Flavours | When a star chef cooks a tomato

Hiramasa Kingfish is one of chef Julia Komp’s favourite creations, so it’s apt that this India-inspired dish with a tandoori masala, lentils and rambutan finds pride of place in her five-city culinary pop-up with ITC Hotels in India. Komp is the youngest female chef from Germany to helm a Michelin-starred restaurant and is infusing new life into the country’s fine-dining movement.

Julia Komp's Hiramasa Kingfish.

In her ongoing tour of ITC properties in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi, she is showcasing dishes inspired by different geographies. “I prefer to work with ingredients that are more light, fresh, fruity and spicy. The focus lies on the harmony between taste and visual details elevated to a perfectly balanced sensory dining experience," says Komp. And her India menu reflects this ethos.

While each course has a deceptively simple name, like “tomato", “okra" or “lamb", it is wonderfully complex in flavour and combinations. For example, the“tomato" is a delicate salad with ricotta and coriander and passion fruit, while the “lamb" is a grill with Persian lime and baba ganoush.

Julia Komp’s menu will be available on 3 August at ITC Royal Bengal, Kolkata; 7 August at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru; and 10 August at ITC Maurya, Delhi.

Compiled by Diya Kohli.