Skip to main content

Sugarcrafter: Anees Khan



Growing up in Berhampur, a small town on Orissa, Anees Khan wanted to be a doctor. He made it to dental school but not wanting to be a dentist, he started looking for other options. One day, his dad brought home a flyer for hotel management degree. Why not, thought Anees, did some research and soon became the first student from his school to go to Institute of Hotel Management. The rest, as they say, is history.

Before he opened his classic French patisserie called Star Anise on Bandra's Linking Road about a month ago, chef Anees got himself years of experience all around the world. On his first day of his first job at the Leela, he asked to cook continental food and was promptly shipped to the pastry kitchen. It took him several months and a meeting with Beat Loffel, a Swiss pastry chef whom Anees counts as a mentor, to convert him to a life of pastry. Chef Anees then went on to head pastry kitchens all over the world. Everything from his stint in Canada, the newly set up restaurant in Tanzania to an opulent five star kitchen in Oman added to his pastry repertoire that he first showcased through his catering business. Now five years old, his central kitchen in Sewri caters to clientele with global tastebuds.

But large scale catering didn't give Chef Anees the opportunity to create intricate, technically challenging French desserts. It's impossible to do this chocolate dome for 1000 people, says Anees pointing to a piece of art on Star Anise's display case. I try his raspberry dessert, made eggless to cater to a large non-egg eating population in the city. The mousse is set firm but the liquid centre, full of melon caviar, surprises me.



Anees promises to stay close to his classical French training and shudders at the thought of adding a black forest cake to the menu. He says he stays close to the recipes from the 18th century France but presents them in a modern setting, adding all the whimsical touches we've come to know as molecular gastronomy (after all, didn't a French chemist first invent that!). It must be different from a five star kitchen, I ask him and he mentions his biggest challenge is transporting his creations from the central kitchen, braving the Bombay heat and traffic.

But the creations that travel well and make Chef Anees really come alive are his breads. Star Anise is full of some beautiful loafs and sweet pastries. The apple turnover I brought home one day is just the right amount of crispiness and his garlic loaf has a beautiful crumb. The secret he says is the ingredients he uses, right down to the French butter that makes the croissants at Star Anise flaky.

Curious then, to hear what Chef Anees has to say to our rapid fire questions?

Favourite Dish to Eat: His mother's chicken curry
Favourite Dish to Bake: Croissant
Favourite Indian Dessert: Chhena Pura
Bread or Cake: Bread
Brownie or Macaron: Macaron
One Indian Flavour he would like to use in his desserts: Paprika

I should have mentioned this earlier that Star Anise is also full of jars of jams with some really creative flavours. Is one of those jam recipes the one that Chef Anees shares with us? Just wait until the next post to find out.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but
10 comments
Read more

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are
25 comments
Read more

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.
1 comment
Read more