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BangaloreMirror

I FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

18

Cussed like the Sparrow ship

AJEESH F RAWTHER

Manu Prasad bmfeatures@gmail.com

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T P 2 &3 F 1AC R K L J N C 5 B K -5 P 0 -6

heres something very ironic about borrowing a ships name from The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and using it to run a restaurant with a pirate theme! Even more ironic when its located right next to an establishment called Empire! But thats exactly what The Black Pearl has done, and they have obviously invested a lot of effort into doing justice to the theme. Across three floors the top floor akin to an upper deck with open sky above there are dcor elements that accentuate this anchors, cannons, mannequins, chains and ropes, skeletons, swords. There is a tinge of tackiness too, like the huge bones that became the butt of many jokes, and it was a little funny to have pirate-costumed service staff valet parking and speaking in Hindi. But ambiance is only part of the tale the service, and the food had a role to play too, and thats where the seas got rough! In the end, keeping with the theme, looting did happen, in the form of a bill.

Cuisine Owner(s) Chef Alcohol Price range

Starters: Except for some pirate lingo,

there was hardly anything on the menu that went with the theme. When we began ordering the starters, we realised it was pointless to navigate the Continental and Chinese sections since they werent available. That went for some of the more interesting (sounding) drinks as well! From the Indian menu, we asked for a Til aur Paneer ka Tikka, an Afghani Mutton Boti Kabab, Aatishi Murgh and a Pirate Special Macchi Tikka. The veg representation was superficially spicy, though the paneer itself seemed quite fresh. We were served what was claimed to be the chicken, but easily sensed that it wasnt. For a while, we pondered the various possibilities, until we were told that it was just the mutton dish. A little too bland. The Aatishi Murgh made an effort to live up to its name in terms of spiciness, and was quite a fa-

vourite. The Macchi Tikka was mildly spicy and quite tasty. In addition to some standard fare, we had ordered a Masala Cola. That turned out to be a Hajmola cola in disguise, with an overdose of masala! Exactly the opposite happened with the Pomegranate N Tamarind Martini it had no trace of a tamarind flavour. Meanwhile, the ship was under aural attack a singer was methodically gunning down favourite numbers!

Main Course: It took so long for the food

to arrive that we joked that it had to be brought from the mainland! The Dal Peshawari was watery and had none of the butter and cream that was promised! We unanimously agreed that the Navaratna Korma deserved a spot in the desserts section! The Malai Gosht turned out to be its near-cousin, the only consolation was that the meat was well cooked. The Murgh Matka suffered from a methi overdose, though the boneless chicken was tender. The Ulte Tawa ka Paratha was mentioned in the menu as a must-try, but was nothing special. Ditto for the Afghani Kulcha, which had a few dry fruits slivers tossed into it for the namesake! The excitement was deliv-

ered as Crispy Roomali Roti another must try, but deservedly so. It was huge and we thought this was the Family Naan wed ordered! When we realised it wasnt, we had a sinking feeling, soon justified when we saw the size of the actual Family Naan! Gigantic and they obviously had the Indian joint family in mind! Thankfully, it was quite good. Meanwhile, penance was happening in the form of bottled water, which was being served for free! The singer, as though understanding his limitations, was now crooning Please Forgive Me

Parking Wheelchair access Service

Indian for now, Chinese and Continental soon Srikant Upadhyay Gautam Yes For about `1800, you could share a cocktail, a non veg starter, a couple of main course dishes, rotis and a dessert. (Inclusive of taxes and service charge) Valet Parking No

Desserts: From about ten options on

the menu, only four were available, and that included ice cream! Considering the experience thus far, we decided to play safe and try just the Gulab Jamun. That was surprisingly not bad! By this time, the singer had reached Take me home, and we heartily agreed.

The pirates we saw were completely at sea! Clueless about dishes and tardy! The bill took 20 minutes! Sound level & Live music. The singer Music brought the lyrics Ill go down with this ship.. to mind. Ambience Pirate theme, done well. An extra point for the hard work! Hours 12-3.30 PM, 7-11 PM Home delivery No Reservations Yes, will work better

BM VERDICT

In a nutshell: Arrgo would be a pithy

way to describe our predicament - six of us held hostage in a pirate theme restaurant serving not-so-great food. Such is the restaurant scene in Koramangala that a new place needs to run a tight ship just to keep its head above the water. Shape up or ship out, as the

saying goes, and its mercilessly enforced. There would be first visits courtesy the theme but unless theres a sea change in the service, food and pricing, The Black Pearl could soon be in Davy Jones Locker!

From top: Macchi Tikka, Crispy Roomali Roti, Aatishi Murgh and Gulab Jamoon

Bangalore Mirror reviews anonymously and pays for meals

BM SAVEUR: THE HOST

The thin, white, coin-sized Host represents the body of Christ for Christians. There are three prominent convents that supply the Hosts to the churches in Bangalore

he white round thin slices the Host served during Christmas, Easter and other religious ceremonies is not a simple preparation, apart from the reverence, three critical steps are essential to bake it. Thousands of years ago, on the holy Thursday, Jesus and his disciples had the Last Supper (also known as the Holy Eucharist). After giving thanks to the Almighty Father, he broke bread. He gave it to his dsciples and said: This is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. Christians across the globe still break bread in rememberence of the Lord. Only now, the bread has become thin, white round slices called the Host. For nonChristians, the Host is still a mystery. We help decipher it. Initially the holy bread was essentially pure wheat bread sans any yeast that was given to all devotees during a mass. Gradual-

ly, over a period of a few hundred years, the Host replaced the bread as a convenient option. But preparing the simple-looking pristine white rounds is not an easy process. Three prominent convents in Bangalore are in-charge of making the host Great Carmel Convent, Good Shepherd Convent and Shanti Nilayam. The earliest among them was the Great Carmel Convent established in 1932. The Host is a mix of pure wheat and water. Earlier the nuns would buy the wheat and grind it to make the Host, explains Mother Superior Anne Therese. Now the convents buy pure wheat flour from stores that have been supplying to them for years. The Host comes in three sizes: Large - 6" in diameter; medium -3" (these are meant for the priests and are embossed with Latin symbols ) and small -about 1" (which are given to the congregation). The baking ma-

chines are engraved with symbols for the mid-sized Hosts. The coin-sized hosts are too small to get embossed, Sr Yvonne from Great Carmel. Every month the convent buys three to four bags of wheat flour of 50kilos each. The Host gets made every day. We start at 8 am and by 11 am we wrap the process, says Sr Yvonne. This two-hour Host-making procedure is an ongoing process in these convents. Mak-

ing of the Hosts consists of three major steps - baking, moistening and cutting. The freshly prepared thin batter is poured in machines that resemble a roti-maker. These are then baked and left overnight to dry in the baking room. Next day, all the crisp circles are transferred to the moisture room. They are placed on plastic net racks and a humidifier is turned on. As and when the hosts get moist they are packed in plastic bags to retain the softness. After about an hour they are taken to the cutting room where a multi-cutter cuts the tiny coin sized Hosts, while the medium sized Hosts are cut manually by the nuns. Then these are packed in tin boxes to be sold to churches. A packet of 1,000 coin sized Hosts costs Rs.120, a packet of 100 medium sized hosts is Rs. 120 and each one of the big hosts costs Rs. 10. The rounds have to be perfect circles and they shouldnt

chip," says Mother . The left over cuttings of the Host are not wasted. We consume the left-overs or somebody comes and buys. We also supply to the poor, says Sr Yvonne. During Christmas, Easter and St Marys feast when the demand is more the nuns make Hosts twice in a day. Earlier we would supply to St Marys Basilica for all the nine days of the feast, they would take about 1lakh hosts for the people but now the pressure is less because there are two other convents, says Sr Yvonne. A practising Catholic consumes the host with much reverence, for the nuns who make it, the process is equally sacrosanct and they look forward to it each day. We believe it is Jesus body that is nourishing our soul and strengthening us it was instituted by Jesus and we have faith in it, says Mother. And so do millions of Christians around the globe. Ayesha Tabassum