Regional Cuisines To Take a Front Seat In Future
“Two people can never cook the same food, when it comes to taste there will be abstract that X factor which differentiates one food from another” said Chef Ranveer Brar, Celebrity Chef.
He made this remark at the Fourth F&B Conclave & Expo Session organised by BW Hotelier at Andaz Aerocity. The session titled ‘Food Service in India, What is the future?’ was moderated by Sourish Bhattacharyya. The eminent panellists were, Celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar; Balpreet Singh, Director of Culinary Operations, Annamaya Andaz; Nikhil Nagpal, Executive Sous Chef, Avartana, ITC Grand Chola; Vikramjit Roy, Head, New Culinary Initiative, Speciality Restaurants; Priyam Chatterjee, Head Chef, QLA and Megha Kohli, Head Chef, Lavaash by Saby.
Sourish Bhattacharya began by stating that the power of the food industry is now going in the hands of young people and it is now the millennials who are serving the millennials. He initiated the discussion by asking Chef Singh about Annamaya Andaz. Replying to that Chef Singh mentioned that changing of menus every month according to the season was a speciality at the restaurant. Adding on to this he said, “In America, you buy the ingredients or get it cooked right in front of you. At Annamaya too, the buyer can do the same thing.” Agreeing with Chef Singh, Nagpal said that making menus which are universally accepted was their main focus at ITC Grand Chola.
The moderator then asked Chef Brar about the evolution which the food service has witnessed over the years. Chef Brar believed that the industry which was initially very intimidating has now become more engaging, assimilative, participative and more expressive. ‘Earlier we said Yeh Khichdi Vo Hai Jo Ghar Pe Nahi Ban Sakti and now we tell the customers Yeh Wahi Ghar Vali Khichdi Hai,’ he smiled.
Kohli directed the attention of the audience towards the fact that being a chef is not only about cooking, it also about being an extrovert, knowing how to handle the media and PR. She also stressed that there is a need to look at the local stuff as a lot of things lie unexplored.
Chef Chatterjee informed the audience about two lessons which he was taught, “First thing I was taught was that in order to use a machine you need to become a machine and the second important thing is the more ingredients you take out of the dish the better it becomes.”
The panellists unanimously believed that regional cuisines will become a big trend in future. Adding to this Chef Brar said that Grains and Millets will be trending. He was also of the opinion that climate cuisine food and drought resistant food will also be among the trending foods.
