Sharing these views telephonically with LifeInChandigarh.com in the run-up to a first of its kind coffee tasting and learning session for coffee lovers in the tricity on October 23, Vikram Khurana, India’s only barista (Italian word for coffee brew master) ever to win top ranking (3^rd and 5^th positions) at two consecutive Annual World Barista Championships in 2002 and 2003, says, “As affluence increases in a society, so does automatically its coffee culture, like it happened in several East Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, etc.”

Picture of concentration: Barista champ Vikram Khurana

Vikram Khurana and Spanish-origin coffee entrepreneur, roaster and brewer with 29 years of international experience in the speciality coffee movement, Marc Tormo Altimira, settled in Auroville, Puducherry since 1996, will during a 90-minute session at Back To Source, cafe well-being in Sector 17, demonstrate before a select gathering of invited coffee lovers from the tricity how to brew best coffees at home and how best to savour them. Both are among the best known names in the world of coffee in India.  

Back To Source, which is already wowing coffee lovers by serving high quality freshly roasted speciality coffees – a variety of combinations of Marc’s Coffees’ signature coffees Buma Devi, Kaveri and Neri Malai, will be launching two new coffee flavours on the occasion. One of the new coffee flavours is from Odisha’s Koraput tribe in collaboration with Project O, and the other a nano lot produced by Pranoy from Kerehaklu Estate, Chickmangalur, Karnataka.

During the session, the invited coffee lovers will be explained how hand grinders, precision scales, pour over filters and kettles are helping create a new culture of home brewing. Incidentally, Khurana is also CEO of Kaapi Solutions, a company which besides offering end-to-end consultancy to cafe entrepreneurs, also sells world class home, office and cafe grade coffee machines and other equipments.

Comparing more affluent societies to India, Khurana adds, “No doubt there is a large and fast growing class of people in India who are addicted to coffee, and understand good coffee, but we lack consumption volumes. In Australia, for example, people start having their morning coffee as early as 7 am, but in India the earliest coffee session starts sometime late in the afternoon.”

“Also, consumption of black coffee, which brings out the very essence of good high quality coffee, is very low. By a rough estimate, as compared to espressos and milk coffees, it would be 7-8% in hotels and restaurants, and probably 20% in cafes serving speciality coffees,” he emphasises.

Commenting on Indian coffees, since India is the 5^th largest coffee exporting country in the world, he says “we cannot really claim that we grow and roast the best coffees in the world, but India’s coffees have their own unique flavour. We have realised our potential rather late, and are slowly getting there. A new generation of growers and roasters have started to experiment with the Indian coffees and are presenting good results.”

Sharing his own experiences as a champion barista, Khurana feels that more than formal education, brewing is about passion, knowledge and experience. He had joined Coffee Day as a barista only a year before India was first invited to the Annual World Barista Championship, its 3^rd edition at Oslo in 2002.

“It was an honour for me to represent Coffee Day at the event. I was nervous as well as excited. After months of practice, there I was at Oslo holding India’s pride in my hands. My 3^rd position finish among six finalists was dream come true. A 5^th position finish in the next edition of the championship at Boston in 2003 proved that the 2002 performance was not a fluke,” he recounts.

The good part, he asserts, was that India firmly stamped its presence on the world coffee map and India’s perception of being a mere coffee growing country changed forever.

LifeInChandigarh.com  by APR Media House is an enjoyable digital reading startup, which keeps you abreast of the latest meaningful happenings of interest to large sections of folks in Chandigarh tricity, and expats from the region. It has been promoted by a public spirited senior journalist and media consultant with a view to encourage good quality and healthy journalism, a dire need of the times.

To keep in touch, drop an email or call :
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An initiative of Amardeep Singh, who has shifted his focus to India after successfully running a chain of restaurants, including one of the biggest, a 350-cover award-winning restaurant, in New Zealand, the new outlet promises foodies a memorable experience with its very own signature gravies, butter gravies and curry masala.

Amardeep, a member of famous satirist and comedian Jaspal Bhatti’s original team who opened his first restaurant in the beautiful South Pacific country in 2007 and later added five more by 2015, had also opened a fine dining restaurant Ethnic Coriander’s Mint and a lounge and bar Angels & Grail at Bestech Square Mall Mohali a few months before the lockdown.

Besides offering an elaborate menu of veg and non-veg main course and starters from the chef’s wok and tandoor, the outlet boasts of a variety of breads, rice/noodles, rice dishes, sides, desserts, drinks and soups. Also available are a good nine types of reasonably priced (Rs 110-Rs 189) Express Combos, including rajma-chawal,  cheese naan with gravy, keema naan with gravy and mutton rogan josh with chawal.

Amardeep, who also has plans to open Coridander’s Express outlets at other locations across the tricity and is open to giving franchise in other cities, tells LifeInChandigarh.com, “the first choice for opening this small format outlet was very obvious; Sector 8 inner market is the busiest food hub in the tricity and there is always scope for another quality food joint to pick up a sizable customer base fairly quickly.”

Reacting to the timing of the opening, the passionate self-trained chef who designs all menus and recipes himself, says, “I am not sure how justified, but people still have this in their minds about not going to dine out especially in a mall despite restaurants following stringent safety protocols, but takeaways and deliveries have started to get back some momentum. The sentiment is bound to get positive with each passing week,” he asserts.

Among Coriander’s Express’ signature items, the ones which are already receiving repeat orders is Chicken Madras, a north Indian version without cream and coconut. “It’s a dish for those who enjoy a hot curry and is made from diced chicken cooked in lamb gravy with onion, herbs and spices, garlic and ginger,” Amardeep explains.

Jaspal Bhatti with family visiting Amardeep at Coriander’s in New Zealand

Other popular items are Coriander’s Special Kofta Curry, a signature preparation of cottage cheese in flavourful vegetable gravy and spinach juliennes (cut into long, thin strips); Crispy Chicken, with chicken pieces dipped in a paste of garlic, celery, lemon and co flour, deep fried and served with creamy sauce; and Thai Crispy Soya Chaap tossed in Chinese sauce.

Prince Charles and Camilla also visited Coriander’s in New Zealand

Tandoori Chicken Wings and Coriander’s Special Tikka, which has fillers of chicken marinated in yoghurt, fenugreek and fresh ground spices cooked in a tandoor, are also being liked by the customers.

Former New Zealand cricket captain Brandon McCullum is all smiles at Coriander’s

Among the drinks, Mango Sassy Lassi, which became a rage among locals and tourists alike back in New Zealand, is also a sure hit with the foodies. No meal is complete without a sweet, and Coriander’s special gulab jamuns and phirni fill in perfectly.

Jonathan S (2nd from left), owner of Hello Sunday Cafe, Christchurch, with his team visited Coriander’s in Mohali recently

For a vegetarian like me, mushroom do pyaza with tandoori missi roti and a glassful of mango sassy lassi, on Amardeep’s recommendation, was a pure delight!

Taking no chances with customers’ safety, Coriander’s Express is offering its own delivery within the tricity. Order can be placed on its website: coriandersexpress.com

Enthused enough to give it a try!

LifeInChandigarh.com  by APR Media House is an enjoyable digital reading startup, which keeps you abreast of the latest meaningful happenings of interest to large sections of folks in Chandigarh tricity, and expats from the region. It has been promoted by a public spirited senior journalist and media consultant with a view to encourage good quality and healthy journalism, a dire need of the times.

To keep in touch, drop an email or call :
kochhar.apr@gmail.com
9815617676

The elaborate thermal screening, sanitisation measures, safety masks and social distancing norms apart, the mood in the sub-100 gathering was upbeat as the national and regional industry leaders emphasised the need to responsibly and strictly comply with the SOPs, painstakingly framed by EEMA, and convince the government about opening up the sector further.

Though EEMA had been pushing the government to allow events with a ceiling of 200 people, the industry has expressed satisfaction over the breather provided under Unlock 4.0 of allowing gatherings with a maximum 100 people for social, religious, cultural and corporate events with effect from September 21 in most parts of the country.

Speaking to LifeInChandgiarh.com, Ankur Kalra, one of the founding members of EEMA, said he expected marriage ceremonies to be among the first events to get going. “Marriages are an essential activity and cannot be put off indefinitely, and with the festive season approaching, marriage planners can look forward to early revival of their business. “Other events which are considered avoidable, like exhibitions, large conferences, music festivals, etc will also slowly but surely make a comeback,” he shared.

EEMA has divided the entire industry into eight broad categories for the purpose of framing SOPs specific to each of them. These categories are weddings and other social events, corporate events, corporate activations, large conferences, government and large scale public and political events, rural marketing, religious events and musical festivals or concerts.

Though most SOPs may be common to all categories, there are many which are specific to different categories. Apart from following the usual safety protocols like sanitisation of venues, social distancing, wearing of masks and thermal screening, each organiser/event agency will have to do risk assessment of the venue and location in terms of space available, ventilation, sanitisation and seat distancing (6ft distance between two people and 4 sq metres of venue space per person).

The SOPs also encourage allowing entry of only guests who are pre-registered. There are strict guidelines regarding hygiene and other safety protocols to be followed by vendors and crew; waste disposal, including disposable gloves, face masks and caps (which should be treated as hazardous waste) and post event sanitisation.

Another important SOP is, every event should have a four-member mitigation committee known as Covid Risk – Mitigation, Audit, Compliance Committee (CR-MACC), which will have an event planner representative, a venue rep, a host/client rep and a third-party safety officer. This committee will ensure that all the protocols are followed and practiced in letter and spirit.

Ankur Kalra, while admitting that implementing the SOPs is not going to be easy, as it would involve devoting excess time, effort and resources, and will consequently add to the costs, asserted that the organisers/event agencies have no other option but to diligently plan and execute the SOPs to ensure zero incidence.

“Even a single reverse can prove disastrous for the industry. On the other hand, if we are able to convince the government that we can handle large gatherings without any risk of spreading the disease, it will only help open up the sector even more,” he emphasised.

While EEMA is holding a series of workshops across the country to sensitise the organisers/event agencies about the SOPs, it is also seriously emphasising on what it is calling as ‘guest social responsibility’. “Guests are equal partners in ensuring the safety of any event. We are telling organisers/event agencies to spread awareness about the SOPs among guests at all events and we expect them to act responsibly in their interests and those of others around them,” Kalra added.    

Punjab’s Minister for Sports, Youth & NRI Affairs Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, while formally releasing EEMA’s SOPs for the events and entertainment industry, commended the UT Chandigarh administration for increasing the maximum limit of people participating in an event from 50 to 100 and expressed confidence that Punjab too would follow suit.

Later, EEMA’s local representatives Binay Pal Singh, Bharat Dhiman, Daman Preet Singh, Vikramjit Singh, Angat Walia and Deepak Kumar, besides representatives of the hospitality and tourism industry, took a Covid Prevention Pledge to embrace EEMA’s safety protocols.

SOPs are available for download on eemaindia.com

LifeInChandigarh.com  by APR Media House is an enjoyable digital reading startup, which keeps you abreast of the latest meaningful happenings of interest to large sections of folks in Chandigarh tricity, and expats from the region. It has been promoted by a public spirited senior journalist and media consultant with a view to encourage good quality and healthy journalism, a dire need of the times.

To keep in touch, drop an email or call :
kochhar.apr@gmail.com
9815617676