The Grand Mango Mania at Grand Hyatt Goa

Indians have a love of mangoes that can only be termed manic, and the Grand Hyatt in Bambolim Goa has taken it to another level of devotion with their Grand Mango Mania, all of May.

Executive chef Mark a Long, sous chef  Prasad Metrani and his team have taken the Mango on a whirlwind trip around the world and paired it in eclectic combinations among exotic cuisine, to create a culinary experience nothing short of Genius. 

We began the meal with a cold spiced mango soup. Imagine your favourite alphanso aamras, paired with mexican jalapenos, and topped of with a south east asian thai red curry coconut sorbet. The absolute burst of flavours, the crunch of the jalapeno chunks, under the soothing smooth touch of a mango aamras, all tied together with the umami sorbet, had us oohing and aahing.

But we were in for a surprise for our next course. The salty prosciutto, aged parmegiano , paired with chunks of mango,arugula and cucumber flowers was in a word sublime. it honestly looked too pretty to eat. it is the kind of dish which gets featured on magazine covers, and on instagram posts by Gastroart with hashtags like #platedtoperfection . again the flavour combinations were spot on. The thin slivers of ham placed cheek and jowl with tropical mangoes, and just letting the produce shine without any excess handling or pretentious dressings was a masterstroke.

The raw mango slivers in a thai inspired salad with crispy calamari rings was the next course but it surrendered to the perfection that was the previous two dishes.

for our main course we had a chicken dish , a seafood dish, and a vegetarian dish. each one splendid.

It was the first time I was having a sous vide meal. Sous-vide, the term made popular by Masterchef contests , is a method of cooking where the food item is vacuum sealed in a bag and then cooked in a temperature regulated water bath which cooked the food evenly and retained moisture. The sous vide chicken here was cooked for over two hours, beautifully frenched legs of meat were then finished of on the pan in a mango teriyaki glaze.

The sea food main course was a perfectly cooked crispy skin fillet of sea bass, which was vertically plated in a pyre of portobello mushroom , a nest of curried spinach, all surrounded by an inspired mango mustard Kasundi sauce. for a bengali , mustard and fish are a match made in heaven, and to add a twist of mango to a classic combination was impressive. Did it work? yes it did! The sweetness of the mangoes, balanced of against the bitterness of the spinach, and the earthy mushrooms against the sting of kasundi.

But the prize for the most innovative use of Mango goes to the vegetarian mango gnocchi served in a laksa inspired broth, with a crispy noodle bowl. Italian gnocchi meets far east Laksa? Well apparently in a match where Mango played Padri.

That's when the heavens decided to join in, and we were greeted with unseasonal showers in the middle of summer! We sat staring at the torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightening. 

The wait for the desserts had me pacing to the open kitchens, and I could see a lot of hustling and bustling, and boy were we treated to a grand finale!

A tempered chocolate dome was flambed into submission by whicky and Mango flambe, giving way to a deconstructed mango pennacota, which had bits of chortcrust biscuit, some sponge and add to that the melted chocolate, and warm mango oozy goodness.

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The other one was again pretty like a spring garden in full bloom. fruits and flowers and micro herbs, peaked out from underneath coconut meringues of different colours, cream and crushed pistachio to come up with the Mango eton mess. 

The curated meal or any of the stand alone dishes are available the whole of May 2017 at the Verandah at Grand Hyatt Goa. you can request for the menu at any of their other restaurants aswell.

Cocktails and mocktails are part of the fray aswell. white rum infused ripe mangoes, and whisky infused with raw mangoes, play base notes in this orchestra, allowing the flavours of mango to subtly blend in the cocktails.

Baby foodie too enjoyed a moango pulp vanilla icecream creation, aptly called the Mango delight.

Read more about Mangoes read HERE

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