Even the most ardent fans of American Chef Chris Trapani may not be aware that he always wanted to be a detective. For those who don’t know Chris, he is the transgender chef from Texas who was a big hit on the American reality TV show Chopped. He went onto win the food truck special episode.“When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a cop or a detective. Becoming a chef was more like an accident,” recollects Chris who was invited by The Lalit Ashok Bangalore, earlier this week as part of their #TransEmpowerment initiative, for the Food Truck Company promotion.
Further talking about how he ended up becoming a chef, he says, “I got a summer internship when I was in school, at a cafeteria. I just liked serving people and loved how food makes people happy. I am a fan of love and service. I read Mother Teresa and Gandhi. That’s my thing,” he says. Though originally from Brooklyn, Chris moved to Texas because he loves the South. In Texas, he tried his hand at creating fusion foods. “When I lived in New York, I was around so many different cultures and ethnic foods that when I moved to the South, I tried doing Southern fusion. The fried chicken we serve is quite different from the regular one that everyone in the South loves. We make a sauce that’s Japanese/ Thai/Tex-Mex and people love it, that’s what we try to do with everything,” says the chef.
At the pop-up at The Lalit Ashok, Chris whipped up two of his most popular dishes — the Panzanella and his signature Fried Chicken with sauce. The Panzanella is an old-fashioned bread salad. “The highlight is the fresh mint, some agave nector and corn bread, instead of regular bread,” explained Chris. Back in Texas, Chris is also popular for his Indian-Tex-Mex fusion dishes such as Tikka Masala Tacos and Black Bean and Roasted Corn Samosas.
Recollecting his television stint on Chopped, Chris says, “I had children writing to me and wanting to talk to me. We just got two hate mails… ‘why did you have to talk about that (being transgender) on TV. This is a food show, you don’t have to talk about it’, that was it.” But, he shares that the hotel industry has never discriminated against him for it’s his cooking that does the talking.
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