Caspianka

A set of items I’d like us to feature at the CalcuttaDeli.com café are “Bone Broths” – Chicken, Fish, Beef, Pork, Lamb … I’ve cooked these myself in both Europe and North America, except the lamb and the pork, and they were all delicious, depending on how you cook them. But the compelling imperative and USP (Unique Selling Point) driving Bone Broth has more to do with its health benefits.  People in our market are looking desperately and in vain for healthy, weight-loss-promoting, anti-diabetes, blood pressure-suppressing and/or kidney-health-promoting foods, which also taste good.  They also seek foods which they perceive to be sexy or carrying romantic / imaginitive cognitive associations.  But people find very few such choices today.

In this backdrop, I want to promote and market our own special Borzsch, an Indo-Ukrainian fusion soup for Weight Loss and restoring Gut Health -- a dish unique to CalcuttaDeli (like our new Anyaska)! I’ve included below a unique customized Indo-Ukrainian fusion "Bone Broth Borzsch" recipe for CalcuttaDeli.com. The taste should be slightly reminiscent of a mixture between the Bengalee "মাংসে'র ঝোল" ("Mangshe'r Jhol") and "শুক্ত" ("Shukto"), but with a lower viscosity, quite runny, such that it can be sipped warm from a mug, almost like tea.  We will market it as "Caspianka" ...

For your review, I’ve included later on in this page a set of instructional videos on both Bone Broth and Borzsch, as well as the Slavonic Домигляс (Demi-Glace).  But first, review the clips immediately below to understand the Bone Broth Diet phenomenon sweeping across the Western world today.

Let me know your thoughts after you have reviewed and vetted this material.

I recommend using an Instant Pot (or Pressure-Cooker in Indian parlance) to cook a batch of broth in 2 hours, that otherwise takes 12-24 hours on a Slow-Cooker! Also, I recommend using each (same) set of bones 2 times, to cook 2 separate batches of broth every time (the 2nd batch will invariably be a little thinner in the meat flavor, more like a gruel). Always make sure to use some young papaya-skin paste to soften up the bones (so that all the bones soften and the marrow-mass slips out into the soup more easily). And always pour in a liberal dose of home-made Apple Cider Vinegar to draw out and leach all of the collagen and nutritious minerals away from the bones and into the soup.

For fish bone broth – if you want to get rid of the fishy smell – soak the fish parts in milk for 20-40 minutes first. So as not to waste the used milk, you can add it back into the broth at a later stage.

In the case of Beef or Pork, some people like to collect the bone-marrow-mass as it slips out in the earlier stages of cooking to use as a delicious sandwich filling or dip. (This is if using the Slow-Cooker method, you cannot access the bones in mid-cooking in the Instant Pot method.) The mom of a friend of mine uses the marrow extracted during broth-making to cook “Ploff”, a popular Russian-Central Asian dish similar to the Turko-Persian “Biryani” that we like so much in India. Personally, I have never done this myself. (In my friend’s mom’s case, she actually then uses the beef bone broth itself to make the hearty national soup of the Slavs, Borsht, made with Beetroots and heavy cream, a favorite of mine.)

After the broth is ready, it is crucial to trap out the fat (tallow), and use that separately in other dishes. Also after the broth is ready, one should collect the strainer debris (unmelted remaining meat and cartilage bits) to sell as dog-treat, or to use as a filler in pastas or other dishes, or to mix in while making Hummus, Mottabbayl or Mohammara.

Bone-broth, famous for its weight-loss benefits, is about the best way to get gelatin or collagen into your body, the dearth of which is the main driver of arthritis, joint-pain, gut or digestive diseases, etc. in most people. I used it in the last year after my stroke to lose about 30 kgs of weight, at a time when I could do no exercise. Google “Bone Broth Diet” to research all the MANY amazing benefits of Bone Broth.

Bone-broth is super-inexpensive to make -- basically uses the meat and veggie kitchen-scraps most folks throw away. In a restaurant-and-deli setting, with all the spare bones we accumulate, it is a great strategic product to sell, particularly as it is currently not being retailed in Kolkata by anyone else. We could sell it by the bottle as a take-away product, and publicize it as part of our narrative to becoming a hip, health-conscious Deli destination. And any bone-broth that we don’t sell, we can use (in place of water) to cook other dishes we make – it imparts a great flavor (try using it once to microwave-cook some Basmati / Gobindo-Bhog rice)!

BONE BROTH RECIPES

1. How to Make Roast Chicken Bone Broth for Pennies a Jar - Bone Broth Recipe – Mary’s Nest -- https://youtu.be/qZHefnR4fGY
2. How to Make Rich & Gelatinous Beef Bone Broth - Bone Broth Recipe – Mary’s Nest -- https://youtu.be/qCWcFsG-Np0
3. Gut-Healing Instant Pot Bone Broth recipe - Madeline Lemon -- https://youtu.be/z0lpwuPf6Wc
4. How to Make Bone Broth – Heal Leaky Gut – Goshen Farm and Gardens -- https://youtu.be/wgCTxJVWLFY
5. Best Bones for making Beef Bone Broth – Mary’s Nest -- https://youtu.be/llS84iRuBZU
6. How To Make Pork Bone Broth Pork Stock – Fanny Urbanhomesteader -- https://youtu.be/4Y_0QPW9ru4
7. The Many Health Benefits Of Fish Broth COLLAGEN and How Easy To Make It – Healthy Lifestyle -- https://youtu.be/OvldYocqCsg
8. Simple Indian-style Pressure-Cooker Bone Marrow Soup Recipe Video - How to Make Nalliyon Ka Soup at Home - Easy & Simple - Hyderabad Wala Recipes

CLASSIC Borzsch RECIPES FROM UKRAINE

1. How to Make Borscht - Борщ - TatyanasEverydayFood
2. BORSCHT - Full Classic Russian Restaurant Recipe - CookinginRussia
3. Borscht Soup Recipe - Martha Stewart
4. Classic Red Borscht | Borsch Recipe (Beet Soup) - Natasha's Kitchen
5. How to Make Authentic Russian Borscht Recipe (Красный борщ)
6. How to make borsch soup like a slav (Borscht recipe) - Cooking with Boris - Life of Boris
7. Beef Borscht Recipe - How to Make Beef and Beet Soup - Food Wishes

Домигляс Recipes: Ukraine

1. Соус Демиглас | Demi-glace - Borsch
2. Соус ДЕМИГЛАС. КАК ТЫ МОГ ЭТОГО НЕ ЗНАТЬ?! Самый мясной соус. #170 рецепт Ильи Лазерсона - Спасибо Шеф - рецепты Лазерсона
3. Demi Glace Part 1 - Veal Stock and the Reduction - Food Wishes
4. Demi Glace Part 2 - How to Use, Portion & Store Demi-Glace - Food Wishes
5. "Cheater" Chicken Demi-Glace - How to Make Demi-Glace without Veal Bones Food Wishes

• Pan Sauce "Bordelaise" - Red Wine Reduction Steak Sauce - Food Wishes

• Bourbon Pepper Pan Sauce - Food Wishes