Chef’s Table: Take all you can eat, but eat all you take, says Chef Vinay Kumar

What’s the good thing about being a chef?

Being a chef is a good career path though not an easy profession. But it does get its recognition. Guests will always remember the taste of the food. What brings them over to any restaurant is the taste of the food. And the mastery of the taste lies in the creative and artistic hands of the chef.

Why did you want to become a chef?

I used to help my mother in the kitchen ever since I was a child. My father always supported me by saying that I cooked better than my mother and encouraged me to become a chef. This registered very strongly in me and I decided to take it up as my profession. I must say that I am happy I chose this path.

Do you follow recipes or create your own dishes,

At the very beginning of my career I used to follow recipes. The practice of following classic methods and recipes helped me in gaining a strong foundation. My passion for cooking steered me towards creating a recipe of my own. Now I feel so happy when I try something new on my own and it gets recognised by the guests.

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

A good chef should know how to handle an ingredient and also have an understanding about the characteristics and nature of that ingredient. For me no ingredients are hard or easy, it depends on how I use it.

What’s your favorite food and why do you like it? My favorite food will always be homemade food as it is made with unconditional love, care and affection.

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

Each day, 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, die from hunger and related causes. 854 million people worldwide are estimated to be undernourished, and high food prices may drive another 100 million into poverty and hunger.

So please don’t waste the food and never throw it away. Take all you can eat, but eat all you take.

What is the healthiest thing to eat?

What one eats differs from person to person and also depends on age, health and gender. Anything in excess will definitely harm the human body.

Do you get a chance to eat what you cook? Yes, I do eat what I cook as it is very important that we taste what we are serving our guests.

(Chef Vinay Kumar T is an executive chef at Grand Mercure, Gopalan Mall, Bengaluru.)