With a spring in his step and smile on his lips, French chef Jean-Jacques Berteau walks around spreading cheer and goodness of food.
For ‘Gastronomie à la Française’ at Alliance Francaise Hyderabad, the chef creates magic with his two delicacies — Choux pastry (sweet and salt) and fruit tarts. A group of food enthusiasts surround him as he explains the culinary process.
The chef who knows only a smattering of English was accompanied by Sandeep of Alliance Francaise who translated the lines.
Food knows no language as after a while, the members understood him without any translation. “In French cuisine, the sauces that go into preparing dishes with white and red wine make them special,” he informs.
Jean takes a break for a short conversation with MetroPlus and informs he is on a five-city tour across India. During the interaction, when we mention it has been a humid week in Hyderabad, he responds, “Chennai was hotter than Hyderabad.” About his tour he says, “The idea is to showcase my passion for French cuisine and fusion food which is now a universal language.”
Jean, who hails from south of France used to visit his grandmother in La Rochelle. He was 13 when he cooked his first recipe. “I created a chicken and mushroom dish with sauce for my parents,” he recalls. His affair with food has been steady since then and made him turn a chef at gourmet restaurants Maxims and Shangri La.
Hyderabad, Telangana, 17/08/2019: (To go in The Hindu Metroplus with Neeraja Murthy's special story) The chef created Choux pastry and fruit tarts at the session during a food demo session in Hyderabad on Saturday. Photo: Nagara Gopal / The Hindu
Over the last 13 years, Jean has turned into a culinary teacher as well. He calls cooking a means of self-expression.
“Cooking is an emotion and I love to share and celebrate this joy with others,” he says, adding “People don’t have to say anything. The empty plates are an indication that they have liked the food,” he smiles.
One of his favourite dishes is fish with Indian spices, lemon grass and ginger. He likes Indian specialities, from regular to exotic dishes. “I like idly, masala dosa, butter chicken, paratha, mutton biryani and also dishes made with black and red dal. I like to observe and learn from that. In Kerala, I made a dish with ladies finger, fenugreek and coconut.” During his Indian sojourn, he has picked up words like nandri, shukriya and dhanyavad . “I don’t like to maintain distance with anyone; I want to embrace them.”
Health is on his mind as he recommends that people have more vegetables than meat on their plates. “We should go to local markets, interact with hawkers and eat what is locally available. This interaction will fill our hearts with many food stories,” he points out.
