I
made it a point to stay in the kitchen with my mom and grand moms during my summer vacations just to observe everything. From the spices, cooking methods, etc.
That’s how I picked up a lot of things and skills in the kitchen. One such skill being making the perfect dough for the parathas and rolling them out perfectly.
There is this memory very close to my heart, I
was just 9 years old and my mom was travelling due to an emergency.
That day we didn’t have a cook at home, my grand mom and aunt weren’t
around either. It was time for dinner and we couldn’t order in food
because my elder brother was down with Jaundice.
Little did I know back then, patients suffering from jaundice were not allowed to have fried food and to my father's surprise I had entered the kitchen and made a stack of plain ajwain parathas without any help or guidance of an elder around.
That day I couldn’t feed my brother but I did feed my father and grandfather, the smile on their face upon tasting was priceless, that’s exactly when I knew what I want to do and what my calling is.
3. Does one's approach change when cooking professionally and at home?
If cooking is your passion then your approach as a Chef towards a particular dish or cooking method doesn’t really change. What changes is the equipment’s you work with.
Ofcourse, there are different types of
professional equipments available in the professional kitchens that
cater to bulk cooking and making life easier in terms of chopping,
making purees. etc, which is not quite possible at home but nowadays there are brands coming up with excellent equipments.
But looking at the dish, cooking it professionally or cooking it at home makes no difference, as the taste at the end of the day is going to be the same.
It's more about cooking with your whole heart and love, no matter where you cook.
4. Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?
As I mentioned earlier, Paratha was the first ever dish I made on my own as a kid without any elder around me. It is a dish I associate myself with.
I totally love eating every kind of Paratha and it's always going to be close to my heart, it was the dish that made me realise what my calling really is.
5. Can cooking be learnt at culinary schools or a natural talent is required?
When
it comes to cooking, natural talent is always an added bonus, but it is
also an art that can definitely be learnt at cooking schools or even at
home if paid attention.
Culinary art is a beautiful field to be in, the learning here is immense and never ending. The more you learn, you feel the lesser you have known till date and that’s what keeps me passionate about growing and evolving as a better chef each day!
6. Which is your favourite book and why?
I don’t have a favourite book in particular, they are all equally good and informative that you can’t just pick one. But, I do love reading the most on Indian & Asian Cuisines.
These 2 cuisines I feel are extremely vast in their own. They both contribute to different cultures, regions, flavours, spice and blends.
I also like to read up a lot about Food Archaeology, that goes way back to talking about where do the actual remains of each ingredient or spice comes from and what were they used as back then, including some lost recipes which are mentioned in the Ancient Indian Scripture.
- Riddhima Sood
Instagram ID -
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Interviewed by:- Swathi V
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