In Chef Mayank Tiwari’s cook book, the word smoke takes on a new relevance. For, his kitchens at Smoke House Grill, a resto bar specialising in European dishes, are suffused with smoky fragrances from different kinds of wood. He specially loves to smoke maple, cedar, hickory, cherry and oak to liberally infuse woodsy aromas and flavours into his signature dishes.

Tiwari is senior sous chef at Smoke House Grill, part-owned by choreographer Harmeet Bajaj along with restaurateurs Riyaaz Amlani and Shiv Karan Singh. Eight years in the hotel industry, Tiwari has been with Smoke House Grill since it opened in December 2006.

Tiwari says it’s not just the meats that are smoked, but even the desserts and cocktails are generously loaded with smoked fruits. Smoking them is a well-timed and well-planned procedure and the specific woods are allowed to smoulder in the ovens while the dishes are cooked.

And what wood-smoke goes with which ingredient? For the meats Tiwari says it has to be cider and oak while the vegetables taste best with maple wood aromas. The fruits he singes with cherry wood flavours.

A graduate of the Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore, Tiwari cut his teeth at The Park in Delhi as a kitchen executive trainee and stayed there for three-and-a-half years. He then moved on to Touch in Hyderabad, owned by Telugu superstar, Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao. His next stop was Mumbai’s Bohemia as the kitchen in-charge for about one-and-a-half years. And before he landed in Smoke House Grill, he spent a month at its sister restaurant, Salt Water Grill, in Mumbai.

Tiwari’s forte also lies in creating sauces and special marinades. His blueberry cheese cake, orange and almond torte and vanilla panna cotta with smoked kiwi are highly recommended. His latest summer special has plenty to savour.He shares three of his signature dishes.

Smoked Pimento cheese cake

Smoked Pimento cheese cake

Preparation time 2 hrs

INGREDIENTS
250gms cream cheese 100gms rocket lettuce 40gms butter 20ml olive oil 250ml fresh cream 5gms gelatin Grated Parmesan 5gms green peppercorn 30gms jalapenos 30ml extra virgin olive oil 400gms red pepper 16ml synthetic vinegar 200gms Britannia cracker biscuit

Pre-preparation
Roast the red peppers and remove the skin. Smoke the peeled red peppers and make a purée. Crush the cracker biscuits and fine chop the jalapenos. Dissolve gelatin in a little water.

Method
Combine butter with the crackers, green peppercorns, jalapenos and the olive oil and spread on a thin baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes at 150°C and set aside. Mix cream cheese with fresh cream and add the seasoning. Add gelatin and mix the cream mixture vigorously. Spread this mixture evenly on top of the cracker biscuit base and pour smoked pepper in thin design patterns on top of the cream mixture. Leave some pepper purée for the dressing. Set aside for an hour.
Pepper vinaigrette
Combine extra virgin olive oil with pepper puree add seasoning and vinegar.
For service
Cut the cheesecake in to desired portions. Wilt some Aragula and place on top of the cheesecake and drizzle a bit of pepper vianigrette on it

John Dory with smoked chilli sauce

John Dory with smoked chilli sauce

Preparation time: 30mins

Cooking time: 15mins

INGREDIENTS
5 spears of asparagus 5gms black pepper 20gms salted butter Salt to taste 300gms John Dory filet 50gms leeks 50ml olive oil 30gms Bhavnagri chillies (large variety of mild green chillies) 100ml cream 50gms spinach 15ml white wine

Pre-preparation
Peel the asparagus and leave four spears aside and chop the remaining one into thin roundels. Wash and shred the leeks and blanch them in hot water until they become a little soft. Now smoke the Bhavnagri chillies and make a paste with them. Sauté the spinach and make a puree. Marinate the fish with juice of one lemon, salt and pepper.

Sauce Melt some butter in the pan, add cream and the spinach and chilli puree. Add cream and stock and adjust the seasoning and bring the sauce to a pouring consistency.

Method
Heat some oil in a pan. When the pan is hot, sear the fish from both sides and place in the oven to cook. Meanwhile in another pan sauté asparagus with white wine, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar and put aside. This will form the base of the dish. Then sauté the asparagus and leeks together with some wine and add half the cream to form leek and asparagus cream. Place this on top of the asparagus spears. Take the fish out of the oven and see if it is well cooked and place on top of the leek and asparagus. Pour some Bhavnagri chilli sauce on top. Serve hot.

Baked Blueberry Cheese cake

Baked blueberry cheese cake

INGREDIENTS
Baked cheese cake 2 boxes of hung curd- 350gm Mascarpone 200gm Philadelphia cream cheese 500gm white chocolate- 25gm flour 100gm blueberry- 4 eggs Streusel base

Method
Whip the eggs, add flour and temper the white chocolate on a double boiler. Set aside. Add Mascarpone and Philadelphia cheese in the egg and flour. Add the cold chocolate mix. Pour it on the streusel base. Top with blueberry. Bake at 140°C for 40 minutes and cool. Refrigerate and serve chilled.