Young chefs spend almost all their time in the kitchens cooking and plating up dishes made by senior chefs. To give such chefs a chance to showcase their creativity, the ITC hotels recently conducted an in-house culinary olympiad called Paak Shahstram for chefs from across all their properties in the country.
The kitchens and banquet hall at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai played host to 62 chefs competing for two days across nine categories: kabab, korma, progressive South Indian, contemporary Asian, desserts, chocolate, bakery, hot food mystery baskets and one-bite wonders.
Senior executive chef Ajit Bangera said, “In today’s competitive era, it is essential to stand out and be unique. We wanted this to be a source of motivation and to foster teamwork among our young professionals.” However, even sous chefs joined the fray, as an exercise to hone their skills in presenting flavours and dishes.
A panel of three chefs — Manjit Gill, Vijay Nagpal and Gev Desai — judged each dish on various parameters, including skill, technique and style. Speaking just before the closing ceremony on Tuesday, Chef Gill said, “Those who took part in the competition had to practise and think outside the box. They’re used to making a menu designed by someone else, so this will have had a positive effect on them as chefs. It also gave us an opportunity to interact with them and see the new ideas they came up with, which we otherwise would not have had.” The participants showcased new ways of working with elements and materials, since accessibility to newer gadgets is easier now. Working with the technology available to them, they combined flavours and experimented with presentation.
Describing himself as a “modern traditionalist”, Chef Gill talked about how even sous vide can be used to make traditional food. “But even to create these trendy things like molecular gastronomy, one needs to be strong in the basics.”
The mystery basket was his favourite challenge. He said, “It gave us a different perspective. It’s important to remember that two people can be asked to make the same dish and it can taste completely different. No matter how good the ingredients are, the more life, vitality and passion you have for what you do, the more it will be reflected in what you cook.”
He added that the search for wellness through eating healthy is what has sparked so much interest in food over the past few years. “Even for professionals like me, it is a hobby to cook. People keep asking if I cook at home; of course, I do. If you don’t do that, your view of food will not change. That’s why it’s important for chefs to create their own food. It might sound good on paper, but one has to make sure it’ll work on the plate.”
