�Nepal could be a Heaven for Gastronomic Tourism with her wealth of indigenous delicacies. The multi-ethnic and multi - cultural ingenuity of Nepal offers unlimited choice of cuisines based on region, religion, ethnicity, culture, festivals, environment and diverse climatic conditions.�

- Karna Shakya.

Nepali wherever they are, they tend to carry their own culture, customs and traditions along with them. It is same with people of every ethnicity, culture & country. We find many restaurants serving different cuisines in small market like Kathmandu and many these restaurants has the history that one of the partner belonged to the country from where the cuisine originated. [caption id="attachment_2073" align="alignleft" width="415"] Sapu Mhicha[/caption] There are many restaurants abroadd serving Nepali cuisine; almost all of them are owned by Nepali entrepreneur, restaurateur and most of the customers are of Nepali origin or the people who have visited, stayed in Nepal and know something about Nepali cuisine. Many, who are ignorant about Nepali cuisine, take the misconnection that it is similar to Indian Cuisine. Much work is needed to take Nepali cuisine to the level where it would be sought for. Without a doubt we can say that Nepali food could make its place in the global arena with its richness. Chefs from inside and outside the country has become aware that our foods is as good as other cuisine and are willing to promote it. As the result chefs are collaborating and coming up with different concepts with in the country and around the world. This probably is a good start. Some questions though could be shall we simply stick to the roots? Shall we fuse in some modern techniques? What could possibly be the future of our cuisine? How can we make the difference? [caption id="attachment_2071" align="alignright" width="268"] Kachila[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2074" align="alignleft" width="206"] Takha[/caption] If we really want to globalize our cuisine, we should encourage these restaurants to target more of non-Nepali dinners. This would not only enhance their business but in fact would help other nationalities to understand the taste profiles of our food. However, this further could lead to another question. Would all the people like the taste, texture and flavor of our traditional and authentic dishes? It�s doubtful. Some Nationalities whose palette is similar to ours could like it but for others it would not be suitable. Let�s just take an example of ourselves. When we have some food from other cuisines especially without spices, we generally feel it�s blunt and would want to throw in some of our masalas to make it suitable for our palette. It�s indifferent for foreigners as well. For Instance when teaching Nepali Cuisine here in Korea, I cut off coriander powder where as substitute coriander leaves with spring onions. The reason is that Korean students do not seem to like the taste of it. They say it tastes like soap to them. Although it has been proven that Coriander tastes like soap, have we ever felt it that way? Probably no, because our senses are used to it. Hence, it is definitely a good idea to start researching the kinds of ingredients not preferred by different nationalities as well and customize when required rather than getting conservative regarding how it should actually be. The food what we have today for sure has changed and altered with time, availability of ingredients, and trends. Apart from customizing our food we definitely need to get along with the trends being followed around the world. As our daily lifestyles have modernized, we should probably be doing the same with our cuisine. Looking into the past, Pressure cooker was not at all a traditional cooking utensil of ours but we have adapted it and welcomed it very well in our kitchens. So if our ancestors were positive to it then, we should also be positive to welcome new gadgets like Sous vide and smoke guns into our kitchen. Doesn�t Sous vide Mana Chhwela and Smoked Kachila sound interesting? If we can enhance the taste texture and visual effect of our dishes then why not? We would have our dishes elevated this way for sure. [caption id="attachment_2072" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Mana Choila[/caption] When talking about trends we definitely can�t miss out on Molecular Gastronomy, the term used to describe a new style of cooking in which some chefs began to explore new possibilities in the kitchen by embracing science, research, technological advances in equipment and various natural gumsand hydrocolloids produced by the commercial food processing industry. It started in late 1990�s and early 2000�s. Although most of us know it as molecular gastronomy, and the same has been used to describe the food and cooking of number of famous chefs, many chefs do not accept the term to describe their style of cooking. Other names used for similar style of cooking are �New Cuisine�, �Progressive Cuisine�, �Nueva Cocina�, �Culinary Constructivism�, �Modern Cuisine�, �Avant-Garde Cuisine�, �Experimental Cuisine�, �Techno-Emotional Cuisine� and �Molecular Cooking�. Ferran Adri� prefers the term �deconstructivist,� at least in regards to his own style of cooking. Molecular Gastronomy has been around for many years now. It flourished and spread very fast but has been controversial many times. It may have been fading away but there are some great aspects that we can actually adapt to develop Modern Nepali Cuisine. There is no doubt that Nepali cuisine is rich however, adding surprise elements to it will possibly attract not only international attention but domestic as well. A quick example would be the popularity of dragon breath snack that used liquid nitrogen to create vapor that would come out from eater�s nose and mouth among the locals. As Liquid nitrogen can be found in the country these days, why don�t we think of some Instant Frozen Khuwa Baraf with garnish of Frozen and Shattered Lali Gurans? �Molecular gastronomy is not bad... but without sound, basic culinary technique, it is useless.� - Alton Brown. When we think of starting up with Molecular Gastronomy, we could probably have challenges ahead of us as the additives and the tools are not available in Nepal yet. Companies that sell these do not ship to our country. Other challenges like high cost and proper fusion are still not that big problem. But for Nepali restaurants and chefs living abroad would surely have access to it and they should capitalize the opportunity to experiment and come up with interesting dishes. Having being working on this very concept for some time now, I would like to share some dishes I have come up with. I have tried to keep the authenticity of taste but tried to play with the textures as well as add some surprise elements. Paun Explosion The inspiration for this dish is no doubt the classic Ferran Adria Olive, one of the first molecular gastronomy dishes to showcase the process of spherification, to encapsulate a liquid inside a micro thin membrane. It is spherified using Calcium Salt and Sodium Alginate, mimicking a real olive yet exploding in ones mouth like no real olive ever could. [caption id="attachment_2905" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Pau Kwa[/caption] For this dish authentic Paun Kwaa was prepared but only with tempering of Turmeric. It was blended with calcium and strained though fine sieve and then dropped into alginate bath. After dropping it in cold water to remove excess gel on outer side, it was transferred to serving spoon where it was topped with tempered mustard seeds, slice of dried chili and a coriander leaf. It would look like an egg yolk due to colour, feel like an egg yolk when slurped in one�s mouth but once bitten, the mouthwatering Paun would explode in your mouth. [caption id="attachment_2909" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Paun Explosion[/caption] Vanishing Transparent Ravioli The inspiration of dish and the name again from Chef Ferran Adia�s Dissapearing Transparent Ravioli. The transparent raviolis became an icon of el Bulli menu in 2009. In this version four component were used. The first one was with salted mixed nuts, second one with mouth freshener and the third with Lapsi Candy dices mixed with popping candy. The thin transparent pasta would melt in the mouth instantly and releasing the contents of the ravioli surprising the diner. The third one however had an additional surprise element as the diner would start enjoying the mouthwatering Lapsi candies and popping effect at the same time as soon as the transparent plastic melts away. [caption id="attachment_2914" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Vanishing Transparent Ravioli[/caption] Gundruk Sandheko with Gundruk Air Gundruk Sandheko the body of the dish was prepared slightly different. The Gundruk was flash fried instead of soaking it in hot water, and tossed with onions, tomatoes, chopped green chilies, coriander leaves, salt, cumin, chili powder, lemon juice and marigold petals. [caption id="attachment_2903" align="alignnone" width="300"] gundruk[/caption] The inspiration for the second component of the dish Gundruk Air was from Chef Ferran Adria�s Carrot air where as for the Gundruk Ko Jhol, from Japanese Dashi Making Technique. The Gundruk was toasted till crispy and aromatic then added to boiling water. It was left to boil for few minutes to extract as much flavor as possible then same seasonings of Gundruk Ko Jhol was added. It was then strained through muslin cloth to achieve Gundruk Consomme. Further soy lecithin was added to it and blended to achieve the air of Gundruk. [caption id="attachment_2902" align="alignnone" width="293"] Gundruk Sandheko with Gundruk Air[/caption] Smoked Sous vide Haku Chhvaylaa As the name suggests, two modern techniques of Sous vide and Smoking were used to prepare this dish with the help of Sous vide machine and Smoke gun. The meat was cooked till medium using Sous vide, grilled over open fire on wire grill and Haku Chhvaylaa was prepared using it. An additional twist was added by smoking the Chhvaylaa using smoke gun to impart smokier flavor as well as create a better visual effect. Fake Poached egg (Dhau Yu Khhen) The inspiration for this dish was Jose Andres Reverse Spherified Poached Egg with Idiazabal Cheese. For this dish, similar technique was used to achieve a dish mimicking poached egg but egg yolk was the reverse spherified puree of Mango and white was reverse spherified Sikarni. This is in fact was a double reverse spherification. [caption id="attachment_2896" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Fake Poached egg (Dhau Yu Khhen)[/caption] These are just few dishes to start with by fusing Nepali Cuisine with Molecular Gastronomy. With my personal interest and belief, this could possibly be the future of Nepali Food. What to call it is still to be thought however some options could be Molecular Gastronomy in Nepali Cuisine, Progressive Nepali Cuisine, Modernist Nepali Cuisine or Modern Nepali Cuisine. Keeping the authenticity in terms of taste and aroma but playing with the textures of the food as well as mind of the dinners and of course including the surprise elements is what I have been thinking of. Everyone may not share the same thought and Ideas but I request all to at least, start thinking about the alternatives to define and attempt to build the Future of Nepali Cuisine. And finally, I would like to thank Gateway College of Professional Studies for providing the venue for preparing the dishes. I would also like to appreciate Hospitality, Food & Wine team, Chef Bijaya Shrestha, Chef Keshab Pun and Chef Joshan Shrestha for joining hand with me in preparing and presenting Progressive Nepali Cuisine.