This year, Bani Nanda’s Christmas menu at Miam Pâtisserie in New Delhi incorporates everything that’s in season — from “strawberries to rhubarb from Coonoor to Galgal [hill lemons] from our estate in Himachal Pradesh”. Ever since the affable chef (@chefbani on Instagram) launched Miam in 2015, she has 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 am not a fan of traditional plum cake and I have disturbing memories as a child biting into them thinking they’re chocolate cakes. I can never let that go,” she explains. “I’ve also come to realise that a lot of people have the same feelings towards 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 her popular puff pie, introduced last year. This one has onion jam, cream cheese and potatoes. While her Instagram feed will make you want to take your work meeting to the nearest pretty café that serves good cake, she is generous about showcasing other brands, too (see box).
A long-time crockery collector, she suggests buying plates in sets of six, no more, “so they are easy to mix and match”. Having discovered “the art of doing absolutely nothing” during the pandemic, she also began experimenting with tablescapes. What works best when it comes to the tablecloth, we ask her. “Go with white, always white! You’ll see a lot of white on my Instagram feed. Honestly, with India being one of the biggest textile exporters in the world, all my table linen is from Amazon or Flipkart,” she shares. “I also like shopping at local markets and pop-ups, especially Dilli Haat.” That said, chef Bani has an eclectic list of tableware specialists to check out during the holidays:
