March 2010

In this diary I will share with you little bites of what we do, what inspires us; hopefully capture the overall feeling of what it is like to run one of the toughest kitchens. I will take you inside the walls and behind the scenes of rasoi new indian kitchen and share with you my love of food, flavour and cuisine.

I suppose I was destined to end up in this role. I have always been at one with nature. Growing up in India, I learned at a young age the importance of respecting not only the produce but all the love, hard work, passion and dedication put in by the top chefs of the Taj Group of Hotels in order to get that end result. Some of my earliest memories are of drinking fresh milk straight from the tank, eating potatoes dug fresh from the soil that day, picking mangoes from the neighbors’ garden in Monrovia, Liberia (West Africa), Last but not least I remember the smell of baking and the amazing food my mother would make.

Sometimes I think I have come a long way from those childhood memories, but perhaps, not really. It is still the freshness, simplicity and those true flavours that I try to lock into my food now, and those flavours and memories of the simplest things are the most powerful driving force behind my creativity today. In a world where technology and possibilities are endless it is always the fresh produce that guides and inspires me.

I have been lucky to have worked with some truly great chefs. They have all guided me and helped shape me in their own unique way. They have helped me to understand great food, how to combine ingredients, how to produce food at this level, how to manage people, basically how to run a kitchen. All of these skills are imperative to my success on a day to day basis, being a talented cook is only a fraction of what it takes to be a great Chef; speed, technical skills, stamina, fitness, operational problem solving, managing staff, finances, health and safety, understanding and patience, and of course the clientele, the rest is sheer hard work and determination. After all, what is the point of having all this love and passion for food if we fail to deliver?

I can still remember the first day I stepped foot in the kitchen at Calle General Goded nº 5, the sounds, the smells, and of course the tastes. Tasting a sauce was revelatory, the balance and complexity of flavour was perfect, it was like silk on my tongue. I knew I was where I belonged.