Chef - The Passionate Cook

Chef: The passionate cook

For all those who have ever acted as chefs or ever dreamt of becoming one know, cooking is not just another  means of livelihood, it’s a love affair, and it’s an art of living.

It’s neither the prestige that brings chefs into the kitchen, nor the corner office and definitely not the paycheck but in the heart and soul of the chefs they have it all. What else could drive us better to our workplace than the awe of creations we are part of everyday, to watch magic happen, to feel nectars flow through your fingertips, to allow oneself to be seduced by the very smell that leaves the pan and competes for one’s attention, to abandon your senses to absolute beauty that lies before you in the form of food waiting to be transformed.

Food for me, sustains and takes life, enhances, documents, influences and affirms life; but the most fascinating aspect of food is its connection to all aspects of living. I have experienced, food acting as a cultural ambassador of sorts, connecting us to the land, the seasons, the traditions, the livelihoods, the lifestyles, the art, the history of the people and everything that we could think of. Perhaps, for passionate chefs cooking at times is even better way of expressing themselves than words.  Almost every chef shares similar enthusiasm about cooking food and so much so that they derive their orgasm in cooking.

Food in all cultures has always been considered sacred. Food as a medium of art deserves a lot of respect. For the food, when we appreciate it always a complex medium as it needs to essentially engage the visual senses, taste buds, smell, textures and seldom auditory senses as well!!

Cooking for me is a proper combination of art and science in the proper harmony. Chefs at times see their kitchen as laboratories where every dish is carefully fused with flavors, their character is evolved and eventually every dish is transformed into a piece of fine art. Cooking does not require being very complex. As one of my mentor chefs always put it “cooking is simple, but to cook simple food is very difficult”. I always ask the young chefs to try and understand the philosophy of the food; understand and respect the people behind our cooking, to learn that food is born out of the lives of those who create it for us, with all of their wisdom, experience and heart.

I see myself as a very impatient person but a very patient Chef. I believe chefs have to live by the virtue of patience, see how the slow braised shanks of veal becomes fork tender with every passing minute, see the drippings of concentrated flavors to develop and enrich the sauce; see the skin of a roasted potato to get the even wrinkles and become as soft as butter, the perfect temperature of the oven roasts the chicken making it juicy and pink on the inside, and a nice crispy skin on the crust, all this comes with only patience. For me, the true essence of a dish is not born out of a recipe. It comes from the inspirations and very thoughtful techniques used every time a cook holds on to a beautiful piece of food. The art begins when the food being cooked is treated with respect, and lovingly brought to its new form. I don’t appreciate short cuts to be taken while cooking; I try to give the food the honor it deserves.

A chef always has an eagerness to learn and evolve and in the due process, he always has learning as one of the ultimate goals itself. The aim here is not only to sell the tangible product but also to share the knowledge and respect for the food, educate the people about the food. Being a chef is always not so easy; it’s like being a tightrope walker who needs to have a passion for the task, courage to climb up the rope and needs to have an impeccable sense of balance.