Exclusive | Kunal Kapur + Good Food = Master Chef of India

The Czar of Indian Cuisine Mr Jiggs Kalra had hailed him as the “Next Big Guy in Kebabs & Curries in India” and he has definitely not disappointed him. Winning the New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2012 Chef Kunal Kapoor is back from New Zealand and rearing to go to achieve the next big milestone in his career. Chef Kunal Kapoor, best known as the man behind Diya, Leela Kempinski Gurgaon Delhi, shot to fame with his stint as a judge in the television show on Star Plus’ MasterChef India. Today Kunal is a household name and does not require any lengthy introduction. His name is synonymous to good food and that is enough to evoke memories of him in the minds of the Indian audience which is still fresh with Kunal cooking and judging in the MasterChef Kitchen.

Adgully got a chance to have a conversation with Kunal on a late afternoon but Kunal’s answers were anything but laid back. He was full of vigor and he passionately talked about his career and future plans.

When congratulated on his fellowship and asked about his experience in New Zealand and meeting the Prime Minister, Kunal replied that he felt a deep sense of honor. He was excited, humbled and thankful to God, all in one. He got an opportunity to meet the PM, and enjoy the best scenic locations, coupled with local food and wines. Full of adventure, great people, wonderful food, New Zealand is a place to learn to live one’s life.

It was a deep feeling that he gave us insight into. He said that thirteen years back when he began his journey, cooking was a career prescribed for the losers. There was no recognition awarded to chefs. But after receiving the award everything seem to have come together and fallen into place-recognition, dignity and a feeling of immense pride for achieving something as huge as this.

On enquiring about his journey from the Sunday kitchen of the home to the five star kitchens of top hotels, he narrated to us the story of his childhood activities. He said he hails from a Punjabi family where the kitchen is bigger than the bedroom. Moreover he was the only boy among the nine sisters, so being in the kitchen was inevitable. On a Sunday they would have four or five families coming together under one roof for food. The men of the house cooked away to glory. Eventually his father would hand over some small tasks at stirring the curry and so it was from there that his interest in cooking grew. Cooking in the five star kitchens is definitely a big change from what he cooked in the house. But nonetheless the journey from the kitchen of the house has been an inspiration to move to the kitchen of a five star hotel.

When we said we would love to see him hosting a cookery show, he had to say the following to us, “There is nothing in the pipeline at the moment for my hands are pretty full with a lot of projects. I am a part of the Season 3 of MasterChef India which is going to be bigger and better from the last ones. I am also working on my book of recipes, and there is also Tupperware for which I am an endorser.” Moreover he has now become the Star Chef of Lufthansa Airways which has added on him the responsibility of preparing menus for the flights. He would definitely want to take the action into his own hands and go on cooking for the viewers but for that we will have to wait till such an opportunity comes his way.

During the conversation the topic of people’s acceptance of cooking as a career after MasterChef’s popularity came up and Kunal warmed up to it and said gaily that people have definitely warmed up to this creative career. It is no more looked down upon. Cooking has also become a sort of relaxation or alternative career path for many. He recounted to us numerous instances where CEO’s of top notch companies and rich dad’s sons have approached him to take cooking lessons from him because they feel cooking is something they should know.

We also discussed about Japanese food beginning to rule the hearts of the Indian people. Kunal shared a quick laugh about people’s ignorance about this cuisine and their knowledge which is only restricted to sushi and sashimi. He told us that since ages Bollywood has been emulated by the common masses and so it is nothing new to find people taking a liking to Japanese food since their stars are loving it. However for the real liking of the cuisine to creep in, it is still some time to go.

How can we not ask about whom among the two is a better cook, men or women? Kunal did not take a second to reply, that it does not matter whether it is a guy or a girl. It is just about cooking that matters. Further Kunal vouched that there is no gender biases in the hotel industry; cooks are selected only on the basis of their merit and not gender.

When we finally asked him about his next goal, the reply was instantaneous, Chef of the Year award. We asked whether Michelin Star was on his list, pat came the reply that he did not believe in it. He did sought after it initially but after touring the Michelin Star restaurants across the world he seemed to have realized the futility of it after all.

Our questions did come to an end there but we did not leave Kunal until he gave us the answers to our rapid fire questions. The first question to be shot at him was about an ingredient that he could not do without. The answer, butter and garlic. His favourite dish- karele ki sabji, a dish he loves to cook-prawns, a person he would love to cook for- Dalai Lama, a vegetable that describes him best-karela. We did not agree to this answer for we believed he was just being too harsh on himself, the next answer was red chilly, to which we again did not agree, finally with much thought on this we decided to leave the answer to his fans and our readers. | By Rabab Rupawala [rabab(at)adgully.com]