Two renowned chefs from Australia spoke to Neeti Nigam on the inherent strength of Indian cuisine and what gets them going
You must have heard chefs fondly talking about their mother’s recipes or other tales that inspired them to take up this profession. But these two well-known chefs from Australia, Mark Best and Ian Curley, who were in the Capital to give youth an insight into their gastronomy world, surprised everyone with their stories. While Mark became chef to escape his boring job in goldmine, Ian wanted to meet girls.
Thanks to Master Chef Australia, both chefs have a huge fan following in India too. We reached at the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition at Pusa Road where both were present for a mentoring session.
Dressed in black t-shirt and blue jeans, Mark was busy posing for photographs with students. So we got hold of Ian, who is taking interest in potli samosa. “This is the second time I am coming to Delhi, and with such packed schedule, I don’t think I would be able to explore the city,” lamented Curley while munching his samosa. Born in Britain though, chef Curley found Australian food as his destination. The reason he said was to get a job, earn lots of money and of course meet beautiful women.”
An ardent admirer of fresh food, chef Curley wished to catch fishes from the Indian Ocean. “Just like the Australian cuisine, fish is instant and fresh. But I like the vegetarian diet of the people here,” he said. But most chefs believe that vegetables give less scope to experiment. “That’s not true. A carrot can be as experimenting as meat. Indian has such wide variety of spices that they can comfortably play with veggies,” he said while noticing the texture of the second samosa he was planning to nibble. “Deep frying seems to be a dominant culinary technique in both countries,” he pointed out.
Dressed in simple grey check shirt and pant, chef talked how the Indian food was appealing to global food connoisseurs. “I have heard about chef Manish Mehrotra of the Indian Accent. He does a great job in fusion food,” he said while adding, “Fusion is a mix of different things hope to become one. If I prepare a fusion dish, I’ll use the Indian ingredients and apply Australian techniques.”
Curley’s culinary food mantra is — source the best produce available, focus on seasonality and present it simply. Point noted. We moved on to meet chef Mark Best who was busy signing his cookbook Marque: A Culinary Adventure. Best is among a distinguished few to achieve 19/20 in the Good Food Guide.
An admirer of French and Italian cuisines, Best developed a style that is bold and innovative. So don’t get surprise when you’re served raw tuna on a brioche with foie gras custard and pork crackling at his restaurant Marque. Travelling to cities like Paris and london and working in Michelin Star hotels developed his passion for cooking. “During those days there was no access to Internet. So we have to read books and travel overseas to discover exotic ingredients and different styles of representation,” he informed. So where does Indian cuisine lands when it comes to representationIJ “There is a lot of strength in the cuisine but I feel it needs to look more inviting. The kind of skilled chefs coming from India will probably revolutionise the representation aspect,” said chef while sipping tea.
So did you eat any Indian dish hereIJ “Yes I loved masala dosa. The mustard seeds gave an amazing flavour to potatoes,” he said. It is time for the two chefs to return to their hotel. They had to cook their best delicacies for the food connoisseurs in the Capital.