I SPY THAI

the flavour of the month is oriental. tepenyaki or satay, take your pick. cocktail and kitty parties are suddenly getting spiced up with a different flavour altogether and even city caterers are befuddled with the changing tastes of party goers no longer content to try out chinese or the regular russian salad or macaroni-pineapple-broccoli in mayonnaise at social dos.one of the leading city caterers, confided to lucknow times, on conditions of anonymity, "we first got a request for tepenyaki (a kind of stir fried vegetables in special sauces and butter, japanese style) from a leading city corporate house and initially it had us totally fazed. we'd never even heard of the dish! finally we got down to recipe books and contacted a hotelier in delhi who saved the day by flying down a chef who prepared the tepenyaki and we all heaved a sigh of relief." chines is passe, thai is in. with several noted city hotels and restaurants offering thai cuisine to connoisseurs of good food, there's been a slow but certain experimentalism in the lakhnavi palate. yogeshwar puri, one of those rare males who's heavily into continental cooking and does it with aplomb, comments of thai cuisine, "it is a very complete cuisine, rarely needing add-ons, very like our indian dishes. it is the use of coconut milk and different sauces that make it so different." step into merlinz, one of the leading stockists of imported foods and spices in lover's lane and you find the place choc-a-bloc with thai spices— red and green curry paste, tom yum soup paste, oyster and mushroom sauce, fine chilli sauce, sweet chilli garlic sauce and even satay seasoning mix— the shelves seem to reek of thai spices. so who are the takers for such ingredients? "people who've been abroad and have enjoyed different food flavours, foreigners and of course, those with a taste for good food and a yen for something different," says sonu of merlinz. so don't be taken aback if instead of the regular seekh kebab and paneer chilli, your host offers satay with a crunchy peanut butter dip as cocktail snacks next time you attend a party. it's daring to be different, just dip in and you can quip, "this sauce, sure is different boss!" shirin.khan@timesgroup.com