In a trend that’s only growing bigger, the Indian wedding feast has evolved in taste and service. Those huge buffets are making way for more personalised serving stations with dishes served with a side of storytelling and interactivity, over simply volume and scale. And one ingredient is totally riding this wave of creativity - Italian pasta.
In a post, well-known wedding caterer Sage and Saffron sums it up perfectly: “The pasta station: hands-down the most requested live counter at any Indian wedding.”
It’s time for spaghetti, spice, and everything nice as the pasta edges out truffle and tandoori. If you’re planning a wedding, take note, for pastas are churning up a whole theatre of interactivity for guests.
We asked Harsh Shodhan, Chef, Food Consultant & Founder, The Gourmet Kitchen to talk about the trend.
Why does the theatre of a live pasta counter make things so interesting at a wedding? Have you also created such dishes at wedding banquets or shaadi functions at home?
Live pasta counters add excitement to wedding dining. With pasta counters you can watch the pasta being made. With pasta counters you can choose your own ingredients and your own sauces. With pasta counters you can then enjoy the dish exactly how you like it. The smell of the food while it cooks the touch of Parmesan or truffle make that experience special. At Gourmet Kitchen we think the food is about the experience much as the taste. Live pasta counters work well at weddings whether it is a banquet or a small home wedding. You could have mushroom pasta with truffle or handmade ravioli, with butter and sage. The idea is to take a classic you love and make it a bit more special.
What ingredients are used to give pasta a luxe taste and visual appeal?
For me luxury pasta is about good ingredients and getting the basics correct. Fresh truffle, fresh porcini mushrooms, burrata, good aged Parmesan, good olive oil, good artisanal cheeses and good fresh herbs can make a difference. Handmade pasta like ravioli, tagliatelle and so on is another level entirely and then you have your sauces like butter and sage roasted garlic cream, slow cooked tomato and basil and so on to really bring everything together.
The final touches are just as important. A shave of parmesan, a splash of basil oil and some fresh herbs will all make a difference to both the taste and the appearance of the dish. Luxury isn't about putting the expensive ingredients into a dish. It's about choosing the ingredients, letting them be themselves and then just making sure to focus on the details.
1. DIY, Baby!
Nothing spells more fun that trying your own hand at creating something or even having it done your way, in front of you! The live pasta station is one such interactive spot. It's where everyone gets to eat the pasta, their way, go with shapes they love - farfalle, fusilli or rigatoni and often, even watch chefs live roll out the pasta sheets on the spot, it's all about visual storytelling here.
2. Watching the 'Cheese Wheel'
The live pasta counter has been made more fun with the Parmesan wheel technique, that's also popping up on feeds and reels on Instagram of late, when it comes to Indian wedding social media. In this, chefs drop freshly boiled pasta into a large, hollowed-out wheel of aged Parmigiano Reggiano. They then flare or flambé it with white wine which totally regales the rich, melted cheese, making for a scene guests always end up flilming
3. Hail that Fusion
Today, its all about bringing global tastes home with a familiar setting but also with international culinary flair. Caterers are relishing fusions with sauces and ingredients to make dishes like Paneer Harissa Cones, Penne Makhanis, and Achari Keema Penne. It makes for an appeal while also adding to comforting and fare.
4. Delicious In-betweeners
Those mammoth wedding buffets are transitioning to elegant, multi-course sit-down dinners, with a focus on smaller more well-curated meals making their way to guests' plates. To add courses to the courses, artisanal Italian pastas—such as hand-stuffed ravioli, intricately folded tortellini, and freshly extruded tagliatelle—are being slotted as courses in between traditional Indian appetizers and main courses.
5. Perfect for Grazing Tables
With folks looking to scale down their intake, pastas are the perfect fit. They're apt for the grazing table created for the Mehendi and Sangeet when heavy meals are out, and bite-sized is the name of the game. They're sitting pretty with artisanal cheeses, cured meats, fresh fruits, house-made dips also served creatively in anything from shot glasses to pasta cones that make for a quick bite as you mingle.