E-Paper
Editor’s Note: Not a knife in sight
How the six millennial chefs on our cover—all amongst India’s best—are comrades first, competitors second
Long before I became a journalist, I was the grandson of a restaurateur.
My granddad had moved from Ferozabad to Mumbai for a better life, and started a chain of eateries that became famous for their North Indian fare. I’ve heard stories of how Dilip Kumar and other Bollywood actors would pull up in their fancy Cadillacs to order paya and nihari from the humble little joints.
Sundays at our home were a celebration of family, all centred around good food. Khansamaas (the Urdu word for “chefs”) were invited from Lucknow and Agra and the extended family descended upon our Bandra apartment. Dada (granddad) would ensure he visited the market himself on such mornings, to pick the freshest produce and best cuts of meat.
Maybe that is why I took to food writing at such an early stage in my career.
My tastes had also been shaped by the time I spent with a part of the family in New York as a pre-teen: this was the Kashmiri side that ate rich, but bland food, a total opposite to the masala-filled fare back home. The conditioning allows me today to relish a flavour-dominated, low-on-spice dish as much as I’d enjoy a robust biryani.
It also makes me ask the question: Is it possible that the quality of meat and vegetables in a developing country like ours was not the best, which is why masalas were used to mask the flavour? Haven’t we all bitten into a piece of lettuce in India and found it bitter, while the same in the West is crunchy and refreshing?
Today’s young chefs on the cover—some of India’s best—do not answer this question for me. Instead, they focus on each other: despite being competitors in an increasingly crowded field, they’re often seen following and liking each other’s social media posts, collaborating with each other online and in kitchens, and—unlike chefs of the generations gone by—rarely have a sharp comment to make about each other.
What makes this generation so secure under their chef’s hats? Why aren’t these millennials insecure that one will overshadow the other? Is this a trait of these individuals, or that of an entire generation?
Read on for some fun insights into #IndiasTopMillennialChefs whose positive attitude is as much a star as their food is!
Also in this issue: How to turn this month into Social Media Detox December. Rajeev Masand takes us into the mind of an actor. And Secret Traveller adds fuel to the fire around the new Air India rules of grooming for flight attendants: whose side are you on?
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From HT Brunch, December 10, 2022
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