What does food from the future look like? At an event aptly named ‘Future Menus,’ Unilever Food Solutions brought together four restaurants and known chefs to present a curated menu on the themes of ‘flavour shock,’ ‘modernised comfort food,’ ‘feel-good food’ and ‘low waste menus’ in Karachi.

Seated around three long rectangular tables lit up by neon lights were people from the food industry – business owners, chefs, bakers, content creators and the senior leadership from Unilever. The space in front of each person was occupied by cutlery hinting at the food about to arrive.

The four restaurants and bakeries participating were Izakaya, tasked with the keyword of ‘flavour shock’; The Deli, whose menu had to revolve around ‘feel good food’; Evergreen, asked to create a ‘low waste menu’; and Wildlfour, which presented on ‘modernised comfort food.’

Mustafa Sardar of Izakaya, said his restaurant, which offers a private dining experience in Karachi, already incorporated an element of shock and awe in the way their food was presented, so designing the menu around the theme of a flavour shock was easy. The first course consisted of a lime coconut soup with a rich and warm broth, fish and chips – creatively presented as a fried ball of mashed potato and bite-sized fish. The star of the first course, however, was the ponzu puri – think sushi but in pani puri form. Everyone claimed this to be one of the food highlights from the event.

This was followed by The Deli, which prepared a pomegranate and almond salad, soy lasagne and pistachio-crusted chicken paired with a barley risotto.

Evergreen’s menu sparked the most curiosity. Kamil Rahim of Evergreen spoke about why they were hesitant about executing the low-waste menu theme but later got to thinking and realised that they do go through a lot of food waste, especially when using fresh fruit and vegetables. “We started the process by making a list of ingredients that go to waste, such as broccoli stems and carrot tops,” explained Rahim. This course consisted of recipes using the often discarded peels of fruit and vegetables fried to a crisp and served with Evergreen’s signature sauces. They also presented banana peel tacos and a soup made from carrot tops and broccoli stems.

This prompted Ayesha Omar, a popular actor in Pakistan and the host of the event, to comment that her mom is a fan of using vegetable peels in recipes and that it factors really well when making nutrient-rich broths. Rahim also said this experiment has changed the way they look at food in the restaurant, implying they may incorporate some elements of the low-waste menu.

The last course was by Natasha Akbar from Wildflour who works as a home-based pastry chef. The dessert course had the most creative presentation, with rabri mousse shaped in a dome next to a pistachio crunch petit gateau and a dessert called ruby noir made from ruby chocolate.

Akbar explained how she wanted to incorporate desi flavours and the concept of mithai along with the techniques of French pastry making when devising the dessert menu. “Pistachio is always a universal favourite and it was a nod to the hype the Fix kunafa chocolates from Dubai have generated. It is also a very running flavour in my bakery.”

Riffat Rashid is a full-time content creator for digital food content platforms – Girl Gotta Eat and Hungry In Karachi. She also runs Hot Beverage, a marketing and content creation company.
girlgottaeat17@gmail.com

Header image created with generative AI.