Any food prepared by your mother is food from paradise

Chef Vivek Tamhane: Any food prepared by your mother is food from paradise

NT Features

What’s the best thing about being a chef?

It is one of the toughest things in the world to satisfy someone by their taste, preferences, and palate. You always feel proud to cook food for someone and receive their recognition through their love for your food.

Why did you want to become a chef?

It wasn’t in my mind to become a chef, though I had grown up with a love for food. My mother used to make food at home, and I used to help, especially during festive seasons. Until one day I realised I could turn this passion into a profession.

Do you follow recipes or create your own dishes?

There is a difference between cooking and baking. So, I follow recipes for baking as it’s a science, but with cooking – it’s an art. You must really talk to food to understand the taste in your mind before you start cooking the dish. That’s how we create the dish on our own. Sometimes, I just see the ingredients being used and I make my own recipes. This is why I have written three cookbooks, so these recipes can be passed down.

What are the easiest and the hardest ingredients to cook with?

Everything can be the easiest and everything can be hard. Cooking even the simplest boiled rice can be challenging and burn if the right quantity of water is not used. However, baking and working with chocolate can be a bit difficult. The temperature of the chocolate should be at exactly the right degree. The easiest ingredient for me is butter – just add it to anything in the right quantities, and the dish improves exponentially.

What’s your favorite food and why do you like it?

My favorite food is the authentic food of any country. Today, most restaurants are doing multicuisine, modern food. In this era, the real, authentic taste of food is slowly being wiped out. I believe any basic, authentic food is healthier and nutritious, as well.

If you could give our readers one piece of advice, what would that be?

First, try to taste authentic food wherever possible. Second, of course, is that any food prepared by your mother is out of this world, or as I say – ‘food from paradise.’

What are the healthiest things to eat?

In what you eat and enjoy on a day-to-day basis, all kinds of tastes should be there from sweet, bitter, salty, sour to pungent. Milk, curd, ghee, green leafy veggies, sprouted beans, fish, poultry, different kinds of pulses, and healthy flour-like sorghum flour, amaranth flour, brown rice flour, and oat flour will balance your diet well. I like to use whole wheat flour as well, but do try to avoid wheat flour (maida).

Do you get a chance to eat what you cook?

Most of the time, we need to check the taste of our food before it reaches the customer. When what I’ve prepared looks too good, even I must try what I’ve prepared. However, I don’t get the chance to have the entire dish that we prepare for our guests.

Chef Vivek Tamhane is the Senior Executive Chef at BLVD Club with over 30 plus years of culinary experience in frozen foods and bakery.