Chefs take a class

There was a time, many years ago, when to-be married women would enroll for cooking classes in their neighbourhood. Elderly ladies taught these young women how to dish up tasty ghar ka khana. Well, that was then. Now, people want khana that tastes like the food at their favourite restaurants. Thankfully, you may be able to pull that off with chefs stepping out from behind the curtains to create a live and interactive dining experience through their master classes.

Sergi Arola, a renowned  Spanish two Michelin-starred chef believes that a masterclass serves like a preview. “Patrons can savour dishes made during the masterclass which gives them a glimpse of the kind of cuisine a restaurant serves.”

He also speaks for the other chefs when he says that the idea of a master class appeals to him for the opportunity to “personally get to interact with my food enthusiasts.”

And no, these chefs are not worried of losing their secrets. “That’s old school mentality,” says Thomas Zacharias, Senior Sous Chef, Olive Bar & Kitchen, Bandra. “New-age chefs don’t mind sharing recipes. We believe good food shouldn’t be a secret,” he says. In fact, some of them don’t mind even coming over to your kitchen to teach you their tricks.

Demo counters
This trend of chefs taking the baton to teach began with the mushrooming gourmet retails stores across the country, like Godrej Nature’s Basket and Food Hall. Demo counters became a regular fixture at these gourmet retail stores, where live demos are often held to demonstrate the use of ingredients new to the Indian consumers. Mohit Khattar, MD, Nature’s Basket, says, “We specialise in food that is not conventional. From the business point of view, we had to popularise the unconventional foods, and demonstrating the use of unconventional ingredients was a very logical part.”

And as food stores were not known to be places to learn cooking, to get the message across, these gourmet giants started getting the big names from the food industry involved, points out Margaret Lobo of the Future Group. “Association with famous chefs as eateries are a crowd puller,” she says.

While Nature’s Basket has seen the likes of Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Executive Chef, Olive Bar & Kitchen taking these master classes, chef Nikhil Chib of Busaba, and most recently, chef Mukhtar Qureshi of Neel have taken master classes at Food Hall.

After its arrival, gourmet ice cream chain Häagen-Dazs too started conducting such workshops where chefs recreate Häagen-Dazs signature creations.
Anthony David, chef, Häagen-Dazs India, who often conducts the ‘Discover Indulgence Workshop’ across the country, says, “We wanted our patrons to connect with us and show them what goes into the Häagen-Dazs creations.”

While guests learn things like flavour releasing temperature of ice creams, they also get to taste the creations made in the class. Though the creation made in front of them cannot be made at home, “as they require high standard equipment and ingredients that are sourced from all over the world, these interactions help us alleviate our patrons’ experience,” he says.

Interactive table
Zacharias has conducted a master class for Nature’s Basket, and also taken a variety of classes at his restaurant. “During the last IPL season, as part of the IPL, we did a live demo of appetizers, and for the Italian food promotion month, we taught our patrons some dishes from the cuisine,” he tells us. Most of the items demonstrated were from the restaurant menu. Olive has also come to be known for its brunch classes, where chefs conduct a demo for a small group.
“People don’t just come for a recipe but for the experience,” says chef Zacharias.

PizzaExpress at Colaba also regularly hosts the Chef’s Table sessions where their head pizzaiolo (chefs at PizzaExpress) take the guests through the entire process of pizza-making. Guests also sample signature pizzas and desserts at the session. These free of charge, ‘by-invite only’ sessions are held at least once a month.