In Talks with Chef Kunal Kapur

BookEventz got an opportunity to have a one on one with the celebrity chef Kunal Kapur at the event organized by Nature’s Basket held in Bandra, Mumbai. The occasion was right to have a nice long chat with the MasterChef India panel judge. A huge inspiration to the upcoming chefs, read on about the interview here:

 

1)     Tell us about your journey as an aspiring chef. I never intended to be a chef while growing up. However, I was always facinated with how few raw veggies could transform into a great meal at home. I was always inspired by my father cooking and every weekend I would visit the market and meat purchasing with him. At the time I passed out of my college, getting a decent job in a good reputed hotel was very difficult. I sat for interviews at Taj and amongst 250 odd students only 5 were selected for kitchens. I was one of them and I still believe that it was my lucky day even though there were better students than me. Taj was the best training program that anyone could have got. But the flip side is that it took away almost all the time I had for myself with my near and dear ones. Initially, I struggled with long hours of intense hard work and the more I resisted the more of a monster it became. It was a big shift for me as I was moving from a happy go lucky college boy to a focused, self driven culinary professional. The transition was not the best part of my professional life as learning this trade was never easy. After a struggle for almost 3 years I said to myself to give in to this profession completely. Post that I was farily successful in my work in managing the kitchens. It took me almost 5 years to be entirely confident of what I was doing. I knew the trade and I knew I had to take a leap now. I worked with the Radisson hotels and got an award for the best Indian restaurant then after moved on to Kuwait for 2 years. This was the place where I learned for the first time how to run a kitchen as a business unit. Came back to Claridge, more confident and worked with Claridges briefly. After which I moved on to opening the most successful restaurant in my career “Diya” at The Leela Ambience Hotel, Gurgaon. This restaurant won 4 times in a row the best Indian restaurant award. Because of the success of Diya I was invited to be the judge of the hit series MasterChef India.

 

2)    Of all the countries you have visited, which cuisine do you find the most exciting? I love food and I don’t have any favorite cuisine just favorite foods. But with my travel I found American cuisine most intriguing. There are so many cultures and people and they don’t hold back to experiment.

 

3)    Tell us something about your Largest Chocolate Tower record? Season 1 of MasterChef India had ended and the entire contestants of the season were charged up. At Star Plus everyone wanted to do something with the new found love of food. The idea struck and we all built India’s largest chocolate eclair tower measuring 26feet 8 inches. It took about 20,000 chocoeclairs and about 500kgs of chocolate.

 

4)    Your Restaurant Diya, has won The Best Indian Restaurant Award for Three Consecutive years from 2009-2012. How do you work on progressing or maintaining the same standard? Correction Diya has won the award 4 times in a row. I have a dedicated team who works relentlessly. I have a very stuctured training program for all who join the Diya kitchen team. Constant training, upgrading, travel and change of menu are the secret to Diya’s success.

 

5)    It’s fascinating how celebrity chefs judge a dish just tasting a spoon of it, how do you do that? (Laughs) That’s what we do! Last 14 years in this industry I have breathed only food. Who I am today and all that I have with me is because of food. I can sense and articulate food in the most natural way owing to my time spent in the kitchens.

 

6)    What is that one ingredient you consider basic in any kitchen — the one thing that can transform a bland meal into a banquet? That ingredient is not in your spice box. That is something that you carry in your heart as a chef, it’s called “Right Attitude”.

 

7)     Tell us something about your new book. My cookbook, A Chef in Every Home is a family cook book that inspires everyone to cook. The book is special to me as it’s my debut cookbook. This book has recipes from around the world, some unknown and some very popular. All the recipes use ingredients that are easily found in a typical Indian home kitchen. Simply putting this book in your home is like a chef at your home waiting to be put to use.