All is food, even bird brain

Top chefs from across the world flew down to the city for the Culinary Expo 2017 organised by AIMS Institutes. Akhila Damodaran catches up with them for a chat
All is food, even bird brain

Manjeet Singh Gill

What is your most favourite food moment? Best moment is yet to come. Everytime I cook, I think I am cooking for the first time.

What is the best part of being a chef ? You are always a happy person. The words tension and depression are not in your dictionary. What did you want to be when you were a kid? I was studying BSC.

Later my father suggested hotel management and, during the course, I realised that kitchen suits me best. What is your most favourite food to eat and cook? Punjabi

Kunal Kapur

What is your most favourite food moment?
When my mom is cooking and I am eating. Sometimes when she cooks, I sit on the kitchen counter and the moment she takes the roti from tava and drops it into my plate, I grab it.

Do you give her suggestions?
Not until she asks. She wouldn’t like it. She’s says, “tu bachha hai, bachha he reh. main teri maa hu.”

Most Bizzare thing you have ever tasted?
Frogs legs, in Dubai a couple of years ago. It tastes like chicken. It has no flavour.

What is the best part of being a chef ?
You are the blessed child of God. Food is abundant and whatever taste you want, you can create it.

What is your most favourite food to eat and cook?
Desserts... anything to do with chocolate. I love cooking desserts with chocolate and I love to eat them.

Favourite ingredient?
Chocolate, chilli, garlic and cheese

What would you cook for the following personalities?
Donald Trump - Lithi Choki Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan - Sattvik food Shah Rukh Khan - Hyderabadi biryani and kebabs

Yuji Okano

What is your most favourite food moment?
Having coffee at Indian Coffee House.

Most bizzare thing you have ever tasted?
Brain of a monkey. It was very bad.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a doctor. But I am not smart enough. So I studied nutrition for a chance to work in a hospital.
I got a licence too, but I got an opportunity to work in a Japanese restaurant. That’s how cooking happened.

What would you cook for the following personalities?
Donald Trump - As he is known for his short temper, I will cook something mild... maybe vegetables in soy sauce.

Dev Bose

What is your most favourite food moment?

Serving all the expats, politicians and famous personalities

What is your most favourite food to eat and cook?
To cook continental and particularly Italian. To eat, Kerala food... appam and stew. I can have it all day.

Most bizzare thing you have ever tasted?
Crickets. My friends in Bengaluru got it. I just took a bite and then swallowed it with water.

What is the first word that comes to your mind when I say foodie?

Tolerance to try new things What would you cook for the following personalities? Donald Trump - If he likes fillet, I will serve that in an Italian way Narendra Modi - Dhokla with chutney. He can have with his breakfast. CM Siddara- maiah - Bisibele bath w i t h chutney R a j - kumar’s fam- ily - Neer dosa and chutney

Avijit Ghosh

Most bizzare thing you have ever tasted?

Chicken brain curry. I had it by mistake. Favourite ingredient? Saffron. What did you want to be when you were a kid? Artist... I love painting. What is your most favourite food to eat and cook? Chinese What would you cook for the following personalities? Donald Trump - Chocolate and saffron dessert Narendra Modi - Fresh apple and cinnamon tart with ice cream CM Siddaramaiah - Coconut and jaggery payasam Sachin Tendulkar - Something with hazelnut, caramel and chocolate

Sanjay Thakur

What is your most favourite food to eat and cook? Asian food, especially Thai and Malaysian to eat. Most bizzare thing you have ever tasted? Snake. It was dry meat cooked in broth. It tastes like chicken. What would you cook for the following personalities? Donald Trump - He is an outspoken person. So, something spicy. I would make kebabs transformed into sliders... like mini burgers Narendra Modi - He is sophisticated. So, daal with a twist. Like the daal makhani, infused with nitrous oxide. It appears black in colour. You do not understand when he is being sarcastic and when straightforward. I’ll do the same with my food.

Giuseppe Lioce

What is your most favourite food to eat and cook? Spaghetti Olio (pasta made tossed with olive oil, sauteed garlic and red chilli flakes). Most bizzare thing you have ever tasted? I have tried cockroach in Thailand, kangaroo and crocodile mix in Australia. I won’t try again. What has been your worst experiment with food? I have tried to make sorbet with Red Bull and strawberry. I realised that strawberry is sour and Red Bull too strong. Favourite ingredient? Extra virgin olive oil. You can use it for dressing, cooking and to make pasta. We can’t do without it.

What is the first word that comes to your mind when I say foodie? Pasta What would you cook for the following personalities? Donald Trump - Burrito, a Mexican food. Because he hates Mexican. So, I will make him a spicy Mexican dish so that he can change his mentality. CM Siddaramaiah - Pasta with Indian fusion. I haven’t tried it yet. Narendra Modi - Veg Lasagne - creamy with a touch of spice. Shah Rukh Khan - Panna cotta because I am jealous of him. He is so famous. Everoyne says he’s sweet. So, I will make something sweet. Priyanka Chopra - Italian Sweet Pie stuffed with chocolate mousse

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