In Hyderabad to promote his YouTube series The Big Daddy Chef , Ajay Chopra watched in fascination as 18 couples, their children in tow, walked into Oakridge International School. While the wives sat among the audience, the husbands wore aprons, picked up their ladles and proceeded to whip up delicacies. “Some wives were sceptical, it would be a disaster, they thought. I asked them to encourage the men; if we discourage them now, they will never go back to the kitchen,” shares Ajay adding most of the men were cooking for the first time.
Food binds families
The Big Daddy Chef releases a new episode every Sunday at 2 pm. The intent is not just to give out recipes or make it a ‘Daddy day’ but bring the families together. Ajay shares the inspiration behind the show. “Families do not spend much time together,” he states. “The idea is to make dads cook with their kids. Everyone is busy in their own lives with little or time for the family. A family bonds better when the father, starts cooking on at least one day in the week. Children can help, cook and be creative. They will also look up to the super heroes of their lives not just on Father’s Day. Women can get a day off from the kitchen too.” Ajay gives a break to his wife from cooking on Sundays. “I practice what I preach,” he adds.
Television and internet has changed the way we cook, eat, admire and talk about food. Nothing happens without food in focus. While we feel the television shows have made superstars out of chefs, Ajay observes it also changed the lives of Indians who loved food and cooking but never talked about it. “There is so much involvement in learning or sharing food. It is also the main thing for ad agencies; whether it is the ad of a bank or tyre, food takes the central place.” In the age of insta click and share, photographs and opinions fly thick and fast. “It is good that India has started to talk about food. When everyone starts talking, they judge and categorise. This will get auto corrected as people understand what is good food or average food. You will unfollow those who talk about food for the sake of it.”
In the two decades of his career, he has had many goof ups in the kitchen. He recalls the experience of treating his wife to roast chicken. “I marinated the chicken and put it in the oven but forgot to turn it on. When I checked after 45 minutes, the dish was the way I left it,” he shares on a lighter vein .
On his YuuTube show, Ajay Chopra is more than a chef, he turns a story teller while creating a delicacy. It could be about the flavours, history of the place where the dish originated or his own childhood memories, he makes sure the viewers are entertained and informed with not just his cooking but also his narration. “The food experience is a memory. When something gets registered in my head, it becomes a memory to be told as a story. We chefs are also storytellers and our canvas is the food.”
