New York: Tabla

A lunch date with a client who is vegetarian afforded me the opportunity to try out Tabla, an Indian restaurant known for its innovative cuisine. We stayed in the Bread Bar which has the more authentic menu. I had Parsi style mussels steamed in chili, tamarind and jaggery, which were absolutely exquisite and then treated myself to pear poached in saffron and served with an Earl Grey tea sauce.

I didn't know what jaggery was, but wikipedia, the always helpful, indicates it is "the traditional unrefined sugar used in India." Further, "Jaggery is used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes across India and Sri Lanka. For example, a pinch of jaggery is added to sambar, rasam and other gravies which are staples in southern India. It is also a delicacy in its own right. The Indian chef and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey writes about a "jaggery board", like a cheese board, as a dessert course in a Bengali dinner, with varieties of palm and sugar cane jaggeries offered, differing in taste, color, and solidity."