Prateek Dhawan - My Aim Was To Learn And Grow Through The Journey (Chef)

It was clearly a childhood dream which came true when I earned my own chef coat with my name printed on it. My father taught me that food is a great excuse to make someone else happy.

1. Tell us about your background and journey?

I owe this to my father as the chef in me was inspired seeing my father wearing his chef coat with pride and creating magic and Memories in kitchen and there my journey began. I always had a passion for cooking but it all got lifted up seeing my father in the kitchen when I visited him in the hotel.

He shared cooking responsibilities with my mother wholeheartedly. My mother too is a Phenomenal cook and inspires me each day with her creativity and making the best out of the resources available. So, it all runs in our family

After graduating from Kohinoor College of Hotel Management and Tourism studies, I started my career at Hyatt Regency situated in Delhi and was fortunate to get a chance to work in their award-winning Italian kitchen La piazza. This was a dream come true as my father was an Italian chef too.

After finishing from there I shifted back to Mumbai worked with various properties for better future prospects like Sun n Sand, Marquis, Sky gourmet, Fresh menu, Flight kitchen, Starfish Dubai.

It was my privilege to be selected as a Head chef for buffet kitchen with holland America cruise which gave me great exposure and a chance to travel the world and learn about different food cultures. I have also worked for renowned brand Inox movies.

So overall I have completed 13 glorious years in the food industry and have worked with various international chefs from different nationalities.

I was also honoured to work with various celebrity chefs like Chef Gautam Mehrishi, Chef Ranveer Brar, Chef Rakhee Vaswani, chef Vicky Ratnani in my career it has been a great learning and fruitful experience to work in various types of kitchens, manage various types of kitchen equipment, adapt to different types of work environments.

All of this has a huge contribution to develop my skills to grow as a chef. My aim was to learn and grow through the journey however it was not easy, but in the words of my father “To grow as a chef you need to go through hell to reach heaven”

2. What led you to take up this career path?

Every son quotes his father in words and deeds and I am no different. From my childhood days, I use to see my father being very passionate about cooking, and seeing him in the prestigious Chef uniform was a proud feeling for me.

So, it was clearly a childhood dream which came true when I earned my own chef coat with my name printed on it. My father taught me that food is a great excuse to make someone else happy.

3. What makes you appreciate a particular dish or a restaurant and talk about it on your blog?

Few factors that make me appreciate a dish or a restaurant are the looks the hygiene practice followed by the restaurant the Creativity of the dish, the way it's presented, the Nutritional element, and last but not least a good feeling.

A major factor that I look up to in restaurants is the Acceptance of feedback which makes a guest totally valued.

4. Does one's approach change when cooking professionally and at home?

Basically, it’s all about cooking skills but yes I wouldn’t deny the approach is different while cooking in a hotel or restaurant where you have a wide range of equipment’s available, different products and resources to make your dish stand out, while on the other hand cooking at home the equipment’s are basic but that doesn’t change the awesomeness and the passion for food. Cooking for leisure at home with your loved ones can be very Therapeutic :)

5. Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?

Pind da Murgh, it's basically also known as Spicy Dhaba style Chicken curry. I learned this dish from our home chef My Mother. This dish is close to my heart and holds a lot of sentimental values as this was the first-ever dish, I learned in Punjabi cuisine.

It says lot about rich Punjabi culture, robust and full of life, this dish is prepared with fresh vegetables and chicken there is no added flavours and made with whole dry spices. Again, a lot of variations from home to home, as no food is wrong when you cook from your heart.

6. Can cooking be learnt at culinary schools or natural talent is required?

It all depends on an individual’s personal interest, how focused one is on their respective goals, and also during their management or graduation days. Talking about myself, I believe I was quite gifted as I belong to a family associated with the Hotel industry.

Seeing my father and learning from him from childhood days gave me tips and advice while starting my career in the culinary world. But I also feel that this natural talent gets polished at culinary schools as no guidance in life goes to waste

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

I was never into reading but I like exploring different food cultures, histories of food and specialities of different cuisines.

There are few cookery books I looked up to increase my knowledge and to expand my learnings like The “Flavour Bible” which shares cooking beyond recipes and “Larousse Gastronomique” it’s a food bible for all the chefs where every aspect of cooking techniques and recipes are mentioned.

- Prateek Dhawan (Chef, Food Blogger)

I am chef Prateek Dhawan over 13 years of experience my base in continental food but I got experience in various cuisine have worked with different styles of kitchen equipment and different types of work environment. I am also a Food blogger, Menu Engineer, and Reviewer.

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