Food is not the same anymore!!

Today I ask you to... Reimagine Food!

Pepper would agree that we the crazy ones are passionate about food. The base of our passion coming from the hotel school, where we learned the basics about food, culinary techniques, concepts and similar terms. We read books, went through practical cooking classes. All these factors came together and gave our perspective of food at that early stage.
But it was later that I started working in professional kitchens that i realised the perspective that I had built was based on books written many decades ago. And I had started to envision, learn and write about food was based on those old texts.
Since last 20 years more emphasis has been given to link food closely to science(chemistry/physics of food)
Chefs around the world are going much ahead in creating newer techniques and aesthetics of doing food. And in order to learn them I needed to open my mind. Study not just cuisine but science behind the cuisine and create my own culinary aesthetic. It is time that we go byond the 'Authentic' and recreate it in a way I would love to have it. Combining the best of cooking techniques with the best of ingredients and creating food which redefines it's identity. Putting my identity on the plate. Let's not follow the pattern, open our paradigms and think different(apple). As old way of doing things is indeed the OLD way of doing things.
But does that mean what was done before was wrong? Not at all, that was right for that time and will continue to appeal many. I would still like my butter chicken with garlic naan. But how can I make the butter chicken even better? shall I cook the chicken sous vide or shall I use plum tomatoes for my sauce? That is for me to work on and conclude what is the best(for me)?
Coz I believe, food is not the same anymore!!

DILLI 6

"I asked my soul, what is Delhi" She replied: "The world is the body and Delhi its soul."

Asadullah Khan Ghalib (19th century poet)

By Delhi, Ghalib meant what is now called Old Delhi, one of the most fascinating part of the capital city of India. I have been visiting the city since my childhood and have been captivated by the distinct identity, culture and traditions of the area. It is perhaps this distinct identity and culture which has implored people to refer to it as "the Walled City," a city in itself.

I come from a family of vegetarians. And my grandfather being the best vegetarian cook ever known to me. He was a very good story teller as well. I have heard many stories about his days in old Delhi and the legendary chaats of Sita ram bazaar from him. But it was only when I was working in Delhi and had planned a street food festival in my restaurant I decided to research on the where is the best street food in Delhi. I took help of my Kulfi supplier (whose family was in the business for the last 4 generations). I decided to meet him at his shop in sita ram bazaar, Dilli 6

It was a cold delhi afternoon, I boarded the metro from the Rajiv chowk station (Connaught place, heart of New Delhi). Took Rs.6 ticket to Chawri Bazaar metro station and here I was in metro station 4 storeys below the ground level. I wondered why they have dug up soo deep. As I stepped out of the station I realised why!!

I was in the busy, dusty, narrow, noisy bylanes of old delhi. Hustle bustle of walled city can mesmerise any one. The area is identified by extremely small shops, congested streets and dilapidated buildings. Over the years, there has hardly been any difference in the typography of the area except over the recent past when the area has witnessed a spurt in modernism, thanks to the Metro rail project, which has connected the Walled City to the more modern and cosmopolitan part of Delhi.

Thanks to the Metro rail project, it is particularly trouble-free to reach Chandni Chowk now. There is a perceptible change in the economy of the walled street because of the Metro Rail project. For the first time, old delhi is directly connected with the cosmopolitan section of the city.

Built in 1650 AD as an accompaniment to Red Fort, Chandni Chowk was designed by Jahanara, daughter of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The story goes that on a moonlit night, the new complex and the river canal, which used to flow through Chandni Chowk lay shimmering; and as a result it acquired the name of Chandni Chowk.

Out side the station I asked for directions and moved towards Sita ram bazaar. Went upto Subedar Kulfi wala where Bobby (proprietor) was waiting for me. After the compulsory tea, he made me sample some of the best kulfis he does like the mango kulfi(inside a real mango skin), chikoo and orange(similarly done). According to him he loved doing business in this part of the city as people here were very fond of eating food(only vegetarian) and knew their tastes very well.

 People who would start their day with halwa poori and imarti. Have diferrent chaats throughout the day and matra kulcha in the evening before heading home. Heavy eaters, the size of their stomachs showed true Global-isation.

He then guided me to an old shop in sita ram bazaar, the guy sold gol gappa nad bhalla papri chat. I must say the gol gappa I had there were the best ever.rustic, thick, semolina pastyry shells, typically homemade, stuffed with boiled potatoes, tiny chickpeas and tamarind chutney and then dipped in the tangy water with raw tamarind were a revelation. Then I sampled the bhalla papri chaat a there, oohhh that was just awesome. I noticed that he was adding spicy sweet potato and a strange black spice mix. I asked him what was tis black spice mix to which he replied that he does not know. It was made by his father and his father never told him the recipe. I wondered what if his father could not whisper the recipe in his son’s years on his death bed. The special spice mix will be lost forever. That was very strange but I realised what it took in this day and age for an old man to keep his stature in the family.

We then carried on to Hauz Qazi where we tried a chaat which is not seen in new delhi. Kalami vada- deep fried gram flour discs loaded with, sweet yoghurt, tamarind chutney, mint chutney, kala masala and spiced shakarkandi. Unique.

Our last stop was the matra kulcha wala around the corner at hauz qazi. Boiled dried peas tossed with onion, tamarind, ginger, green chillies, and kala masala and served with kulcha bread.(this was my grand fathers favourite) I missed him with every bite I had. I was truly delicious. The meal was rounded up with 2 helpings of banta(LEMONADE).

After all that I had it was impossible to try anything more. But bobby wanted me to try more stuff that dilli 6 had to offer. But then sense prevailed and I said bye to bobby. Until next time.. to visit the non vegetarian paradise of Dilli 6!

 Bon appetit!

The prep list and the murphy's law

I have gone through some major changes in my life in the past couple of months. Some of my friends will know for sure what i am talking about here. I was lost, but I wasn't afraid. It was like following a fool proof recipe to the "e" where in the scope of improvisation is quite limited or none, and more so you already know how the end result is going to look, taste and feel like. The only improvisation that you can actually do is in the presentation part. Fortunately or unfortunately, thats my forte. As always, this time it is very crucial as well.

I was away for a bit and my friend "salt" had kept the kitcherie alive by injecting the special marinades time and again.Wanting to write again after some time is a bit of a challange for a Chef. Just that you get sucked into so many of the everyday chores that keeps you busy. Everyday chores here will be new menu planning, costing it, marketting activities, photoshoots, training, presentations, execution and follow ups, top it up with occassional out door caterings. They are quite some fun too. Your life is pretty much exciting and juicier as a Chef, or we like to make it sound like that, whatever be the reason, its quite amazing being one and being able to live upto it.

"Salt" can give you a fairer idea with his all time favorite sayings that "Chefs never sleep, they take rest, Chefs never eat, they taste......." and my personal favorite one "Chefs never COME.. they ARRIVE!!" And I know a lot of CHEFS who live by this statement.

Recently I did an outdoor catering event. It was pretty high profile event considering the fact that the host was one of the richest in UAE and comes under forbes list of te richest entrepreneurs. Trust me, outdoor caterings are always fun, there are always unavoidable last minute things which will go wrong and then the key is to change gears and make the sticky situation into a caramel toffee and use it to benefit. I had been negotiating with the host on all the planning, menu, set up and everything majorly. Last moment requests were happily accomodated. Now, the degree of happiness varies when you get these last moment changes on a weekend and you know that there wont be any supplies till the begining of the week. All said and done, as usual my new enthusiastic assistant Chef or the Sous Chef as we call in kitchense, made a couple of extremely well defined checklists to be checked off. Cooking was done in the degree of fondness for teh food. Each Chef I have ever seen is passionate about certain dishes which he calls his speciality, I usually prefer them to freely do those particular dish as the level of confidence is higher and there is always this sense of competition amongst the cooks to cook better than the other one. Althogh, I do make sure that they follow a certain recipe and I am aware that wht dish will it come out to be. Its good to be unpredictable, but in Kitchen trust me you love to be predictable!!!

Coming back to the checklists, it was perfect. everything looked so good on paper, but then I had this deja vu moment where I knew that no matter what you follow or do, MURPHY's LAW prevails. Something will go wrong! In this case the other day, I checked everything but we manged to loose out the dessert garnish, the siphone gun won't work there and to deal with a sudden request to organize a live bar be cue for 50 people, while you are away from your set up by 80 odd kilometers! Its like fighting the battle on a foreign turf with no ammunition.
But then, there I was equipped with two other CHEFS in the team, and as our training or talim  goes, we never say no. So, somehow we managed to pull off a great night for th hosts. They awere all merrily happy considering the fact we were serving food a'la zafran fine dine style and drinks till 4 AM.
The team was physically and mentally exhausted after 17 hrs or work for some and 12 -13 hrs  of work for some others, the function got over, but its still not over for us. We need to unwind, repack and come to the base, unload, cleaup and then you plan for the next day and if you may, get some sleep.
All this pain goes and becomes a satisfying smile with the host turning and telling you how godly good the food was. Well, not that I didnt know it was good, but still you wait all evening to listen to those golden words of gratitude. Isn't this very similar to being in the entertainment industry? We are still no superstars.. but for me that day the entire team was a super star!
The star on the menu that night was the "seared malai scallops with zafrani jhinge" went very well with figs and berry chutney. Rumali rotis were another attarction, its old claasy and still works to draw crowds, just like the gran torino car.

As I see the busy weekend pass by and sail into a relaxed sunday (now you know, where the bolg came from) other things are catching up the prioirty on the list which I need to check off. And time and again.. Muphy's law will prevail... or rather hope not.

Adios...
Pepper

Young, Unique and Passionate.

Young, Unique and Passionate. Passion is one thing i find common in my breed of Chefs. Young and Passionate are the most apt words to describe them. We are young but does that mean we lack experience?? Maybe.. Maybe not. i believe lack of experience helps us to be innovative. Young, Unique and Passionate. 

what brought me here..

(it always takes me a bottle of wine to start writing)I blame it on the Indian education system that when i feared that i will flunk in my maths board exam in High School i managed 70%. that was good enough for me to take up maths as an elective subject along with Commerce(though i always thought i was better at arts).  but i blame this too on the system (even though no one forced anything on me, its nice to put the blame on others). but after 2 years of hard fought struggle i managed to survive commerce, and that too with flying colours. i had kept my expectations low and fears high, so the 70% i got were good enough. Meanwhile i was still thinking what next???
what can i do after school? continuing with commerce would have been like stabbing my self AGAIN!! so that was out of question. or shall i continue pursuing one of my passions, that was at that time, JUDO. Maybe i thought, i was never sure. i had heard about Hotel Management, don't remember from where. but heard it was the course of the future. what future? I had no clue.
so i applied to 7 hotel management colleges in the country. gave entrance examination everywhere. the results started pouring in. i got scared. i got through each and every one of it. ooty, kolkata, delhi, aurangabad, meerut but the fight was between Gurgaon and IHMCTAN. gurgaon was sponsored by a reputed hotel company, no fees but a 5 year career bond after a completion of a course of 4 years. 9 years of my life dedicated to a company?? i did not know what to expect out of the course after 1 month, imagine 9 years of bond. phew!! it was not for me. al  other colleges never excited me. one of my family friends who worked for Pusa Institute was very possitive as i had scored All India rank of 144 and i could choose any of the 26 colleges spread all over India. i had no clue what to choose. i heard Delhi college is v good(pepper would agree), and i can be home while studying. But a friend of my dad told him that bombay college is much better than delhi. so my dad asked me if i wanted to go there?? i still had no clue.. i said, Why Not?
I went to bombay in Rajdhani express with my dad. at 7 am in the morning as the train was closing in on the Mumbai central station, the view outside was not an ideal start to the day.
we reached IHMCTAN mumbai (dadar catering) at around 9 am. the college campus was just 2 buildings, 1 basketball court and staff quarters. Much smaller than the average college campus in any other part of the world. I guess the prize paid for being in a prime location in Mumbai. at around 10 am I along with other 200 odd clueless students had an induction to the college. We were told about the history, reputation, discipline of the institute and stupid questions and answers were exchanged. As i sat through all that my mind was working overtime thinking, if all this was worth it? had i made the right choice by coming here? I had no idea what to expect out of this B.Sc.(H&HA).
After two hour long induction session we were told to check out our Hostel rooms. mine was 809!!

And the journey began!!

Look who's cooking!

Pepper: Which is your favorite restaurant Mr. Salt?

Salt: Mmmm.. difficult question you put Pepper, you know that I am a foodie, I have so many of them, but the one next to the beach (read kitcherie) serves amazing food. I can bet on the mullet there, I always make sure I order that on every visit.

Pepper: Aha, I never tried that..

Salt: Oh.. you should, the Chef there is a friend of mine and an interesting person to talk, I just love the way he cooks my mullet to perfection and the way it is always the same... I think he is a gifted Chef, young and very talented. His recipes are just out of the world.

I guess all of us have our favourite restaurant, in that favourite restaurant we have our favourite dish. The one dish that you just LOVE!! It's a must have whenever we go to that restaurant. And also we do not forget to brag about this place and the food all the time.. as if you get paid to be the brand ambassador! The icing on the cake here will be if you are friends or happen to know the Chef or even someone in the Management. Its socialy fashionable.


The above dialogue between Mr.Salt and Mr. Pepper is a very common one, I can put my money on it that all of us must have heard or talked something similar at some point. What made me and Salt think about this is who is the real super star here? Who is the man behind the perfect steak all the time? Is he the same guy who cooks for me all the time? For me and many like me, its easy to identify him. 

Of course he is the Chef! The brilliant friendly Chef who visits the tables in the restaurants, wearing the crisp white jacket with embroidered name, the tall torque and talks about food like poetry.


Think again, is he the one behind the hot stove and grill, sweating it out to do your perfect steak? How does he manage to do it all by himself and still stay so clean in his jaket? You even see on the televison about this handsome pretty face, giving a warm welcome for food.
No it's NOT HIM!

If you observe a busy restaurant kitchen closly you will find that it resembles an orchestra, everyone moves and plays his instrument to precision and at the end what you get is beautiful compilation - MENU!! and all synchronized by a the conductor, the CHEF!

The Man might be the face of the restaurant, might have been a mozzart, but this is not about him. This is about the one violin player in the orchestra who has a very important chord to play. He is the one at the heat of the grill, pushing your orders with skill and craftmanship! He is the less heard of COMMIS CHEF! He is the line cook, or shall I say, he is the soldier with the gun at the front trench facing the first bullet from the other side.

He / she is the one who cooks.
Its the brigade of cooks and in kitchenese terminology  it's called 'Commis'
noun (es, pl2=commis)
1.(obsolete) A deputy or clerk of a foreign official
2.(especially in combination) An assistant to a chef


The second definition is more closer to reality.


It's the commis who actually cook that perfect dish of yours. Please don't take away all the credit from the Chef who make makes the standard, trains the commis and ensures that they cook every dish the same way as he made them see and taste for the first time.


Chef is more essentially a good leader, teacher, cook and a Flirt! I always see Chefs busy flirting with the waitresses at the food pass or anywhere else, atleast thats what my close friend Ms. J.R.C likes to believe. And she is not completely wrong. Trust me, Chefs are pretty good at what they do.. ;-)Anyway, as I was telling, this time it is more about the real action hero / or should I say the stunt man? this reminds me that a close friend of mine Ms.Z, will always tell me it should be less about you and more about others. I agree, thats the key to happiness maybe. So, the Commis Chef needs a special recognition here. He definitely deserves the applause. I always make sure to pass on the thanks from the guests to the team without whom the heavenly experience wont be complete for the guest, and at the same time also make sure to tell the guests that its the hard working Commis who made the perfect steak for him!

Many a times its difficult to find a commis Chef who will share the equal amount of zeal and passion as your very french poetic Chef will have. I believe its purely because maybe the for the commis Chef it is more of a livelihood than a form of art to follow or passion? It is indeed the bitter reality.

the Mozart of cuisine wants his violinsts (read commis Chefs) to be passionate but not always innovative. your favourite steak should taste the same every time you visit kitcherie. Chef likes his commis to display the repetoire of his dishes when he is in the process of making a menu. But once the menu is finalised, Chef does not like the commis to experiment with his menu. he trusts the commis to cook the same way every time.

A highly trained/specialist commis Chef has a good technique, precise movement, clean work table and all of it done with great speed. but the most important character he must have is endurance. he never calls in sick, shows up late, and works his entire shift even in pain or slight fever.

Professional cooking is not about about best recipe, best ingredients, beautiful presentations or the flavour or texture of food. as all of them have been decided much before you take your seat on the table with the beautiful view. its more about what is done at the moment of truth, by the commis Chefs. He cooks with consistency, performs same tasks over and over again in exactly the same way.

So lets give them the due credit for the good job done. a pat on the back and all the words and deeds of motivation for making your steak taste as delicious every time!!

Culinary Journey 1: An Introduction to Food (Pepper)

Culinary will simply mean “of or for cooking”.  Cooking relates to FOOD rather than cooking stories for me! As everyone would accept, except a few (sorry Mr. Molecular foodies) that food necessarily sustains life, I mean that’s the purpose of it.  Taking it to a new higher level does not necessarily solve the purpose what nature had envisioned for food but rather makes it to a super luxury and an experience to take back; which is very acceptable to me.  Rather I do that myself all the time.  Food has been holding a sacred place in all the cultures and traditions that I ever know, even religions for that matter.  Thanks to the continuous efforts and experiments from all Chefs and Mothers worldwide that Food has eventually taken a form of art which we now address by the word “culinary”.  I am no way trying to compare the Mothers to Chefs, I hold Mothers in high regards.

Gastronomy is another thing.  It would essentially mean the art and practice of choosing, cooking and eating good food.  Gastronomy is more of a social element to study.  It will relate the people to food of a particular region.  So, my journeys in time have taken me to and through a lot of gastronomies and eventually a lot of cooking and culinary.  However, the very beginning of my getting introduced to food is quite an eventful tale.

I remember an occasion where a journalist (trust me, media plays a big glamorous role in this sector of being a Chef) once asked me “Chef, what is your first memory of food? (Another interesting fact here which I went to share is that no matter who knows your name or not, even if your company promotes first name culture, you always get addressed by “Chef”, that too with a CAPITAL C).

This question actually got me up and thinking before even giving a well-trained crap answer from my media manager.  Anyway, I had done my practice well and gave a very media friendly diplomatic answer which I am sure made me sound like a born prodigy with a knife and apron! While in my mind I was still struggling with the answer.  I went back to the memory of my first food still struggling to get what it was.  Trust me, I knew that the first food what I had was surely my Mother’s milk but I could go nowhere near to recall how it must have tasted like.  That brought me to the next phase where I had much clearer memories; the first thing that I remember clearly was a mashed apple which my mom used to give as an infant food.  There it was my first memory of food – Mashed Apple! Wasn’t it just great? A fresh ripe plum apple carefully chosen and cooked till tender and soft in a pressure cooker, trapping all its flavors and aromas…oh, it was beautiful! Believe me, I do not remember anything else from those times but my pea sized brain well registered the taste, flavor and aroma of the simple apple mash.

Strange but I do not remember anywhere close to what a lot of packaged infant and baby food tasted like, which I am sure was fed to me as I saw my childhood pictures with the colorful baby food cans in them.  All I related to my first memory of food was a mashed apple.  Looking at the transition, the similar apple mash which as blissful to me then would not appeal me now!  What will appeal me now is the same apple mash but with little cinnamon, caramelized sugar or hints of honey! I can already visualize apple pie somewhere! So what is this transition? Is it the education combined with experiences and training that my palate or taste buds have gone through with each passing day of my life?  Maybe or maybe, it is just me.  I am not very sure if my mom will still choose apple pie over a fresh apple, but then, you cannot compare again; like I said, the Mothers to the Chefs.

Since childhood, I had been quite choosy about food.  Thanks to my generous upbringing and the fact that I was the only kid (read heir) in my entire family. I would usually get all what I wanted.  I never wanted to have candies, chips or chocolates to a major extent. My demands were more to the visually tempting foods like a roast chicken, kebabs, street food and barbecues. I would just tell my mother that I want to eat something every now and then, not that I was always hungry or obese as a kid, just that I always needed something to tickle my taste buds, I used to call it “chatpata” (there are certain things you cannot explain in English, well, this is one of those).  Sometimes my mom will toss this question back to me, “ok, tell me what exactly you you want me to cook?”  I usually had no answers.  When I would complain about the vegetables like Okra and bitter gourd or egg plants for that matter, my mom will take me to the vegetable store and ask me to choose what I wanted.  But going to buy and choose vegetables with her was fun!  I am sure I was a cute kid (or my mom was cute?) and that is why most of the vegetable vendors will give me a carrot or a tomato or a radish to munch on while she was happily bargaining for every penny’s worth.   Sometimes, I used to think how would the poor chap survive and sustain his business after everyone bargains so much with him.  Nevertheless, that was my first experience of raw vegetables and the sweetness of carrots and pungency of radishes is still fresh in my head.

Occasionally, I will get treated for the ice cream from the vendor in the old rickety bicycle.  I still remember his face, I sometimes wonder of all the years of seeing him and he never used to get older.  He was always the same old chap, even when I grow to a handsome teenager!  I would not like the expensive cones but loved the iced lollies (orange, mango), or the make shift vanilla milk cones where the ice cream was skillfully arranged on top of a waffle cone with a rusted steel spoon by my ice cream uncle…we used to call it softy!  That was my first ice cream memory! Then came the western companies with the live ice cream machines for the real soft serves.  We will flock to the neighboring sweet shop for a more than double expensive cone, and I will always struggle to read the name on the machine called “carpigiani”.  Now as a professional, I used this particular brand for making my ices and sorbets.

I grew up in New Delhi, India.  It is a cultural melting pot as it is the capital city of India.  I love the street side food from here.  I have a very fond memory of the chaat from this place.  We had this young guy from U.P. selling chat on a basket kept in his head and he would carry the earthen pot with spiced water covered with a bright red wet cloth shouting something which sounded like “gogaawaaaaaaeesss”.  I still do not what he meant but it surely was a welcome cry! I loved his combinations with sweet sour tamarind and mint chutneys and little spices on the papri chaat with curd and golgappas (my mouth is watery again!).  I do not say that his were the best of product but for a child, it was accessible and cheap. Until today, I cannot forget his signature mustache which looked like a captain’s mustache.  I saw him after like ten years once and his mustache still hold firm and looks the same.

Another of my fond food memory is fresh fruits.  There was this Bangladeshi fruit vendor who will sell bananas only.  He will carry the banana basket on his head and shout “kele lelo..kele company!”, something will catch my attention as to why is he saying kele company (translated to branded bananas by some company).  I do not know if he is influenced by the capitalism that he will try to tell everyone that his bananas are branded, or was it the sarcasm he is putting at the Capitalists?  I was too young to judge that but surely I did think on this.  He seemed like little crazy in the head at times but then who is sane enough.  Eventually, he diversified his business from just bananas to mixed fruits.  My parents in particular loved papayas for some reason.  Sometimes, the point of bargain will shift from money to sweetness of the fruit! I used to wonder how this guy guarantees the sweetness of the fruit.  I learnt about the artificial ripening process from this guy.  He secretly showed me the small packet of carbide which he carried in his head basket to ripen fruits.  First memory again!

There have been so many first memories in my life. First fish, first meat, first kiss, first accident in the kitchen, the very first perfect omelet for that matter.

Going forward to the first day at the culinary college, I was all dressed up in the Chef’s white with a strange funny looking apron and a tall hat.  It was weird at first but then, when you see everyone like feels comfortable, like sauna, first you feel that only you are fat and people are staring at you, but after two minutes you realize that everyone else is fatter than you.  It was the first session with our Chef Professor who seemed like a malnourished kitchen helper (no disrespect meant).  It was about equipment identification and egg cookery.  This was the first magical thing as I was here able to relate to the whys of cooking and see instant results like coagulation of proteins on application of heat and more.  It was just wonderful.

There were so many firsts to come and I was so much looking forward to them.  The culinary journey never ends.  It is a constant road to quest. Live curious.

Signing off now, my kitchen is calling me now.  Another journey tomorrow from the culinary school and beyond.