As someone who has never made a cup of hot water in a commercial kitchen, being ushered into a chef’s uniform is admittedly surreal. So being chosen on account of my food blogger status (Mister Madras) to test drive The Westin Chennai Velachery’s ‘Dare to Cook’ initiative has me both nervous and excited.The programme is an opportunity for any culinary enthusiast (barely an amateur chef like myself included) to try on for size a real-life five-star kitchen for a day, in the able hands of Head Chef Varun Sahni.
Since there’s no friend in sight for a pep talk, I draw comfort from the epic lines of Ratatouille’s Chef Gusteau, “Any-one can cook”, as a white coat embossed with my name on it is handed to me. Talk about pressure! As if this weren’t enough, I am now told that I will be cooking in Seasonal Tastes — a restaurant with an open kitchen!
The day moves quickly — weaving in and out of the kitchen with trips to the basement for ingredients, the cold storage unit for meat and a demonstration of the stone oven that is where all the delicious pizzas are made. Also for this amateur to pizza making (not eating), being introduced to a ‘dough docker’ — a roller with spikes that perforates the dough — is a first. Later, there is pasta to be trained, guacamole to be whipped up and oh, did I mention, I almost burnt my fingers on a skillet in the heat of the action?
The highlight for me, though, was getting to create a dish of my choice that would later be ‘reviewed’ by the executive chef. I went uptown all the way with salmon fillets served with a side of mash and veggies, or in more refined ‘chef speak’ — Seared Salmon with Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Vegetables.
Much ado over my fish later, a smile from the chef told me that I had passed the test with flying colours. Well, thanks to all the sous chefs who had helped, of course!
Michelin star, here I come.