Famous for being one of the original judges of the highly rated television show, MasterChef Australia, celebrity chef Gary Mehigan is no stranger to food enthusiasts.
The celebrated chef recently was in India and created an exquisite gastronomic experience at the Chambers at Taj Mahal, New Delhi that organised a Rendezvous with Chef Gary Mehigan.
During the event, Chef Gary Mehigan spoke at length to Tanya Banon of IANS. Excerpts from the interview:
You’ve travelled extensively across India, are you partial to the food of any particular region, and which one?
Chef Gary: Yes, I am very partial to Indian food, This is my 6th visit now, so I think I should be up for becoming a honourable citizen of India. I love cuisine from all over the country, each region has it’s own set of flavours, ingredients and cooking methods, which I now use in my own cooking.
Do you prefer South Indian food more or what you’re served in the North, what do you find is the difference?
Chef Gary: Yes, I do like South Indian food as I spent time in the South recently, I really enjoyed it. I’m exploring the cuisine of Nagaland for my TV series, which is very different from the food I’ve tasted across the country thus far. It was just a absolute thrill, and completely unexpected, but I really enjoyed it, it’s terribly different cuisine, different people, very Nagaland, it was fabulous. Gary Mehigan visits IndiaÂ
Do you take these flavours back to your own cooking and incorporate them?
Chef Gary: Yes, sure like travel is a great thing about being a Chef, and I’m blessed I get to explore different regions, cultures, cuisines, its now my passion. To get engaged in the food culture of whole new country when I travel for work, it inspires me to keep innovating and creating some great dishes. Its become an essential part of who I am as a chef and as a person and what I cook, it’s a limitless experience of ingredients, techniques and flavours.
What are your views on the concept of the food metaverse, are you going to venture into it?
Chef Gary: I am still undecided about the world of crypto currency and the metaverse world. People are really excited about the metaverse, people were also very excited about crypto currency, crypto exchange, and it is all running hand-in-hand, food in the metaverse, business in the metaverse, art and fashion in the metaverse, I’m not sure if it’s going to over power the real world, we’ll have to wait and watch.
Cooking for your family and friends is really an investment in your mental health and physical health. What did you cook up for Rendezvous?
Chef Gary: They got a taste of what I’m enjoying eating right now, what I’m cooking regularly at home South-East Asian cuisine. I love dishes noodles and barbeque chicken, I love to eat a very simple lamb salad put together with some fresh vegetables, the Rendezvous was a little snapshot of what I love eating. It’s like a keema pao, with some Malaysian curry made of jackfruit, great mango peanut salad. We cooked fish and prawns with sauces and pickles, so there was a mix of home ingredients and we kept the heat up to impress the Indian palette.
