‘Everybody is a food critic today'

...says Ashok Kumar, new executive chef, The Residency Towers, who admits that lack of cooking equipment in the good’ol days helped him become a good chef now.

Photos: Romani Agarwal

CHENNAI: I come from a small village in Tuticorin district and got into this field because of my father who wanted to start a business and suggested we open a bakery. So I did a year’s course in bakery and confectionary, before I got placed at Taj Coromandel.

I worked there for almost seven years and then was sent to Taj Hotels in Maldives, which was a milestone for me because I learnt all that I wanted to about baking there. They squeezed, sculpted and shaped me (laughs). I mastered all the European recipes while I was working in Maldives. I believed in the give-and-take policy For every recipe I shared with my colleagues there, I learnt one from them. And that is how I grew as a chef.

The microwave-oven and dough-kneader were the only kitchen equipment we had when I started off as a chef. But today, all the equipments are available at our fingertips and makes cooking a lot easier. I must agree that the growth of the industry has been tremendous. Everybody is a food critic today; they know what good food tastes like.

My specialities are bakery and confectionary and apart from that, I have specialised in salads and carvings too. I have got a lot of appreciations for my carvings. Once I had made a sugar carving and a man started asking me questions about how I had carved it and how much time it took. Later, I got to know he was a gold medallist in sugar carvings and he was impressed with my work (grins).
I like to cook healthy. These days, most ingredients and products we use in cooking have chemicals, and as a chef I believe in serving my customers healthy food. So far I have succeeded. And I hope to do so in future too.

Summer Food Gateau bake at home!

Lots of chopped tropical fruits

For the cream

• Milk 1 Litre, Cornflour 120 gram, Sugar 400 gram, Butter (unsalted) 450 gram
• First, boil the milk.
• Dilute the cornflour with little water, keep aside.
• When the milk is boiling, add the sugar into it and mix well.
• Into this, add the cornflour mixture.  
• Let the mixture cool and when in room temperature, add the butter.  
• Keep the mix aside.

For the sponge
Sugar 100 gram; Eggs 3; Flour (maida) 100 gram; Baking powder  ½ tsp

• Beat the eggs.
• Add sugar little by little into it.
• Sieve the flour along with the baking powder well and add it into the egg.
• Pour the batter into a baking tin. Bake at 150 C for 35-45 minutes.

Icing

• Bring sponge to room temperature and then slice it into three layers.
• Apply the milk cream mix in each of the layers and fill it with chopped tropical fruits.
• Decorate the cake well.

Tips

1. Medicine is food. Every traditional ingredient has its own medical value. We need to ensure to give our body the right kind of ingredients in the right amount.
2. Rice is our staple food, especially in South India. We should ensure to not go against this food cycle.
3. It is good to have ginger in an empty stomach in the morning. It is good for health. Each of our spices and vegetables has so many hidden values.
4. Steaming cakes, rather than baking it in the oven, ensure that the cake is moist and can be stored for longer time.