Made from Delhi’s Miam Patisserie, Nanda sets a table for The Hindu Weekend and shares some brands you can mix and match
This year, Bani Nanda’s Christmas menu at Miam Patisserie in New Delhi includes everything that’s in season – “From Strawberry to Rhubarb to Coonoor to Galgal [hill lemons] from our property in Himachal Pradesh”. Ever since the sociable chef (@chefbani on Instagram) launched Miam in 2015, she’s pushed the creative envelope. This week, she sets a table for us with her popular Anti-Plum Cake, a refreshing departure from the Christmas staple.
“I’m not a fan of traditional plum cakes and I have disturbing memories as a kid, thinking they were chocolate cake. I could never let it go,” she explains. “I also found out That many people have similar feelings to plum cake. This is our Christmas-style cake with notes of marmalade, cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s like Christmas in the mouth!” Featured here with their popular puff pie introduced last year. It has onion jam, cream cheese and potatoes. While her Instagram feed makes you want to take your work meeting to the nearest cute cafe that serves good cakes, she’s generous with showing off other brands as well (see box).
A longtime crockery collector, she suggests buying plates in sets of six, no more, “so they’re easy to mix and match”. After discovering the “art of doing absolutely nothing” during the pandemic, she also began experimenting with tablescapes. What works best when it comes to tablecloths, we ask her. “Go with white, always white! You’ll see a lot of whiteness on my Instagram feed. Honestly, India is one of the biggest textile exporters in the world, all my table linens are from Amazon or Flipkart,” she shares. “I also love shopping at local markets and pop-ups, especially Dilli Haat.” That said, Chef Bani has an extensive list of tableware experts to consider during the holidays:
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