of this medicine. However, gin and tonic water, sweetened with some sugar and served with a wedge of lime, had soldiers queuing up for their daily dose.”

But today, we are making love to a different cocktail. 

We propose to try a twist on Don Draper’s favourite cocktail – the Old Fashioned.

Normally, an Old Fashioned is made using rye or bourbon, but here we swap it for gin. 

What do you need? Gin, sugar syrup, and some Angostura aromatic bitters. Check out the recipe on Slurrp.

I and the public know, what all schoolchildren learn.

The best Chinese cuisine is Indian, better than that, there is none.

The desi version of the Chinese cuisine is available in every nook and cranny of the country, as ubiquitous as dosas or pani puri, and is even blamed for societal ills.  

Rajiv Gandhi in China (Source: MEA) 

Of course, it has no resemblance to Chinese food from China. 

When Rajiv Gandhi went to China, his Joint Secretary Mani Shankar Aiyar was asked: “Do you’ve any Chinese food in India?” 

When Aiyar replied in the affirmative, the official wondered which Chinese region inspired this cuisine which led Aiyar to use Vir Sanghvi’s delightful coinage: “It’s called Sino-Ludhianvi. And it’s from the Ludhiana region." 

And no outing is complete without eating the gobi/chicken manchurian, an Indian dish created by an immigrant with the soul of an adventurer.

The offering was created by Nelson Wang in 1975, son of Chinese immigrants from Calcutta and a caterer at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. 

A customer – his name appears lost to the pages of time – asked for something off-the-menu. 

According to an article in HomeGrown: “Wang returned to the kitchen, coated cubes of chicken with cornstarch, fried them, and added them to a garlic, ginger and green chilli-based sauce – ingredients that were essentially Indian, along with soy sauce. Word spread about this curious new dish.” 

In fact, Wang is also credited with creating several other cuisine classics, including fried creamy corn and the tippler’s favourite chicken lollipops. 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

Nelson Wang’s China Garden became one of India’s most famous Chinese restaurants, and we had a dish we could savour again and again and again. 

Today’s main course is a top-tier dish which is the culinary fusion of three countries that often don’t see eye to eye – India, America, and China. 

The American Chop Suey is a dish in which crisp fried noodles are served with a mishmash of vegetables/chicken/prawns in a starchy thick orange sauce reminiscent of ketchup with a fried egg on top.  

So, how did we end up with this Indo-American-Chinese amalgamation? 

The words chop suey – which is incidentally also the title of the first true metal song to hit a billion views on YouTube – is derived from the Chinese tsap suei, meaning miscellaneous leftovers. 

The chop suey served in America has little connection to its Indian namesake. 

The “Chinese” chop suey in America was certainly introduced by Chinese immigrants, even though there are conflicting tales. Either way, by the 1950s, one could even buy ‘chop suey vegetables’ in the USA in a can. 

In India, it was most likely introduced thanks to American soldiers. In 1942, some 17,000 US troops (called GIs) arrived in Calcutta to man bases for the Allies. Now, it’s not particularly hard to imagine American GIs going to Chinatown and asking for some ‘chop suey’. 

According to a Conde Nastarticle: “Enterprising Chinese restaurant owners in Tangra are believed to have adapted the tsap suei to suit American palates, with ingredients that were available locally and familiar to them: ketchup, fried noodles, and an egg. The dish, of course, grew in popularity with troops and locals alike, eventually finding pride of place in any self-respecting Indian Chinese restaurant.” 

Clearly, American GIs weren’t the only ones who loved the unique dish that is now a staple of Chinese restaurants across the country. In fact, such is its towering legacy that in The Ming Room in Toronto, Canada, a restaurant owned by an Indian-Chinese owner from Kolkata, the same concoction is called the Calcutta Chop Suey. 

Since we are down this rabbit hole, today’s dessert is another favourite from the Indo-Chinese stable, even though one finds it very hard to track down its origin. All roads seem to lead to Mainland China, the restaurant chain, not the country.

Launched by Anjan Chatterjee in Mumbai in 1995 to bring Calcutta’s Hakka-style cuisine to the Island City, the restaurant now has 52 joints across the country and is synonymous with Chinese food. 

Its genius lies in its simplicity. It’s a simple dessert that consists of crispy fried honey noodles tossed in almond flakes and served with vanilla ice cream. 

And it’s very easy to make. Check out the full recipe on Slurrp.

(PS: If you know anyone who can help us find more about the origin of Darsaan, do drop a mail at nirmalya.dutta@htdigital.in)

Over the last week, the legacy of one of the greatest leafy vegetables has been dragged through the proverbial mud after news that KFC in Australia would be using a cabbage-lettuce mixture instead of pure lettuce in their burgers. 

That is the gustatory equivalent of replacing Govinda with Varun Dhawan in a classic 90s remake and calling it the same thing. Or like saying The Matrix Resurrections was just good as The Matrix. 

To borrow a phrase from the world’s most famous fictional civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby: “It is the thin end of the wedge.” 

Thankfully, the Australian PM Anthony Albanese has noted the rising crisis and told a radio channel that they’d discuss it in the cabinet. The wise man noted: “Cabbage isn't the same as lettuce. That's just wrong. I'll put it on the list for the Cabinet meeting today. Cabbage-gate."

A daily newspaper spread some vile propaganda claiming that the iceberg lettuce’s raison d’etre was to “add a veneer of virtue to a fast-food eater’s experience” and to “enjoy one’s meal one must first take out the lettuce”. 

Clearly, they’ve never made a proper sandwich. 

The lettuce isn’t there to paper over the nutritional deficiencies of food items, but its neutral taste makes it a perfect counterfoil or accompaniment to a variety of dishes. 

It’s there to elevate every dish it graces, whether it's cut Julienne or shredded. 

Take the burger. A crisp lettuce leaf between the bun, molten cheese, and protein is the perfect explosion of flavours in your mouth.

In an egg-and-lettuce sandwich, it brings out the flavour of relish, mayo, or mustard. 

In a BLT sandwich, it’s the only worthy accompaniment to the crispy bacon. Try having a BCT, and you will know what we mean. 

In a Caesar salad, it’s the protagonist, a counterfoil to the other ingredients like croutons and olive oil. Throw in some protein, and you have a delectable meal. 

You can even make a wrap with lettuce to cut down unnecessary carbs.

To paraphrase a popular country song by Waylon Jennings: “There are only two things that make life worth living. A guitar-tuned good and a firm-feeling iceberg lettuce.” 

Long live the iceberg lettuce.