Chef Prateek Sadhu: How to surprise the wife!

The chef on breaking barriers with no defined roles in the kitchen

Surprise surprise!

Chef Prateek advices it is as important to clean up the mess after a surprise dinner as it is to cook it

I want to surprise and shock my wife of 20 years by cooking something fancy for the first time in my life. What should I do?

—AS, Noida

For one, spend more time in the kitchen. Not because you need to “surprise” her. Mainly because it’s your share of the work, too. Looking after yourself, cooking a nourishing meal, and cleaning up the mess after shouldn’t have to be a special thing you do.

Also, define fancy. Fancy, to me, is when you take a bunch of fresh ingredients that belong together and extract maximum flavour out of them. Other times, it’s about looking at a favourite dish through a new lens. Take your favourite chaat, for instance, but make it with altogether new ingredients.

At our restaurant, one of our much loved courses is the Corn Paani Puri. Crispy puri, stuffed with buttery-smooth corn puree with kale and apple gel. Similarly, we revisited the Goan Classic Choriz Pav, and made these bite-sized Goan sausage-stuffed pavs that were deep-fried and topped with apple butter and herbs. The important thing is to look around you, and reinvent. Make the best of what you have!

Prateek’s signature restaurant, Masque, is changing India’s culinary landscape and was awarded the One To Watch Award by Asia’s 50 Best in 2020

From HT Brunch, October 25, 2020

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