Is that durian in my drink?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mixologists in India have been in a hyper-experimental mode for a while. If it was techniques and indigenous botanicals that they played with earlier, they are now choosing to experiment boldly with unusual, seemingly unpalatable, ingredients.
On a recent visit to Muro, a Thai and Cantonese-speciality restaurant in Bengaluru, two drinks managed to leave me and my table mates bemused. One had durian (concentrate) as its ingredient, another featured smoked garlic (infusion) with rice crisps as garnish. These cocktails are part of the restaurant’s Secret Cocktail menu that you need to book in advance.
According to Saahil Essani, head mixologist at Muro, the idea to craft cocktails with offbeat ingredients struck when the team decided to create a menu that would highlight produce closely associated with Thailand. “The durian cocktail is the most popular drink on the entire menu. It’s the drink that our guests always go for," he says.
Cocktails with lemongrass, litchi and mango are also on the menu but durian was a risky choice that Essani definitely wanted to take. “I am Goan and like working with tropical fruits as they have a very strong flavour profile. The durian is a flavour bomb and has a creamy texture that I wanted to play with," he says before revealing that cracking the recipe took five iterations.
The pale-yellow Jamaican rum-based cocktail looks disarming and doesn’t smell pungent, but the ripe after-taste of the fruit in every sip takes some getting used to. It’s definitely not a drink for the faint-hearted. Essani is not the lone mixologist daring to try new ingredients.
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