Chef Kunal Kapoor is one of the very popular Master Chef across the Globally.  He came to Bangalore couple of days back for hosting cook-off event organized by International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), Bangalore. The event was attended by fellow bloggers and student of the IIHM. The main highlight of the cook-off was Chef explaining and giving us live demo of various Plating Sauces & Puree and Molecular Gastronomy.

Plating Sauces & Purees

We all have appreciated the presentation of the food in various restaurants.  Seldom we know about the effort and also how its done.  And most of the times people say that the food needs to be more visually appealing and then it needs to tingle our taste-buds.   

Chef explained about each technique – Spiral, Semi-circle, Dollop & Drag, Splash the sauce, Wipe & Drag, The Classic swoosh, Glass Bottom.  During the session, he gave a oral description nd also gave live demo of the same.  Infact, he also plated couple of dishes and showcased how the usage of these methods can make the dish look exquisite. 

Molecular Gastronomy

This is one of the most discussed topics that everyone is quite curious about.  But we hardly known something about this.  In simple terms, Chef explained that it is leveraging the Chemical composition of the ingredient that go into a dish.  When the same food comes in contact with some chemicals – Agar Agar, Soy Lecithin, Gelatin, Xanthana; the food can transformed to different shapes. 

The most common terms used in Molecular Gastronomy are – Foam, Gel and Cavier.  Chef shared the procedure for making these and used it for making solid Orange Juice, Dahi Gel and Mango Cavier.  It was amazing to watch the transformation of the food live.

Dahi Paapdi Chaat

In the last session, Chef Kunal Kapoor showed, how a clumsy looking dish can be made more visually appealing.  Chef segregated items like – Paapdi, Pudin leaves, Seva, Puree for tamarind, Hummus mix of Potato & other items, Dahi Gel droplets made using Molecular Gastronomy.  The items I mentioned was put on the plate systematically and the chaat looked amazing.  We can call it as de-constructed ‘Dahi Paadi Chaat’, but full marks to the presentation skills.  It was so appealing to eyes and you felt like clicking multiple picture & eating it away.

Interview

Lastly, I as a blogger got an opportunity to have a 1×1 conversation with Chef Kunal himself. He answered various questions related to – Fusion Food, Molecular Gastronomy, Culinary Journey, Restaurants in Bangalore, Favourite Chefs and future plans. He was quite calm in answering all the questions and share info.

Overall Experience

The cook-off event was by far the best that I have attended.  It was an opportunity to see the live demonstration of culinary skills by Chef.  Now I respect and appreciate the Chefs a lot more as it is skill job, not everyone can do unless you learn.     Chef Kunal was such a great sport sharing his experience and knowledge with everyone.  This was also a great learning opportunity for students at IIHM.  Hopefully we will get many more opportunities via IIHM to learn about Food Art.

References

Molecular Gastronomy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_gastronomy