Ritu Dalmia is a name synonymous with Italian food in India. The famous chef today runs seven restaurants in Delhi but it was Diva which turned her into the grande dame of Italian cuisine. The popular chef, who was recently in Bengaluru to whip up dishes at the Luxe Drive event of Mercedes-Benz, takes a few questions. Excerpts.
How did you develop an interest in Italian food?
I started travelling to Italy when I was very young. My father had lot of business there so we would go there in our summer holidays. I also started going there with my missionary school. But I never thought I would become a chef. I wanted to be a business tycoon with a pink jet. I always liked to cook and since my mother can’t cook I started learning it myself from a very early age. But I never thought of taking it as a profession, it just happened. It was destiny.
What do you think about the present state of Italian food in India?
The change I have seen is so phenomenal. I started in 1993 and people then used to ask for baked beans with macaroni thinking that was Italian. They wanted onion chutney with Italian. Today, it’s not just about one restaurant. There are so many options available to the consumer, who is so well-aware of the taste of the food that restaurants can’t mess around with them anymore. But we still have a long way to go and we haven’t reached a point where we can say we have regional restaurants. In most developed metros, it is not about having one or two good Italian restaurants in the city, it is about having one good restaurant specialising in one particular cuisine , within a locality.
Did you have to make any changes to Italian cuisine to suit the Indian palate?
I am a brat, I don’t do that. When I had a restaurant in London, I never cooked to suit the English palate. My food was always the way it is meant to be. Why should I change it and go away from the purity? Saying that, I very cleverly choose from the entire repertoire of the menu, those dishes that I know Indians would like. I don’t change the recipes, I just choose out of the repertoire something which will go well with that particular palate.
What is your favourite Italian dish and comfort food?
My favourite Italian dish changes every month, rather every week. My comfort food is simple pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil. In fact, whenever a cook comes for trial I ask him to make a tomato basil pasta because the simplest of things are the most difficult to do. So if they can get that right, they can get anything right.
You have authored four books till now. Are you working on any other book?
I am working on a book which is very close to my heart. Travelling is very much part of my books because the reality is that I learn everything I do via travel. I am going to take my time over this book.
Any tips for budding restaurateurs?
I started my first restaurant as a confused, arrogant 21 year-old with a bit of pocket money. Now when people ask me I say, never open a restaurant for wrong reasons. People think it is a glamorous, fun job but there is so much more to it. ‘We like to eat, we like to cook, let’s start a restaurant’ – I started that way unfortunately but gradually learned on the job.
