This mistress of spices rules a 5-star kitchen

It’s an irony that most kitchens at home are left for women to manage, but when it comes to a professional kitchen in a restaurant, the chef is almost always a man. An exception to this is Madhu Krishnan, executive chef at ITC-The Maratha.

It has been a tough path for her to prove herself at this level, 18 years after she came out of a culinary and hotel management programme. “Back then, women weren’t encouraged to pursue the top job in the kitchen. Companies didn’t want to invest in training a woman to be a chef, only to have her quit once she got married.”

Another reason for the scarcity of women chefs around the world is that the restaurant kitchen requires cooking on a much larger scale than at home, which can get physically daunting for a woman. “Consistently high temperatures, sweat and insanely long hours are a few of the deterrents.”

Madhu Krishnan was obviously not deterred by any of this. “Personally, I found these very things exhilarating. I’m just doing what I love best.” And getting paid good money for it.

As a woman, however, she has had to give up a lot that’s dear to her to be where she is. “I’ve had to sacrifice time with my kids (Anay, 5, and Inaara, 3). Very often, my kids are fast asleep by the time I get home,” she says. “It is easier today because society has moved forward and both parents jointly play a role in bringing up children. But I think many of the everyday issues are still in the mother’s domain.”

She tries to make the most of the limited time she has with her kids. “Like we have pasta nights, where tossing pasta and a salad becomes a family affair. Anay is the official cheese shaver,” she smiles.

That also reminds her of her own childhood when she used to be her mother’s assistant in the kitchen. “I helped my mother bake profit rolls when I was eight. I grew up with a lot more opportunities to experiment with cuisines and cultures than most others, because my parents used to travel abroad a lot. I learned how to use chopsticks when I was five, and by the time I was 10, I’d already sampled blue cheese, something my peers hadn’t heard of.”

As a professional, she naturally gravitated towards the international kitchen. After a course in international culinary arts, she joined the ITC group’s Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi. “I met seniors in my line of work who hadn’t made it despite their skills simply because they hadn’t had as many opportunities as me in trying out international flavours at home. What I learned from them were people skills. When I left the Maurya a few years later, I had earned the respect of my seniors, despite being a woman.”

But she has also had her share of chauvinism from colleagues and seniors. But she learned to deal with that early on. “When you define your rules, people learn to take you seriously.”

As a woman, Chef Krishnan brings sensitivity and aesthetics to serving food. Another personal touch is to go without a set formula. For instance, at The West View restaurant in The Maratha, the day’s speciality is whatever is fresh, and ingredients are put together on the spot. She finds creating new flavours exciting.

Today, with more companies willing to place their bets on women, there still don’t seem to be enough women in this field. “Personally, I’d love to have more women in my kitchen,” says Krishnan.