SHALINI SAKSENA speaks with Chef VICKY RATNANI about Zee Café’s new show Chef Vs Fridge, to be aired today at 8pm and food trends to be seen this year
The present pandemic has made a chef out of many of us. We open the refrigerator and look at the left over and think of ways to modify it and present a totally new dish for the family to enjoy. But what happens when a professional chef opens the fridge and sees the leftovers? What does he do with them and what kind of gourmet dishes does he whip up? Well, Zee Café’s new show that goes on air tonight at 8 pm is all this and much more.
The show which is hosted by Gaurav Gera and judged by Chef Vicky, is a competition like never seen before. In every new episode, one will get to see two chefs pitted against each other to come up with dishes where ab fridge lega sabki class, aur chefs banaenge kuch world class.
“It is a very different show where the fridge is the hero. The tagline: Ab fridge lega sab ki class aaur chef baneyegey kuch world class is totally apt and fits perfectly here. One has two chefs who are cooking against each other. There is a theme as well which is not revealed to them. They are shown the key ingredients first. One has professional chefs cooking. The viewers will see and learn how one can get creative with ingredients found in one’s refrigerator. We see this happening in every household today where people open the fridge and see what they can make in order to reduce wastage,” Ratnani explains. He says that whenever there is a chef judging a chef or any other person, there is already a benchmark that has been set and one would expect a certain culinary level keeping in mind how qualified the other person is.
“What I will be looking for is originality, elevation, taste and flavour and presentation and appearance,” Ratnani says. The take away lessons here would be how one can whip up good recipes from the ingredients found in the fridge. Since every week one will see different chefs competing, one will see freshness in each episode.
“Each chef here has varied culinary experience and comes from a different background. One is teaching at a culinary school, another is working with a restaurant, some are self-taught and some are working from home. So, all have a strong background,” Ratnani says.
The reason why Indian food has gained prominence on the global map is because regional food has become big, micro-cuisine has come out of the closet. “Also, people are travelling. Lot of home chefs are exhibiting their culinary skills. It is good that the importance of Indian food through Indian chefs has gone through the roof. Ten years back it was not considered cool to eat Indian food. Indian restaurants are no longer considered to be just curry houses. They are getting a lot of respect today. The vocal for local has definitely has its plus,” Ratnani says. He is quick to point out that fusion of Indian food can lead to a lot of confusion.
“My advice to people which I have given in this show as well, is that a dish is only going to make sense if one has thorough knowledge, authority or the aptitude, understanding and maturity of both the cuisines that are coming together. Confusion can lead to disaster and fusion can sometimes create a genius,” Ratnani says.