I was born in Chatrapatti (a remote village) in Dindigul district, TN. During my childhood, the nearest elementary school was 5 km away and the high school was even further, which we used to reach on foot. My uncle used to work in the catering business. Watching him go about his job and hearing him talk about it contributed to my decision of joining the food industry.
I pursued culinary education in Tiruchy and completed my degree in BSc hotel management and tourism from the State Institute of Hotel Management in Catering Technology. Thereafter, I trained for six months at Abu Palace, Chennai, where I decided that I wanted to specialise in oriental cuisine as opposed to the commonly pursued continental or South Indian cuisine.
In 2002, the city was being introduced to restaurants dedicated to oriental cuisine. The area from East Siberia to the south all the way to Indonesia including Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and China includes the geographical area known as ‘The Orient’.
Oriental cuisine mostly refers to Asian cooking from the east region. Cuisines from Southeast Asia also qualify as oriental food, with Thai and Vietnamese being most popular. Other cuisines included in oriental are: Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Cantonese. Oriental cuisine uses a lot of chicken, rice, noodles vegetables, sauces and exotic ingredients like kimchi and snails.
I have worked in several restaurants — from Benjarong in Chennai to Ruan Thai in Dubai. Two months ago, I joined Va Pho — Asian Canteen as the chef in charge. My favourite dishes are Va Pho prawns and Kam Heong Broccoli. I absolutely detest wasting food and advice everyone to taste the dish before you load up your plate to ensure that no food is wasted.
To my comrades in the kitchen, I would like to say exactly what my mentors told me — bring a positive attitude to the kitchen and cook with all your heart, perfection will follow.