If you love cooking, you'll envy Samta Gupta. For nine to 10 months of the year, she travels — from city to city, taking with her a treasure trove of recipes gathered along the way and picking up new influences.
Over the past few years, Coimbatore has sampled her range of parathas, tikkas, biryanis and chaats . And, though Samta loves food of any kind, she has a soft corner for chaats . “I love street food. It is very fresh, it smacks of local influences. There's sweet yoghurt, there's spice, and it's so wholesome and filling. Plus, it floors all, cutting across age groups.”
Since experimental and fusion cuisine appeal to her, Samta marries local influences with fine dining fare and vice-versa to come up with dishes that are truly innovative. “I pick them up during the course of my profession, which is developing menus. I learn new recipes and am introduced to new tastes. I simply have to incorporate them into my kitchen. And, influences travel far.” So, she might use something picked up from the South in a totally different setting up North.
This time around, she tasted a ‘very crispy” aapam at Tiffin Centre in R.S. Puram. “I perked up the minute I bit into it. It would be nice as a base for a chaat . I can pile it with chutneys, some masala …,” he eyes take on a faraway look.
Samta's work takes her across the country, from Rajasthan to Bangalore to Delhi to the hills, each of which calls for a different kind of menu. “I also handle some heritage properties. There, you get a chance to really experiment. And, over the years, you strike such a rapport with your clients that you get creative freedom in the kitchen.”
How easy is it to get chefs to listen to her in the kitchen? “A commercial kitchen is still a man's world. It's not easy being a woman there. But, that's the only space I see myself in,” says Samta, whose first assignment was in Kobe, Japan, weeks after she passed out of college in Kolkata.
“Even now, the first few days in any kitchen are difficult. You have to earn the chefs' respect. Most importantly, let them know you're not there full-time,” she laughs. For that, it is vital to know your stuff. “That way, they know that even if anyone in the kitchen stomps out, you can easily take their place.”
Samta, who rates food based on visual appeal and taste, says that even after all these years, she loves getting feedback. “I get very emotional about food,” she explains.
The one question she laughs away relates to where she hails from. “How do I answer that? I can say I am from Kolkata, but only my parents live there. Or, Mussoorie, where I share a home with my brother and sister-in-law. But, I've not been there since January,” she grins. But, surely, she resides in every kitchen she walks into?
