Big flavours in small bitesAmuse bouche is a little bit of food to amuse the mouth and invigorate the palate. Amuse is served as per chef’s choice in a restaurant to keep the guests engaged with the cuisine while the appetisers or food is being prepared in the kitchen. Amuse bouche came into existence in the nouvelle French cuisine which emphasised on smaller portions but more intense flavours. It is served before hors d’oeuvres and is different from it as it is mainly a bite size portion and is offered free of charge to all the guests and depends on chef’s choice. There is a saying: “The amuse-bouche is the best way for a great chef to express his or her big ideas in small bites.” Serving amuse bouche requires a separate cooking station dedicated to produce the course quickly as well as a large and varied collection of specialised china for serving the amuse. Interesting plates, demitasse cups and large Asian-style soup spoons are popular choices as amuse serve ware. Amuse bouche is like a cover of the book and gives you an idea what will follow it in your plate. To make initial impression on guests, chefs nowadays pay a lot of attention to detail and try and innovate with the dishes they serve to the guests. You can also make some single bite food and can surprise your guests. The golden rule of making any amuse bouche is to keep it as small as possible and the flavour should be intense and prominent. You can experiment with a variety of ingredients commonly available at your place and can garnish it accordingly. Hamour tikkaWhen it comes to choice of fish undoubtedly hamour is the first choice of Arabs. In English, hammour is called grouper, the word ‘grouper’ comes from the word for the fish most widely believed to be from the Portuguese name, ‘garoupa’. This fish has a mild but unique flavour and can be called a cross between sea bass and halibut. Mainly there are two varieties red or black. Chefs and grouper lovers choose the red one instead of the black one. Unlike most other fish species which are chilled or frozen, hamour is usually sold live in markets. The below dish can be an ideal starter in the winter months.Ingredients (Serves 2)Hamour fillet 600gBroccoli florets 150gCarom seeds ½ tspMustard oil 2 tbspYellow mustard 1 tbspGinger garlic paste 2 tbspYellow chili powder 1 tspGreen chili paste 1 tbspSalt to tasteCumin powder ¼ tspGram flour 2 tbspLemon juice 2 tbspGarnishOnion rings 30gCoriander sprig 2 nosLemon wedge 1 nosMethodCut and marinate the hamour fillet with salt and lemon juice and keep aside.In a pan heat oil and add gram flour and stir till light golden in colour.Remove from flame and add ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, yellow chilli powder and cumin powder, carom seeds and make a paste.Marinate the fish in the prepared marinade and leave in refrigerator for 30 minutes.At medium pre heated coal fired tandoor or pre heated domestic oven put fish skewers and roast evenly.In the meantime, take water with a pinch of salt and boil the broccoli florets, season and keep aside.Once the fish is cooked remove from skewer and serve on a bed of broccoli florets.Serve hot garnished with onion rings, coriander sprig and lemon wedge. Note: The success of a good seafood dish depends firstly on the freshness and secondly on the marinating of the seafood. Try and buy fish as fresh as possible and keep the marinating simple with limited no of spices/seasoning. Fishes like salmon requires very little amount of seasoning as the fish in itself is so flavourful.* Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to: exe.chef@horizonmanor.com