Ready for a cook off?

The publicity has shined a brighter light on the profession, and chefs are gaining recognition as well as developing dreams for a bright future. Aspiring chefs across the globe see reality shows as an excellent opportunity for inspired chefs to gain recognition and publicity in the field.

Chef Manu Chandra, of Olive Beach, who made an unexpected guest appearance as a judge on one such reality show, recalls his experience as a positive one, and sees the show as a publicity platform for aspiring chefs “The depth of talent wasn’t as deep as one imagined; so when it came down to a western dish they weren’t very confident, but was able to pull it off with some degree of success,” he says. But he saw that as the show progressed the contestants gained more confidence in their cooking and their skills improved. “I don’t really think there are any disadvantages to such shows, giving that, if you’re starting from zip, it’s an excellent opportunity,” he adds.

Chandra judged contestants with lifestyles ranging from housewives to failed restaurant owners, students to photographers. “It was heartening to see people coming from tiny towns, from all walks of life, passionate and driven about good food. It was an eye opener, as far as being able to understand the depth of one’s own country… there’s just so much going on in the underbelly, it was fantastic,” Manu says.

After learning many necessary skills in the art of cooking, the winner of the season Chandra judged now has her own cooking show, and another works as a sous-chef.

And if the contestant isn’t a winner, they shouldn’t take it as an earth-shattering event. They should simply pick up the pieces and try again, say most chefs.

Turns out, if one of India’s top chefs weren’t judging in a reality show, they were probably competing in one at some point. Selvaraju Ramasamy, who won a metal in the International Black Box Culinary Award Australia twice, for pre-plated fine dining, has had substantial experience dealing with reality cooking shows.

“The show gave me the confidence to cook in a restaurant,” Ramasamy said. The chef has gone on to win Best Chef of the Year by the Ministry of Tourism as well. Drawing on his claim to fame, Ramasamy discovered that one of his own chefs has become one through a reality cooking show. “The shows are basically a way for inspired chefs to receive publicity,” Ramasamy adds. “I think it’s a great idea for them to test the waters.” The chef recommends those with aspirations consider applying to be on a cooking show.

Chefs like Ramasamy recommend using cooking competitions for the learning experience, but are reality shows accurate depictions of the profession itself? Many top chefs in the industry see the shows as entertainment with a hint of reality. If the shows were actual depictions, the audience would grow bored with the mundane behind-the-scenes tasks from night to night.

“Some of them are real, but to credit the industry, if it’s really real, it will get boring. It has to be spiced up a little,” Vikram Udaygiri, a chef specialising Indian and French cuisine at Orange Peel, says, adding, “There’s some level of dilution in terms of how the show eventually turns in India, but overall they are good shows.”

“There are timelines and guidelines (in the show) that are very hard to follow. Competitive Indian cooking shows are more like Bollywood,” says chef Vvivek Salunkhe of Skyye Bar. However, even though Salunkhe thinks the shows are highly dramatised, he admits to learning a thing or two about preparing and presenting a dish. “I learned how to prepare and present a walnut salad from a show!” he says. In fact, Salunkhe is not the only chef who looks to the shows for advice. “There are a lot of new things chefs can learn through these programs,” Udaygiri said. But while aspiring chefs can learn a great deal from watching the shows, it’s important for top chefs to be continually innovative in the field without following recipes.

Executive chef of the Lalit Ashok, Nimish Bhatia sees the emergence of cooking competition reality shows as a good thing because they’re raising awareness about the cooking profession, but he doesn’t see the shows as being innovative in the industry due to the simplicity of the dishes. “When you are actually working in the field it’s much different,” he says. But he does agree that it gives aspiring chefs and viewers a nice taste into the  life.