Food memories make for great dinner table conversations. But they also make for a good book, when you get a very warm welcome into someone’s intimate journey with food, learn some yourself along the way, and get a very invigorating image of someone you’ve seen on TV whipping up fancy dishes. Ranveer Brar’s book Come Into My Kitchen is as open an invitation as it sounds and you step right in. He walks you through his Jat zamindar origins and the hatta-katta pheasant food he ate, of his growing up experiences from watching food cooked in a langar in a gurudwara to getting to cook it, to a smorgasbord of memories of the famed food-laden gullies of Lucknow where he carried charcoal up three floors for months together to be able to learn from Ustad Munir Ahmed, one of the oldest kebab vendors in Lucknow. Host of popular TV shows such as Breakfast Xpress, Snack Attack, Homemade, The Great Indian Rasoi , Ranveer's Cafe, Food Tripping and more, he was also seen as judge on Masterchef India . Speaking to MetroPlus, Ranveer Brar tells us how he doesn’t have a “mom-inspired-me-to-be-a-chef” story! Excerpts:
Right now I’m terribly confused… he says. You would be too, if you’re just done with your book, are in the midst of launching a new cafe in Mumbai, are busy travelling and shooting for TV shows and more. “Essentially for me the whole point of being a chef is to have your own restaurant. TAG Kitchen and Cellar, Mumbai – with TAG standing for The Amateur Gallery, was born out of the need for a global vegetarian and vegan café in Mumbai, and will serve world vegetarian cuisine in modern take portions and small plates. “It’s just 40 covers; not too big a place, so I don’t really have to worry much about it,” he concludes.
It’s all about English Vinglish… That’s the name of his new baby, an India-inspired patisserie he opened in Mumbai – English Vinglish. And it’s set to serve all things sweet and wonderful that the mishmash of name indicates -- amrakhand cheesecake, kalakand cookies, khopra pak mille feuille, angoori ras malai-passion fruit terrine… you get the picture? As he says in the book: “People want less sweet, more innovation… As a chef, I aspire to put these sweet flavours out to the world intelligently.” Two things have been his favourite, he declares – “To bring in Indian flavours and put it across with Western techniques. English Vinglish is that meeting point.” He hopes to open three of its branches in Mumbai, then one in Jaipur and Ahmedabad soon.
Flypping it, and Boston contemplations… Ranveer is curating the space and menu for Flyp @ MTV, a co- working space, performance venue, bar all rolled into one. This is one of his creations we’ll get to see in Bengaluru in another six months. He’s also working on two restaurants in Boston — Soul of India, and Indian DaVinci. With his Italian partner he’s contemplating whether to make the second 8,000 square foot restaurant Indian or Italian! And all this is happening in Boston, because “It feels like home!” A large portion of his book is dedicated to his life and lessons, and accepting failure as a chef, in Boston, where he set up a Franco-Asian restaurant called BanQ in 2006, which he eventually had to close down when recession hit America.
Love for Lucknow… “Lucknow as everything to do with me being a chef. I don’t have a ‘mom-inspired-me-to-be-a-chef’ story! The city and its connect to its food – the way people treat their food, talk about it is unlike in any other city. My grandfather used to say that if a person is the kind who is happy eating or feeding others food, he’s good to work with. Lucknow is full of such people.”
You get back so much more… Ranveer believes a chef shouldn’t have something to hide, and that underlying the idea of food is the idea of sharing – a thread that runs common in his book. “We’re all a sum total of great people we’ve met, who have mentored you. You don’t remember people who don’t give you much. In sharing, you become a part of somebody and you get back more than you give.”
Fusion and half digestion… The way fusion started off was a bad idea, points out Ranveer, where Mexican-Indian food was perhaps offered without trying out authentic Mexican first or visiting Mexico. “Trying to make it from books is like half-digestion. If I went to Spain, came back and put together a dinner of my version, or my expression of Spanish food which you cant replicate – that’s more inspired cooking than fusion, and that’s where I draw the line,” he’s emphatic.
Keep art and food away from restrictions… “Restrictiveness is not synonymous with food. We’re already restricting ourselves in so many fields like politics etc… art and food should be kept away from that. Cooking is an expression that crosses boundaries. We need not have a dogmatic stand on that. Food always evolves. I ask people what is Hyderabadi food? Then I ask them what is Andhra food? Andhra food is defined by what was formed as the political state with new boundaries much later…If you need to inspire people, you need to inspire them to break boundaries.”
Social media has changed the way we express love for food… Haven’t we become too food obsessed as a people? Pat comes Ranveer’s answer: “As a society it was time we got there. As a family and community we Indians have always held food high. It’s just that we couldn’t communicate it well. The good part now is that the whole eco system around it is growing – be it chefs, brands, food bloggers and writers, social media. We are all travelling more, we are enriched as a society. And the good part is that this is not a bubble that is going to burst – it’s growing well on all sides.” With social media, he says, the entry level barriers for a person who loves food doesn’t exist – otherwise imagine how people would even notice you. Through social media you can express your love for food, share recipes.
Rose Kalakand Tart – A recipe from Come Into My Kitchen
Serves 6
Prep time 30 mins
Cooking and cooking time 60 mins
Sweet paste for tart :-
Flour -562 grams
Icing sugar -187 grams
Butter - 375 grams
Eggs – three
For kalakand filling :-
Flour - 60 grams
Almond powder - 150 grams
Caster sugar - 150 grams
Butter – 250 grams
Eggs - three
Organic Rose water/ Chopped organic rose petals – 20 ml.
Mixed chopped nuts – 50 grams
Kalakand – 150 grams
For rose cream and coconut snow :-
Rose syrup - 15 ml
Crème Fraiche – 100 grams
Rose water – 20 ml
Desiccated coconut – 20 grams
Sliced sweet supari – 10 to 12 pieces
Method:
For sweet paste- Cream butter and icing sugar together. Add eggs gradually in butter. Fold the flour and make flat dough. Keep in the fridge for two hours for rest.
For kalakand filling - Cream butter, kalakand and caster sugar together till light and fluffy. Sift flour and almond powder together. Add eggs gradually in butter mixture. Fold flour and almond powder in butter mixture. Add rose water and mix well.
For rose cream and coconut snow - Lightly whip the cream, add rose water and 10 ml rose syrup. Rub the coconut with the remaining rose syrup for the snow. Roll the sweet paste dough into a thin sheet. Line the tart mould. Fill the more-than-half lined tart mould with rose almond cream. Sprinkle sliced mix nuts and dried rose petals on top and bake at 170c for 25 to 30 minutes. Keep aside to cool. Cut into triangle wedges and serve with rose cream and pink coconut snow, garnish with sliced sweetened betel nut.
