If you’ve been travelling abroad, you know what a gourmet store is. Plush décor, massive in size, excellent service and housing just about anything that one would need in the kitchen. From the usual ones to the rarest of ingredients. Fresh, exotic, tempting, welcoming. We’re living in times when it is fashionable to be a foodie, when the sales of health foods are on the rise, when we are so aware about food that we don’t settle for anything but the best. And so be it. But are there any such stores in India to cater to this demand from food afficionados?

Well, there is one, we happily discovered. Situated in the western suburbs of Bombay inside the In Orbit Mall at Malad, is GourmetCity. You enter into a vast regalia of fresh vegetables, olive oils, and a salad counter. A walk through this place is like a gym workout! This high-end specialty store is that colossal. Breads like Swedish Limpa Rye, Astrd Dinner Rolls, Russian Roll Bread, Farmers’ Rye Rings, Swedish Jagger Bread, Ciabatta, French Palmiers, phew! Prepare to be perplexed as the range offers products from some of the best brands in the world. Oils from olive to sesame to organic virgin sunflower, macadamia to the ones infused by lemon and chilli and what not by Rafael Salqado and Borges, chutneys and masalas and pastes... Good ingredients make cooking easy and fun. One realises this when one sees jars full of red chillies in white wine vinegar, carmelised red onions, garlic in white wine vinegar, and similar products. They are just so tempting you want to pick each and everyone of them.

Further on the walk, the goodies just get better. Le Cordon Bleu vinegars in sherry, balsamic from Modena, flavours like raspberry and Borges champagne style vinegar, and other wine vinegars like garlic, honey and tarragon make one want to try those exotic recipes we see experts making. African sauces like mint jelly, apple sauce with calvados, apple sauce with cider and Tewkesbury mustard, salad dressings like turmeric lemon grass, mango and chilli, blue cheese and chive are all an innovators’ delight. The bouquets of herbs are most appealing with fascinating combinations like thyme, marjoram, parsley and bay leaves; fennel seeds, aniseed, elderflower, chervil, chives and parsley (think it’d be great in a crème caramel?); there are handfuls of garlic and rosemary, sea salt and seaweed, and tarragon and pepper. Guess one’s creativity is only enhanced with these flavourful combinations. But there’s much more to the store. The corn flakes are not just Kelloggs, there’s Gut and Gerne, Waitrose, there are oat flakes, dateflakes and couscous, Weetabix whole grain cereal, Kohinoor’s Brown Basmati rice- a dieter’s paradise. Even the jams are low fat. They’re made with whole fruits and come in flavours like rose petals, apricot and sliced almonds from a brand called Les Confitures ‘a l’ Ancienne, and of course fruit jams in flavours like strawberries and buckwheat.

Among the seemingly infinite array of packaged foods, brands like Waitrose and Epicure seem to dominate. The former also includes the generally hard to find brown and light brown sugar, Muscavado, Greek honey, French sunflower honey, mincemeat of apples, vine fruits, cinnamon and nutmeg. Heinz’s pureed pumpkin and couscous, pear, pineapple and mango, apple and orange. They’ve made all the combinations for you, hence one doesn’t really need to experiment too much. Try Orgran’s rice crispbreads, Weight Watchers’ cranberry and orange cookies, Waitrose’s organic Scottish oatcakes. You’ll also find the most exotic organic teas from Intabala (from Africa) that comes caffeine free, and in flavours like rooibos and honeybush, rooibos and fennel. Rooibus is becoming increasingly popular in the West as South African red tea but it’s actually broom-like and a member of the legume family of plants. Tasting slightly sweet and nutty, it doesn’t really need sugar and is gaining fame among the health conscious. Other organic teas available are peppermint, lemongrass and camomile and rosehip. You’ll also find brazilian coffees, spring water in all possible brands.

But when you want to indulge, the cheese section is the place to be. Try Hoffman’s Horse Radish cheese, rather neutral and slightly pungent, Sticky Toffee cheese (the name is expressive enough), Smoked Cheese with Black Pepper, Apricot cheese, Gorgonzola, White Cheshire, Coleman’s Mustard cheddar and several others. There’s a wide array of chocolate from Swiss to Italian, name it and it’s there.

The meats, fish and poultry are very alluring too. The sushis are authentic, the sea food fresh, there are also plenty of meats - emu, lamb and sheep. The cold cuts are essentially authentic with Serrano Ham, German Black Forest Ham, Prosciutto Cutto; these are sourced from importers like Casamodena and Casanova. The Porchetta is fabulous, the Coppa Ham very traditional. And behold, they also have quail eggs, you know those tiny golden circles that are most savoury.

There are a couple of surprises as well. Garner’s Free Range Pickled eggs, Grecian Delight’s Taramosalata (cod roe spread), Tzatziki (cucumber and garlic sauce), stuffed vine leaves and the most creamy hummus. You’ll see chefs behind various counters for the store also has a menu where you could try romain, walnuts and gorgonzola with French dressing, Moroccan style charred vegetable salad with cumin and balsamic, Tuscan panzanella, Japanese chicken skewers and various sandwiches and pastas. There’s also a coffee counter where you may also have teas and juices.

So who’s responsible for this gourmet storehouse. In conversation with Ashutosh Chakradeo, Business Head- Food and Grocery, we learnt that the store is a product of Hyper Retail owned by the K. Raheja Corp. which also owns Hyper City, another very popular food mall. “There was a vaccum in the current retail scenario. Hence we thought it was a great idea to have something like this,” said Chakradeo, “We’re targeting the upper crust of society, who is very well travelled, appreciates food and is ready to experience and experiment.”

It really is a treat to visit this store. One would have never thought so many international brands would be so easily available in our country. Cooking has never been so joyful.