Tangible reminder of Chef Floyd Cardoz’s legacy

When I looked at the menu, the kulfi sounded interesting. I had never heard of it, and I was intrigued. I wanted to try it, but there was another dessert that seemed like a slam-dunk, and I didn’t want to get this wrong. So, after discussing it with the waiter, I ordered the other thing. I have no memory of what it was. The waiter returned with two plates. He told me the chef wanted me to try the kulfi.

It was amazing. It wasn’t ice cream, but it wasn’t unlike ice cream. It wasn’t panna cotta or semifreddo, but it wasn’t unlike those, either. It was paired with juicy citrus segments in a light, floral syrup. That was in 2008, and the restaurant was Tabla in New York City. Twelve years later, I still think about that dessert all the time. The creaminess against the acidity. The sweet against the sour. The luxury against the simplicity.

The scene replayed in my head when I heard that chef Floyd Cardoz, who ran Tabla from the day it opened in 1998 until it closed in 2010, died on March 25, of complications from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. And then I looked for his recipe for kulfi.

We remember people through things they leave behind, whether it’s heirloom jewelry, a big bank account or a simple, pleasant memory. But when someone leaves behind a recipe, they’ve left something tangible, something we can use to remember them with action and intention. We can make the dish, and we don’t just feel like they are there; a part of them is there.