Chef ‘Malgudi’ Kavitha is preparing for a ‘marathon’. She has undergone a master health check-up and works out regularly. Her peers and superiors at The Savera constantly make inquiries about her preparation, and wish her good luck a trillion times a day. Even the big boss — executive director Nina Reddy — is keeping her fingers crossed for Kavitha. She has freed the chef of her regular responsibilities and allowed her to concentrate totally on the marathon.
With so much expectation riding on her shoulders, Kavitha is nervous. There is, however, comfort in the fact that she will run this marathon on familiar terrain — in the the kitchen. The Malgudi chef is going for the record for ‘the longest solo cooking marathon’, currently held by Chef Damodaran. He prepared 617 dishes staying at the stove continuously for 24 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds.
On the morning of October 31 at The Savera, Kavitha will get started on a longer run — 30 hours of non-stop cooking and nearly a thousand vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes — in the presence of independent observers. If she pulls it off, Kavitha will enter the Limca Book of Records (LBR).
Kavitha has the benefit of having had a ringside view of Chef Damo’s record. On Nina Reddy’s instruction, she had assisted him as a member of his kitchen back-up team. With an intricate knowledge of the dishes that went into Chef Damo’s record, Kavitha has tried to make her offering different.
Fifty per cent of the dishes will represent the four southern states and innovations on these dishes will constitute the other half. To give just one instance, she will produce staggering variations of the veechu parotta, even doing a fusion dish in which the veechu parotta will morph into noodles.
From 7 a.m. on October 31, when the attempt gets underway, guests that have flocked to witness the feat will be given traditional South Indian welcome drinks and breakfast made by Kavitha.
“The cooking marathon has a sub-text: emphasising South India’s contribution to the culinary world,” she says.
The entire sequence of events over the 30 hours is mapped out — thanks to Kavitha working for three months with LBR coordinator Kayal.
Even as Kavitha prepares a dish, it will be ‘carved’ and appetisingly presented to the invitees. Over the 30 hours, 2,000 to 3,000 guests are expected.
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