Everybody is a Chef
The history of the Indian food scene from the time chefs moved from being bawarchis to celebrity chefs has been a rather short but visible one.
The history of the Indian food scene from the time chefs moved from being bawarchis to celebrity chefs has been a rather short but visible one. In my many conversations with chefs who have stepped out of their whites,the often-repeated motivation has been a need for freedom. Chefs are acknowledged as the artists in a food and beverage establishment. The fact that most come with artistic temperaments only helps perpetuate the impression. Chef Joe Manavalan,a former pastry chef with the Oberoi group,decided to move on after 14 years in the business and pursue an MBA. Post that,he set up a dessert company Painted Platters and a bar called 1912 in Bangalore which was successful in its time and has since closed. Its been a tough journey; the creative aspect of being a chef often took a backseat when business took over. During the 1912 days,Joe spent many hours crouched in his low-ceiling mezzanine floor office as the music pumped downstairs,facing a cascade of Excel sheets. The price for freedom was heavy although the pay off adequate.
Chef Michael Swamy has a recipe book out,The East Indian Kitchen a result of three years of research and a chronicling of his grandmothers recipes. He wanted to be a chef because it was a step on the way to pursuing his great love food media. His mother,a documentary filmmaker,influenced his professional choice and he felt a formal study of food would enhance his ability to do his job well be it writing food reviews or styling food. After working abroad,he returned to India and was most recently heading the MasterChef India Season 1 food team. It was a revealing experience,the fact that people in smaller towns were looking at coloured bell peppers and trying to find novel preparations for it. The exposure to television has been dynamite for the food scene. The Indian diner and the home cook has never experimented like this before. There is a democratisation underway when it comes to food different cuisines,ingredients,methods of cookery,affordable appliances; being a home chef or casual gourmand has never been this accessible.
But there is another aspect to this freedom. The pervasive influence of 24215;7 cable television,which brings world cuisine into living rooms,has also made celebrities out of chefs,pulling them out of kitchens and putting them on the screen. The era of the chef wary of interacting with guests to being downright disdainful of them seems to be in the past. What we have today are crowd-pleasers in white,people who are telegenic,good speakers,networked,offensive on cue and dishy. The Bada Chef who never smiled and whose footsteps had their own fear-inducing cadence from my days as a trainee seems to be a creature of the past.
There is some mumbling in the chef community, and conflicting feelings about terms like Master Chef or Celebrity Chef. Its an over-simplification and commodification of a title which stands for something. In the regimented kitchen cadre,one earns ones stripes; today,the path to such monikers is too easy and superfluous. Its casual use is offensive to most chefs. Especially in the context of reality shows that bestow such titles on people who have no formal training or sustained experience in the craft and in kitchens. One chef I spoke to went as far as to call it cheating. The reactions are passionate. Most dont want to be perceived as pulling anyone down and refrain from public comment,but there is lamenting,that a celebrity chef like Jamie Oliver doesnt exist in the Indian context; someone who has the skills and culinary repertoire to be considered a chef. One of their own. There is a sense of closing of ranks on outsiders which is muted by an extolling of Olivers commendable philanthropic pursuits. His Fifteen restaurant chain,which trains disadvantaged children and helps them find a career in the kitchen,is one such example. Presently,there is a newly launched restaurant awards scheme that asks people to register and pay a nomination fee to be considered for the awards. In the crowded restaurant space,there is an assumption that recognition comes at a price,unfortunately they may be right.
The Chef from my columns can mince as well as the next guy,at least thats what he claims when I speak of my concerns that this might be a case of the have-nots getting at the haves. But he insists that this isnt a case of sour grapes,there is something a little sad about this culinary proliferation. This convenient precocity that understands so little of what it means to be a chef,conveniently distilling its essence and packaging it into something that sells. The Chef likens it to the generic dentist in the toothpaste ad who promises whiter teeth. They are doing it to another guy in a white coat the chef who is now seen holding up a jar of polyunsaturated oil and saying its recommended by the heart society or someone. Dont you see,he tells me,that doesnt make the guy a good chef.
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