Pasta Times @ Del Monte Corporate Office, Gurgaon

An afternoon with Del Monte’s corporate chef Naresh Kumar Guglani turns out to be a rather interesting affair. We, the foodies and bloggers including Anoothi Vishal, Deeba Rajpal, Mudita Chauhan amongst others, are in his house-kitchen, a cosy yet functional space where he gets busy dishing out some goodies for us to taste. Though obviously here to showcase the quality of his products, his enthusiasm and energy levels are infectious. He vigorously mixes, tosses, and grills all the time talking to us and involving us in the cooking.

First he puts up grilled skewers of ham, peppers, sausage, onions and his company’s prunes, which do taste better when grilled. The spaghetti Bolognese that he makes is actually pure vegetarian. It is a simple task of sautéing some celery, garlic, onions and tomato, and adding soaked soy granules. In goes the pre-made veg Bolognese sauce and presto, the sauce is ready. It is served on top of freshly done al dente spaghetti, and we dig into it. And the taste is pretty good.

There are other pastas to be tried and a fruit cream kind of dessert too. What I do like the most is his take on the mustard. The Del Monte mustard, he tells me, uses the same principle that goes into making the classic black carrot kanji – Soaking and cooking time has to be perfect. This gives a unique taste and flavour profile to the mustard. I think it could go well for a change as chutney with samosa.

The do have some interesting recipes at http://worldfoody.com/

- Aalok Wadhwa / Pawan Soni