The Top Chef

Always criticise the dish,not the person. Remember they are amateurs; always try and find something positive to move the dish or the cook’s performance forward. Always be honest and let the food decide the winner.

Is it a conscious effort on your part to be stern to the contestants?

Chefs can be nice people and don’t shout all the time (laughs). Respect and love should always drive what we do and we have recommitted to this in season three as well,and put a renewed focus on developing the cooking skills of our contestants. The drama for the series has to come from the cooking and how much these contestants want to stay more rather than milking their backstories.

What is a staple in your daily diet?

My mother and grandmother were both quite well-travelled. So, I ate well—risotto,roast dinners,pasta,tomato or cucumber sandwiches with vegetables plucked from our garden,slow cooked casseroles. My father seldom cooked but loved making curries and malted horlicks drinks loaded with ice cream. As a child,I loved bananas and cream with brown sugar. All these continue to be a part of my diet.

What is the one most important ingredient you always have with you while cooking?

I believe that salt is the caviar of the poor. So it becomes an essential ingredient for us all. Besides that,I think lime or lemon is a must. It just accentuates a dish and takes it to another level. It can be added to just about anything to take the taste one level up.

If you were a vegetarian,which meat you would miss?

Definitely bacon. It can be used in so many different ways. That explains why it is so difficult to give up meat.

What Indian food do you love the most?

I like the vindaloos,and I also enjoy street food—the pani puris and the bhel puris.

How would you cook kangaroo meat Indian style?

Kangaroo is very similar to beef. The texture is more or less the same. I think it would work wonderfully well in a vindaloo style.