For a long time, nobody knew the real reason why the Merlot from Chile was so distinct. People attributed it to the usual things: climate, soil and water. It was only in 1994 that a French academic discovered the truth: many of the Merlot vineyards in Chile had another grape growing alongside, the Carmenere, whose plant is almost identical.
The Carmenere used to be grown centuries ago for the Bordeaux wines in France, but it was phased out when it became disease-prone. It was believed that the grape had vanished except for a few small pockets in France and Italy. But in fact the Carmenere had been planted abundantly in Chile by European colonisers in the 16th century and it thrived there, free from its enemies. Later generations, however, did not know the difference between Merlot and Carmenere which had been planted together in many places, because the fruits and leaves of the two plants are so alike. Almost half of a Chilean 'Merlot' was sometimes Carmenere, and that's why it tasted quite different from Merlots grown in other parts of the world. Today, the Carmenere and Merlot have been sorted out, although many Chilean Merlots still have some Carmenere blended into them in a legitimate proportion for them to be still called Merlots. The Carmenere itself is now virtually a native of Chile, because it is almost extinct elsewhere, and it is becoming a sought-after Chilean red wine in its own right, just as much as the Malbec of Argentina.
Chilean wines are not the only ones enjoying the best of both worlds; its cuisine too is Spanish with an indigenous Mapucho influence evident in many dishes and their ingredients. We got a taste of this on board the Esmeralda, a Chilean naval ship that docked at Mumbai in the course of a global tour to showcase their food and wine.
While chicken, pork and wheat were the Hispanic mainstays, maize, beans and chillies formed the basis for the local Mapucho food. The pastel de choclo (or chicken and sweetcorn pie) served on the Esmeralda was an illustration of how the two traditions came together. The lamb and cheese empanadas (we would call them kheema samosas) were crispy with a spicy filling, more Indian than Spanish. The seafood was more minimalistic, European style, but with a dash of local spice, like the merquen (a Chilean pepper spice) in the cerviche of salmon. Some of the starters were accompanied with a pebre sauce, which is a Chilean concoction of onion, garlic, coriander, and the hot Aji chilli mixed in olive oil. The desserts, on the other hand, seemed mostly European, a goat cheesecake with figs demanding a second helping.
To round it off with an unmistakable stamp of Chile, we tried the Pisco, which is a grape distillate that the Chileans mix into fruit cocktails. Perhaps if you visit Chile, you can also try the Chicha, a drink made by the Mapucho with grapes and apples. This thin sliver of a country, with the Pacific ocean on one side and the Andes mountain range on the other, has enough variety in its food and wine to keep you happily engrossed for a long time.

Pablo Neruda's Conger Chowder
The following recipe has been attributed to the Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, among whose poems were several odes to food...

Fry half an onion in olive oil, Add 4 cloves of garlic and 2 tomatoes. Add a cup of Sauvignon Blanc wine, 2 cups fish stock and 4 medallions of conger eel and a cup of prawns Add 4 small boiled and chopped potatoes, Season with salt and pepper, Finish with a touch of cream and chopped coriander.

The idea of beans as a key ingredient in a cuisine somehow just doesn’t sit well. Yet, a few cuisines – like those of Mexico – have managed to use the legume to its advantage. South of Piedmont, on Italy’s western coast, Tuscany's is another example of a regional cuisine that makes the most of the humble bean.
Varieties of beans are grown widely all over Tuscany, says Dennis Ridlon, executive sous chef at Celini, the Italian restaurant at Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, which recently celebrated the cuisine of Tuscany. “In fact, Tuscans even make bread out of some varieties like garbanzo beans (similar to chickpea),” he adds.
Cannellini beans cooked with prawns, pureed kidney beans served with pan-seared seabass, and chickpea and truffle pasta soup are some of the examples of dishes where beans are successfully paired with other
ingredients.
Tuscan cuisine is much milder in its flavours than the better-known and spicier Sicilian cuisine. With its roots in the erstwhile Etruscan civilisation, Tuscany’s cuisine is earthy, rich in the use of herbs like rosemary and sage, garlic, pecorino cheese, breads, beans and olive oil.
Game and livestock are also eaten widely. While the grilled pork chops served with mushrooms and goat cheese, and T-bone steak with garlic and rosemary sauce have mild flavours, the braised lamb meatballs in grape sauce are overpowered by fennel, an ingredient used to cure the meat. “Italians use fennel seeds, garlic and juniper berries to cure their meats,” offers Ridlon. Luckily, the combination of grape sauce and bell peppers helps tone down the effects of the fennel.
Wine is not just an accompaniment to a meal but is often used in the preparation of the meal itself. “Wines like Marsala, which comes from Sicily, is sweet, almost like a port,” says Ridlon. “It can be used to cook a slightly sour vegetable like artichokes.” Sure enough, the artichokes cooked in Marsala wine and layered with breadcrumbs makes for an interesting mix of flavours and textures.

With tattoos on his arms, three Harley Davidson motorcycles (all single-seaters) and a rock-star demeanour, it’s hard to believe Sergi Arola is a chef. It’s even tougher to believe that he doesn’t like exhibitionism. At a time when showbiz chefs clamour for attention, this Spanish chef with two Michelin stars claims he believes in keeping things simple. “I don’t need to show off,” he says.
Behind the scenes, however, a lot of thought and hard work can go into what seems in the end to be a simple dish. Take for instance the Patatas Bravas, signature dish at Sergi’s Arola Restaurant and Bar at the JW Marriott Hotel in Mumbai: Fried potatoes with a salsa sauce topped with a sour cream mayonnaise. It sounds simple enough, but not the way Sergi prepares it. The potato is cut into a cylinder and the centre scooped out. The salsa sauce is put into the hollow and topped with the mayonnaise. “Cutting the potatoes in hollow cylinders ensures that they get fried evenly all around,” explains Sergi.
Sergi finds subtle ways to change a dish just enough to bring out new flavours, but not so much that the dish changes in its basic character. This can involve months of thinking and planning, hit and trial, but he doesn’t like to make a big deal out of it. “I could say that I got my expertise while travelling around the Pyrenees, but that’s not true. I could also sign a cooking TV show deal like Jamie Oliver, but that will be fake too. What I do is inspired by traditional, classical recipes. Some innovations I make are in cooking techniques, and sometimes its more philosophical than that,” he says.
After some persuasion, he elaborates on how he came up with a different way to prepare his favourite dish: sardines and bread rubbed with tomatoes. “I went out with my friends on motorbikes and arrived at a bar. We ordered sardines with bread and tomatoes, along with our drinks. When I got home, I thought about what it takes to achieve that taste in a different form. I tried various ways of putting the ingredients together, and kept failing to find what I had in mind. Until I got it right,” he says.
His version of the dish is tomato wrapped in sardines, topped with a cracker-thin slice of bread and served in a pool of olive oil. Same ingredients, but the difference between the two dishes, he says, is like the difference between football and cricket: The classic version uses roasted sardines, frozen tomato, whole bread and it’s mixed in olive oil. “My version is with marinated sardines, cubes of tomatoes, raw olive oil and thin slices of bread,” he says. Not only does it look better than the original, but the taste is much richer too. The sardines and tomato blend better, complimented by the thin, crunchy slice of bread and enhanced with a smooth coat of olive oil.
Most diners at Sergi’s restaurants would think they can make his dishes at home, but they’re not really as easy as that to prepare. “I like the fact that customers think they can make this. The simplicity of the food is why people keep coming back for more. But not every dish can be made at home,” he says. “I can’t really explain how I innovate. The process is actually quite long and involves a lot of trial and error. And then suddenly, one idea clicks. But then, that’s what makes me a professional,” he adds.
For someone who wanted to be a professional rock-star, not a chef, Sergi seems to have come a long way, running five restaurants on three continents. “Really, I don’t know why I became a cook rather than a musician. I could tell you that I was playing in a band when I noticed that one flamenco guitarist was strumming a Jimi Hendrix number and I realised that I’d never be able to play like this, so I chose to make a career out of my culinary talents instead. But that would be fake,” he says.
Honesty is what Sergi cares about the most. He doesn’t like pretending to be “cool”, he says. This is also the philosophy that guides his cooking.
As for his Michelin stars, he believes that they shouldn’t define him as a chef or change the way he approaches food. “The stars are a result of opportunities that I’ve had. But that doesn’t make my food better than the food cooked by the guy on the street,”
he says.