Happy Birthday Le 15!

Yesterday HT celbrated 30 years of Brittania serving up its legendary Berry pulao. A dish that is on every foodies culinary map of  discovering Mumbai. And if Brittania made a homestyle Irani rice dish a lengend, the onus of giving the French Macaroon so unshakeable an identity that 2 year old children recognise it like we once identified with laddoos as children has to be laid squarely on the doorstep of Le 15, with a huge hug of thanks!

Mumbai restauranteurs are a much stronger breed than their counterparts from other cities. THey have to survive much harder challenges to survive than any other place in the world. Soaring real estate prices, cut throat compitition, people ready to copy a good idea at the drop of a hat, staff being stolen at crippling salaries once they are trained. I have been a silent sad observer of  many great restaurants biting the bullet and closing down because of fomething or the other not working out despite everything being perfect. and its just gotten tougher with some of the world biggest food chains have arrived onto Mumbai shores in the last few years. This is the ever changing foodscape of Mumbai and i have watched if for 10 years as a food writer.

But ever so often a success story like Le 15 comes along. Heartening the rest of us who have chosen to create a business in this tough landscape that is the Mumbai food scene. Proving to the world that a fabulous product when backed by hard work, passion, love and grit can not just survive but Come out winning in the face of every challenge thrown its way. And Le 15, a tiny little patiserrie started by the beautiful passionate young Pooja Dhingra (who I am proud to call friend) is that sort of success story.

I met Le 15 and Pooja when it first opened. I attended a Korean cooking class there. I think Le 15 was a month old then, they only had their central kitchen. But the jaded Mumbai Palatte has been gobbling up everything they have been dishing out ever since. Soon after that, Pooja invited me to do cooking classes there and I became a regular at Le 15, arriving there twice a month, baskets of ingredients in tow to embark on some mad new culinary adventure. From Amuse Bouche to gourmet gifts from the kitchen, from Tadka workshops to cooking classes for men, from healthy cooking to boozy cooking, Pooja's given me a free hand on the classes. And I have loved every moment!

But this is not about me or my classes. This is about Pooja and Le 15. On every visit I have made to Le 15, Pooja has been there. In her office planning new and wonderful things, but more often in the kitchen hustling her chefs along and most often making macaroons or some other wild and wonderful connfection. I have watched every step of growth for Le 15, from that first strawberry and pistachio cake they did for Womens day that year (how delicious it was) to the intoxicating Cointreau Macaroons they did recently. I've been privy to the joys and the frustrations, the let downs and the exhilerations of nurturing this little baby that is Le 15. And all  I can say is that its a success story thats inspiring. It brings emotion welling to the eyes and blessing to the tongue; may it grow phenomenally and continue to bring smiles to the world. 

Happy Birthday Le 15!

Here are some pictures and memories! 

We learnt color identification with Le 15 Macaroons! And Pink is still our first pick out of a box!

Natasha is perhaps Le 15's most ardent afficionado!

A special Gourmet Tadka class we customised for a foodie couple from the USA

Talking food!

The He cooks Mens Cooking Class!

Natasha wanted an angry birds cake and Pooja was kind enough to make me marzipan in differnet colours !

My most memorable class - when my husband joined us to conduct a coupls cookign class. Thanks for pushing me on this one Pooj!

Pooja support fldgling food writers by sending in Macaroons for my exploring flavours excersise at my food writing classes.

My idea of an indulgent way to start my day!

Lasagna with Love for Rohan

 

 

When I decided to cook a special birthday dinner for my nephew Rohan just before I left for Kerala, I ambitiously but rather worriedly planned Lasagna. I had a full day that day;reviewing a restaurant at lunch, followed by a couple of meetings before I could get home to work. And Lasagna from scratch was an epic recipe, I had not made in years. I made Lasagna entirely out of my head based on tasting it once in a little Bagni in Italy a few weeks after I married. With no Pasta machine, it took me two days to get the whole thing done using a rolling pin to make the pasta, slow cooking sauce, but it was worht it because my husband still sings praises of it! However the sheer amount of time it took, always detered me from making it again and while I made many lasagnas with ready pasta sheets they were neve quite the same. It was becoming a thing of fantasy. But I was determined to make a special dinner for Rohan and this was a signature dish. 

What made it easier and very special was the entire Ghildiyal Family decided to pitch in. Shekhar who has been making pasta at home of late, did the Pasta sheets using my technique of flavouring them with pepper and herbs, helped by Rohan and 'assisted' by Aman (who kept stealing peices of pasta to make farfale and odd shaped bits of pasta). While I made the sauces in the kitchen. i usually do a tomato sauce but because Rohan loves mushrooms, I was going to do a Mushroom sauce this time. I also did a Minestrone soup and Baked corn on the side. So a few hours later we sat down to dinner and it was the best Lasagna in the world; whisper-thin sheets of fresh oregano flavoured egg pasta intersecting earthy mushroom sauce and warm, oozy, cheesy bechemel with oodles of love stirred in....

Now I COULD tell you that this is the only lasagna recipe worth making and that once you have this lasagna, you will never accept anything less. But you might not believe me. So give it a turn (of the pasta machine) and tell me I am wrong. I certainly will never make a Lasagna with ready sheets ever again. Be warned, however, this is not a Lasagna for the faint-hearted. Making it requires commitment, patience - and TIME (which is probably why I made it after years) and plenty of it. Although, you could shorten cooking time by a few hours, that's right. Hours. If you used Pasta sheets. But then you might as well order in Lasagna!

So while this thing IS a weekend project if there ever was one, we go everyone involved around here the good news is that it makes a lot, and if it does not get wiped out, you might be able to freeze some!
The best Mushroom Lasagna in the world (Time taken: 1 hour plus baking time, Serves: 4)
Notes: You need to pass the pasta sheets through a pasta machine a few times to achieve the most thin and delicate sheets of pasta possible - if you don't have a pasta machine a rolling pin will do, (it did for me all these years) but the results are not quite the same. But really fresh pasta with a rolling pin work better than ready pasta any day so... Also fresh pasta means you can skip the pre-boil step just use a little more sauce. Also remeber proper seasoning is important throughout this recipe, if you undersalt it is going to taste flat and this is one of those recipes you can't correct later.


Thin Oregano flavoured homemade pasta sheets layered with peppery mushroom filling cheese and Bechemel sauce.

Ingredients
For the Pasta sheets
250 g maida
½ tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs

For the Mushroom filling
1/3 c oil
1/2 c garlic, finely chopped
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
1/2 c carrot
1/2 c celery
1 kg mushrooms washed, coarsely chopped
Salt to taste
2 tbsp black pepper or 1/3 cup pickled green peppercornscrushed coarsely
Corn flor or Maida (to thicken if required)

For White/Bechemel sauce
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
2 c milk
4 tbsp Parmiggiano cheese, finely grated
Salt to taste

To assemble
1 large or 2 small baking dishes
250 g mozzarella cheese grated

Method
For the Pasta sheets - In a bowl mix maida, oregano, salt and pepper together. Add oil and mix until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add eggs and knead in as well as possible. Only if required, add cold water kneading well to form smooth dough. Divide into 5 portions and roll out as thin as possible, trim to the shape and size of your container and laying out to dry for about 10 mins. (To store bake on a tava on both sides for a couple of minutes or until little brown spots appear, roll up separated by foil sheets and freeze.)

For the Mushroom filling - in a large vessel, heat oil. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Sautee on a low flame so the vegetables soften and cook but do not brown. Add mushrooms and cook untill done. If the mushrooms let off too much water and it looks like they will not dry out, dissolve 1 tbsp of cornflour or Maida in a little water and add to mushrooms. Allow to cool.

For White/Bechemel sauce - Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour. Stir in and cook, continuing to stir, for 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and slowly add milk, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth. Return to heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 10 to 12 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil, thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese and salt.

To assemble – spread a little mushroom filling on the base of the baking dish. Lay a pasta sheet on top. Spoon over and spread a little more mushroom filling over the pasta sheet. Scatter grated cheese. Repeat pasta layer, spread a layer of bechemel sauce over, cover with a layer of pasta. Repeat untill you have finished saving the thinest pasta sheet for the top, spread last sheet over with white sauce, scatter with cheese and grill or bake in the oven until cheese is melted and top layer is browned. Serve hot!

Beautiful cakes from Le 15 Patiserrie for a sweet Finale! Mine was a Raspberry tart (that, Aman gobbled three pieces of) and Rohan's was a Chocolate Layer bit of deliciousness (that I gobbled three pieces of)!