Black with a bang

Culinary trends

It’s said that people eat with their eyes first and then judge the taste. So when a plate of food is presented to you where the colour black is overpowering, one might not always find it appetising. Well, at least people didn’t until recently.

While black is generally perceived as a grim colour, the food world is taking a risk of introducing this classic colour in their dishes, either by using food colours or natural colouring agents. Chefs believe that adding that black element to the dish brings out the other colour elements as well.

Online delivery app ‘Chefkraft’ works with black in their dish called ‘Black rice stir fry with Asian greens and grilled tofu’. Explaining the element of black, Chef Xerxes Bodhanwala says, “I’ve always played with this colour even before it became a trend. I believe that in terms of plating, black against any other colour highlights the dish. Here, black rice being the main element, brings out the crunch factor. With grilled tofu and other vegetables added, you are presented with a multi-coloured dish.”

It’s not just the addition of colour that makes this dish great, but also the nutritional value that it holds. “Black rice is high in fibre and nutrients. The taste is unique — a bit more starch, thick texture and it has a bite to it,” he adds.

Black colour is often used in food in the West. The chefs use squid ink to bring out the colour. But since the availability of squid ink is low here, chefs use other methods for the same. Chef Prashanth, executive chef at ‘The Fatty Bao’, uses char-grilled eggplants and lemon. He says, “Black is a unique colour and we, as chefs, are always playing with different elements to make our dishes stand out. So I char-grill eggplants and lemon, extract them and use that powder to add in my dishes. While lemon gives a bit of zing to the coal, eggplant is almost tasteless unless some flavour is added.”

He has recently created a dish called ‘Carbon prawn tempura’ where he used this slow roasting method to extract the colour from the vegetables. He says, “People’s response to this colour has been quite interesting. We also serve ‘Black ramen’ and people want to try it whenever they come here. With the use of these natural ingredients, we are able to give the customers what they want and also add exciting elements to their plate.”

While not every black agent will have health benefits, Rishaad Vazirally, founder of ‘Fresh Pressery’, says that the drink ‘Black magic’ which they offer is the king of health benefits.

He explains, “Activated charcoal is one of the oldest ingredients used to cure an upset stomach. With ‘Black magic’, we have used activated charcoal with lemon and honey. The charcoal is made by processing coconut husk over a period of time. This powder is then used to make the drink.”

While black is considered as the new colour in the food world, Tanmoy Savardekar of ‘The Winking Macaron’ likes using it only when the client asks for it. He says, “I’ve made macarons a couple of times using black colour but that has been only based on a client’s requirement. It’s not because it doesn’t produce great results, but because of the negative connotation that the colour holds. However, the macarons tasted excellent.” He also claims that fondants used for cakes are also making use of the colour black to make parts of figurines. With black making a fashion statement in the food industry, everyone wants a piece of it. Soon enough, one can see this colour being used for their daily bread too!