While Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma spoke about their journey and building personal stories, Zorawar Kalra divulged that he decides his next destination on the basis of food
With so many images, travellers’ tales and food stories on our palmtops, how do we decide what works best for us while planning a holiday? How do we get to the must-knows beyond the photo-shopped fantasy? Simple, live the felt experiences with somebody whom you can trust and somebody who is like you. Nobody can establish this believability about themselves than Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma, who have added a whole new layering to highway travel by exploring dhabas and elevating street food as a must-do option. So has chef Zorawar Kalra, who has used some of our known street foods to create elegant fusion fare. They were speaking at the session Seeing is Believing at the Exotica Tourism Summit.
Rocky and Mayur, who have broken barriers, hit the road, built personal stories and digital highways through their television show Highway on My Plate, shared their journey of bringing the regional Indian cuisine food to the forefront. “Our life has always been about promoting food. We started in 2007 with the emphasis to focus upon the Indian food as we have the richest food culture in the world,” said Rocky.
He then talked about weaving in his experiences as a birder with his food journeys on his Instagram account. “There are eight million registered birders in the UK and possibly more in the US. If you want to look at birding opportunities in India, we have over 1,200 species of birds, including the ones who migrate during the winters. We have some of the most phenomenal birds in the world. Everywhere you go, from Rann of Kutch to the Northeast to Kerala to Kashmir, you will find thousands of birders looking for exotic species. It is a huge business.”
Through the show, Rocky and Mayur seem to have enjoyed the diversity of the country as they travel and review dhabas on their way every 48 hours. “We have had 7,000 dishes in 12 years and still have a lot more to explore. Believe me, 100 million people would come to India if we were proud of our food culture and showed the world the richness of our cuisine,” added Rocky.
The two were running their business till they decided that they had to make their passion their living. That happened through the show, which has several avatars now. Mayur being a vegetarian only reviews one end of the spectrum of dishes. So how many of his fans have turned vegetarian? “I have no idea. Around 25 to 28 per cent Indians are vegetarian. The rest have sea food, fish and non-vegetarian dishes. Though it is a small number but now with the health tag attached to it, the numbers are growing,” said Mayur. Rocky added that as ones goes towards the coastal areas, there are hardly any vegetarians.
With food being a passion with the duo, the obvious question was if they were planning a restaurant of their own? “There’s so much of hard work and passion involved in it that I feel, probably never. But who knows? Never say, never!” said Rocky.
Another panelist Zorawar, who has nine successful outposts across India and Dubai, quipped that he was glad that Rocky and Mayur were not planning to set up one as it would mean competition for him. He talked about fusion and his experimental approach to food. His London outpost, Farzi Cafe, has been credited for changing the perception of Indian cuisine because of the use of molecular gastronomy and food theatre. “We have been experimenting with khichdi, which according to me is the most vibrant, versatile and comforting Indian dish. We have experimented and created Dal chawal aracini out of it. It is coated with bread crumbs, has a papad on top and a tomato salsa. As soon as you take a bite, you will instantly understand that it is the recreation of khichdi,” said he. The best part about papad and khichdi is the fact that every Indian State has its own version, said the restaurateur who loves playing with regional food to make it more innovative as it represents the culture of the country. It also gives him a chance to try new forms of the cuisine.
Rocky and Mayur are pushing new frontiers on the digital plane as they felt that television is no more appealing. “It is boring for people to see someone sitting on a chair in a studio every day. It is not catchy. The television is just shooting itself in the head. Unless it has a hint of creativity it will not be able to sustain itself,” said Rocky. “TV is unidirectional,” added Mayur. As the digital space is making waves and their programmes are showcased regularly there, they shared how this media had helped them promote their food journey. “It is a space to enable conversations and generate ideas. The platform gives you the chance to talk about Beera’s chicken and at the same time, share details about an idli from Gujarat. Now Indians are using it as a space to put their passion forward,” said Rocky. Mayur laid stress on the fact that the platform enables conversations. One can cater to a specific group of people and build a community with common thoughts. “Our focus is simple — be consistent, frequent and do things in such a way that you can defend yourself in everything you do,” added Mayur.
Having become a part of the profession accidentally, Rocky and Mayur realised that documenting India’s street food delicacies was something they had always wanted to do. But everything comes with its own risks and challenges. Since burgers, pastas and pizzas had firmly established their hold on everyone when they started, it was challenging to put back Indian food on the platter. But they eventually changed how people perceived a dhaba and made it a new trend. “Youngsters started looking at dhabas as a cool place. They wanted to go there and explore them,” said Mayur.
When asked if there was pressure to reinvent themselves, Rocky replied, “I believe that if you want to be interesting, just keep learning, raising your performance and reinventing the wheel. It is very important to add more skills to your existing ones and get more layered.” They even talked about travel being a teacher. The more you travel, the more you get exposed to various cultures and meet new people.
People usually decide destinations first and then look for their speciality in food. But it is the other way round for Zorawar. “All my travel has been based on food. I first decide which destination has good food and then look for other things. I plan everything on the basis of food. My most memorable trip was to Japan. After India, it has the most advanced food culture,” said he. He even shared that the first time he had a really high end meal was on his honeymoon.
For Mayur, even after 12 years, the joy for this profession remains intact. It is all about perspective. “If every morning you are excited to go to your work, just continue with it. It is all about having fun in life,” said he. This is his mantra in life. Don’t take yourself too seriously! Rocky summed up the session with Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If:
“If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it in one turn of pitch-and-toss
And lose and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss....”
