Make it crisp

For its beautiful storyline, powerful characters and acting that touches the soul, Scent Of A Woman is easily one of my all-time favourites. The commanding and compelling dialogues have had such an impact on me that I often find myself just rattling off random quotes from the film. But the one that I love and use the most is best described in the scene below.

Walking into the hotel, the blind Col. Frank Slade senses a dispassionate salute given to him by a doorman. Forever the sharp man that he is, it riles him no end to encounter a sloppy display of professionalism. He walks in, correcting the doorman in his characteristic irascible reprimand, “Make it crisp!”, leaving the doorman absolutely gobsmacked.

I am no colonel, leave alone Frank Slade or Al Pacino, but you can bet yourself a salad that you’ll hear me utter these words if I find limp lettuce in mine, for there’s no bigger turnoff than finding lettuce that looks like it has been steamrolled, beaten and overdressed into damp submission by a dispassionate cook who couldn’t care if it looks like a fresh leaf or boiled to death vermicelli! A good salad could well be the crisp salute to a great meal but for that one needs to treat the ingredients with dignity and respect, and most of all the delicate lettuce.

Summer is almost upon us and it marks the end of wintry pleasures and beautiful salads but all that is set to change as new players enter the market promising us a year-long supply of fresh farmed lettuce right in Hyderabad, and beyond.

Leading this culinary change is Sachin Darbarwar, a good friend and a great farmer. On his farm outside Hyderabad, he uses hydroponic technology to grow wonderful salad leaves, crisp, luscious and full of all lettucy goodness. From lollo rosso, verde to romaine, butterheads, icebergs and corals and a whole range of micro greens and baby vegetables.

It’s about time that we got ready to “make it crisp”.

Lettuce, orange, black olives and feta salad

Ingredients (for two plates) 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp lime juice Salt and pepper to season 16 leaves lettuce-butterhead 16 leaves lettuce-coral Segments from 2 oranges 12 black olives 50 gm feta cheese, cut into small cubes 4 tsp pumpkin seeds, mildly toasted 4 tsp flax seeds, mildly toasted Method First up, make the vinaigrette by lightly whisking together the oil and the lime juice and season with the salt and pepper. Clean the lettuce by washing each leaf carefully in a bowl of cold water. Make sure you get all the soil off. Spin the leaves in a salad spinner to get the excess water off. Keep refrigerated in a box lined with kitchen towel or paper if using later otherwise just keep on a clean kitchen towel. Cut the oranges into segments. Divide and arrange the lettuce leaves in two plates.

Arrange the orange segments, olives and cubed feta over it. Sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin and flax seeds. Give the vinaigrette a light whisk and drizzle it over the salad just before serving it.

The writer is the Executive ChefThe Park, Hyderabad