Ministry of Crab/Copitas celebration with Stranger and Sons

 

What a remarkable, unforgettable event last night at The Four Seasons in Bangalore. 

First of all we had cocktails at Copitas courtesy Stranger and Sons and made by the brilliant Feruzan. Strangely I’ve never had her cocktails before but I thought she was brilliant, so much so that I didn’t miss having the brilliant Sharath behind the bars. Best gin cocktails I’ve had in ages, spirit forward, easy on the sugar and perfectly balanced.

We then moved across to Far and East, the Asian restaurant at the Four Seasons for the food at Ministry of Crab, under the direct supervision of Chef Dharshan Munidasa. I have no hesitation in saying this was the best crab/seafood meal I’ve had in India. The crabs were sourced from Chennai and were the sweetest, juiciest, meatiest crabs I’ve ever had. When the product is that good, that’s half the battle won but this was made better because the cooking was spectacular. The avocado crab and the crab pate (off menu) were subtle and delicate, while the pepper crab and the garlic chilli prawns and the pepper crab were full bodied and popping with flavour. The dessert, a Creme brûlée baked in a half coconut was close to genius.

Best of all though was the opportunity to sit and chat with Chef Dharshan, a legend and trailblazer, someone who helped put South Asia on the global food map. To understand his philosophy, to hear him expound of the difference between a Sri Lankan restaurant versus a restaurant using Sri Lankan crabs, his personal journey, the political situation in Sri Lanka… I felt this was what made the night truly unforgettable and a privilege.

Finally I want to address the morality around doing the event. A friend mentioned her Sri Lankan friends felt it was in bad taste to celebrate Sri Lanka at this moment keeping in mind what is happening in the country. My take on it is the opposite. This is a country that is struggling, with an economy that has crashed, where people are losing jobs and income. At a time like this, I can’t think of anything more important than supporting people from the country than creating actual work opportunities, to do actual work, to help people remember that it’s a special country that does incredible work, to help people survive financially through the turmoil. This is much more impactful and tangible and sitting and pontificating on appropriateness on social media. I find it really sad how liberals make moral judgements that are disconnected from facts. To make a reflexive comment about how it’s tasteless to celebrate Sri Lanka instead of looking at how this benefits Sri Lankans isn’t an act of morality, ethics and kindness. It is the exact opposite, an act of self-indulgent moral posturing, an act lacking in empathy, an act that prioritises virtue signalling over actual impact.