It’s World Sushi Day tomorrow and on that note, Pan Asian at ITC Sonar got together with actors and real-life couple and soon parents-to-be Gaurav Chakrabarty and Ridhima Ghosh for a fun interactive sushi-making session.
Prepared with passion and emotion, the colourful spread of sushi and its ingredients at Pan Asian make for a feast for the taste buds as well as the eyes. The Special Sushi spread promises to be a memorable treat for the gourmands of Kolkata, in celebration of the exotic delicacy. Ahead of World Sushi Day, The Telegraph dropped in to participate in the sushi-making session and binge on some of the best sushis in the city along with the duo who chatted on expecting their first child, sushi and more! Excerpts...
Congratulations to the would-be parents! How has it been going?
Ridhima: Thank you so much, it's been going great... it's fun. We are very excited and looking forward to it.
Gaurav: Every family member is excited but now they keep saying things like tomar jibone khub kharap somoy ashte cholechey... brace yourself... eibar toh ghoom hobe na! I mean why doesn’t anyone say these before? Aage everyone would be like, “It's time to have a baby”! Now that we are into it, they tell us these! (Laughs)
Ridhima: Kareena Kapoor Khan had written a book during her pregnancy, I want to write what family tells you before and what is the actual reality of it!
Gaurav, are you ready to be a hands-on father?
Gaurav: I certainly want to for sure and I am geared up to help and take care of Ridhima as much as possible. It's a phase of life, I guess everyone goes through. Kharap din thakbe and bhalo din o thakbe.
Ridhima: But you know I am such a control freak that I think end of it, I will end up doing everything on my own (laughs).
What about the crazy mood swings that most people experience?
Gaurav: Na or hochche mood swings but crazy na.
Ridhima: During my first trimester I got emotional, cried and all but I am fine now!
That’s super. Since we are all here for the upcoming Sushi Day, tell us who is a bigger sushi lover between the two?
Riddhima: It has to be me! I love it! Salmon sushi.
What is your earliest Sushi memory?
Riddhima: I had sushi for the first time in California. This is more than a decade ago, that time we didn’t have so many options for sushis in the city and when we were in college and had started working sushi used to be a delicacy we would save up pocket money to indulge in. But now it’s like oh, let’s go on a sushi date!
Gaurav: I actually started having sushi for her. Ridhima was the first one who made me have sushi because previously I would stay away from it thinking it’s raw fish and would smell. The first time I had it I loved it; I just had a preconceived notion that I won’t. I love the one with the seaweed (nori). Not only that, she also taught me to use chopsticks.
Wow, she is such a good influence…
Gaurav: Oh yes, in every single way! (Smiles)
How fast did you learn to use it?
Gaurav: It took me about two or three tries to get it right. Once she taught me the physics of it… the fulcrum... I got it.
Ridhima: But I can’t eat rice with chopsticks! Gaurav, now that you have learnt to make sushi, you will make for me…
Gaurav: Yes, most definitely! It doesn’t require cooking anything, right?!
Ridhima: You need to make the rice, and cooking any rice in general is an art as it can’t be overcooked or undercooked!
Gaurav: Then we will buy the rice cooker and make for you!
So how was the experience of making sushi for the first time at Pan Asian?
Gaurav: It looked easy when chef was making it but it wasn’t. When we made it looked like aloo sheddho (laughs).
Ridhima: C’mon, it was not that bad also! But we will practise and come back next year to show you that we have become pros.
Gaurav: So I have loved watching cookery shows with my mother, Khana Khazana on TV, I loved watching food being made, but the only thing I can make is an omelette, that too the plain one. I learned that during lockdown but I want to learn to make a few more things for her.
“Prepared with skill and emotion, the array of sushi with its accompaniments is a feast for the stomach as much as a delight to the eye. At Pan Asian especially, it is a memorable treat for the gourmands of Calcutta,” said Nitin Bahl, hotel manager, ITC Sonar.
THE TELEGRAPH PICKS
Dehydrated Crunchy Spinach California Roll
Avocado and Cream Cheese Roll
Ebi Nigiri (prawn nigiri)
Spicy Tuna Sushi
Pictures: B Halder