Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Top 5 secrets restaurants don't want you to know

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 20:40 IST
Naan

Are you absolutely sure you're getting what you ordered for?

Vir Sanghvi reveals food industry's dirtiest secrets

Are your naans really vegetarian?

Why you should probably give that ice-cream in a five-star hotel a pass.

Vir Sanghvi spills the beans on food industry's best-kept secrets.

1. Most naans have eggs

It is a rare restaurant that makes naan without an egg.

They don't tell you that but they do.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't eat eggs, be very careful where you eat.

Top 5 secrets restaurants don't want you to know

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 20:40 IST
Kebab

2. That melt-in-the-mouth kebab is the way it is not because it's tender

No one will tell you about it but it is almost always the animal fat that makes it that way.

Animal fat isn't good for you.

Top 5 secrets restaurants don't want you to know

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 20:40 IST
A tray of Bubble and Squeak Confit with Shoulder of Lamb canapes.

3. When they say lamb, they mean goat

If it says lamb on a menu, it almost always is goat

For some reason Indian restaurants think people will run away when they read goat

Which is bizarre because lamb is a very fatty meat; goat is recommended in the West as a healthy meat.

Fat in goat meat is much less in comparison to beef, pork and lamb.

Top 5 secrets restaurants don't want you to know

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 20:40 IST
Ice cream

4. Most ice cream in Indian hotels is depressingly bad

It is nearly always bought from outside though they'd like you to believe they make it.

Always ask who the manufacturer is.

They work on the assumption that you won't ask.

So many of them buy the cheapest ice cream and serve you.

Top 5 secrets restaurants don't want you to know

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 20:40 IST
Watch out gelatine in your pastry

5. There's gelatine in most Indian pastries

The curse of Indian pastry chefs is that gelatine is the key to everything.

It is almost impossible to get a good chocolate mousse or cheese cake because traditional chefs will use gelatine and destroy the texture.

One reason why standalone patisseries have succeeded is because a new generation of chefs understand how things are made in the west and don't waste their time on gelatine.