Flamboyant restaurateur par excellence (1922-2013)
She was the first Indian to complete the Advance Certificate Course of the Cordon Bleu School of Cookery, London. Bhicoo Manekshaw’s fondness for good food and cooking began at the age of five in her grandmother’s kitchen. Blazing a pioneering trail came naturally to Bhicoo Manekshaw. In Queen Mary’s High School, Mumbai, Bhicoo opted for cookery for her Senior Cambridge. As the school lacked the facilities and a cookery teacher, Bhicoo learnt cooking under her mother.
In the early 1960s, her husband Wg. Cdr. Jemi Manekshaw (later Air Vice Marshal) was posted in London, where she seized the opportunity to do an advanced three months course of Cordon Bleu. Only 10 people were taken at a time, and all seats were booked a year earlier. Since her husband had a short posting, she couldn’t wait for the next batch. She sought an appointment with the principal, showed her recipes and even demonstrated her culinary abilities. She made an egg with bananas (her community, the Parsis, love eggs) and a chicken in light gravy. She was accepted for the course the same year.
Bhicoo Manekshaw’s prolific career as a catering consultant included assignments with the West End Hotel and the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, during the tenure of Governor Dharma Vira, and the India International Centre (IIC), Delhi. During her 15 year tenure with the IIC, Bhicoo Manekshaw introduced new Indian and Continental cuisine, including a plat du jour. As Catering Consultant to Chef Air and Air India, she oversaw the catering of all VIP flights including those during the NAM and CHOGM conferences, and the VIP lounge at the 1982 ASIAD Games.
She played an active role in compiling and contributing recipes for the Time and Talents Club Cookbook and the Delhi Commonwealth Women’s Association Cookbook. In 1981, at Indira Gandhi’s request, Bhicoo contributed several recipes, on her behalf, for the cookbook published by the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital King George V Appeals Committee, Sydney, Australia. Bhicoo Manekshaw’s first cookbook, ‘Traditional Recipes of India’ was published in 1974 and her second, ‘Parsi Food and Customs’, in 1996. The latter was a best seller and was renamed ‘The Essential Parsi Cookbook’ in its second edition.
Parsis in India and the diaspora refer to the book not just for its recipes, but also as a guide to perform ceremonies associated with weddings and Navjotes. Her third book, ‘Feast of Love’, a menu-based cookbook on Continental cuisine was launched in March 2007. Bhicoo believed that one can never stop learning and in ‘Feast of Love’ she initiates a novice from the basic techniques of Continental cuisine to the creation of a haute cuisine meal. Her last publication, ‘Secrets from the Kitchen – Fifty Years of Culinary Experience at the India International Centre’, was compiled by her and Chef Vijay Thukral of the IIC.
In December 1974, at a small dinner party at IIC to celebrate Sanjay Gandhi’s wedding, she ticked off Mrs. Indira Gandhi for keeping the lobster soufflé waiting. Mrs. Gandhi, who knew the value of such things, took the reproof well. A cold dessert was out of the question in winter and Mrs. Gandhi didn’t favour hot puddings. Bhickoo served a French dessert made with meringue, filled with whipped cream and fruits. Mrs Gandhi wanted to know what it was called. Mrs. Manekshaw promptly replied, “Gâteau Indira!”
It was only fitting, that Bhicoo Manekshaw set up ‘Basil & Thyme’, Delhi’s first standalone continental restaurant. On the opening day, the electricity went off and unable to bake the beer cake she’d planned, she served a beer soufflé instead. She received many compliments that day, one was from a lady visiting India, who said she’d never had a beer soufflé anywhere in the world before! “Naturally! Where else would the electricity go dead on a restaurant,” quipped Mrs. Manekshaw. Her anecdotes always had a culinary point.
Managed by her daughter Erna and son-in-law Sunil Chandra, recently Basil & Thyme was recognised by the Times Food Award in the category of ‘Best European’ – a tribute to Bhicoo Manekshaw’s zeal for enhancing palates in the capital.