Musaafer gives lovers a playful pill
The art of Indian cuisine is very much on display at Musaafer, the Galleria restaurant where plating is as sumptuous and refined as the design of the palatial dining rooms.
For Valentine’s Day, Musaafer’s executive chef Mayank Istwal is dishing out a seven-course menu inspired by the Kama Sutra, the ancient Hindu text written in Sanskrit about living well, emotional fulfillment and erotic love.
“India gave Kama Sutra to the world. We wanted to do something that brings our culture and food alive,” Istwal said. “We said, ‘Let’s spin the story around.’ ”
That culinary story will play out in courses invested in ingredients considered aphrodisiacs as well as principles of the ayurvedic diet, which promotes a balance between mind and body. The foods on the special menu will include “libidoboosting” spices, herbs, fruits, nuts and hot chiles that get the blood flowing.
Those courses include dishes such as dosa with mushroom mousse and beet chutney; crab salad with habanero emulsion and beet dust; vegetable kebab flavored with saffron and cardamom; and lamb chop with chiles and ginger.
Before dinner begins, each diner will be presented with what surely is Houston’s most interesting Valentine’s Day preparation. Istwal has created what he calls a “V Pill,” an edible capsule filled with concentrated watermelon juice. “It’s as good as Viagra, is what people claim,” the chef said.
The pill also contains a spice blend of shwaganda (medicinal herb), shatavari (a species of asparagus) and gokshura (ayurvedic herb), as well as blueberry powder and some pop rocks for textural sparkle.
While contributing as a playful component to the amorous possibilities of aphrodisiacal foods, the pill is very much in keeping in the ayurvedic principles of food as medicine, Istwal said.
This is not Musaafer’s first shot at libidinous fare. The restaurant’s winter menu, available through April, includes what Istwal calls an aphrodisiac soup: Thukpa is a noodle stew made with tomato, ginger, sesame, peanuts, peppers and a choice of chicken or tofu.