With a dash of spice

I have been interested in cooking since childhood. I used to read a lot of ‘Asterix’ when I was young and was very influenced by the wild boar they used to cook. I would try cooking a whole chicken and flavour it – this was when I was in the eighth and ninth standard. When I finished school, I joined a hotel management college where I did a diploma.

Then I wanted to do an advanced diploma to specialise in cooking so I did culinary arts for a period of two years, after which I went to work at the Grand Hyatt Singapore for two years. It was after this that I got the opportunity to work with a Michelin star chef, Clay Conley, for two to three years (in the US, the term used is ‘AAA Five Diamond’ hotel). I came back to India after that and have been working for ‘Tangerine - Sizzlers and More’ for the past seven years.

I come from a very conservative South Indian, Chettiar family where any function revolves around food. The main function is Pongal and there would be a lot of dishes cooked; it used to be a treat for us. I have always grown up with cooks in the house and the menu would be widespread. Eating was always a pleasure because whatever we wanted was available, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner. From childhood, food was never a compromise.

It’s for this reason that when I think of comfort food, I enjoy Tamil Nadu cuisine and Chennai dishes. You give me rice, ‘sambar’, vegetables, ‘papad’ and chicken fry three times a day and I will enjoy it. When I’m tired, I want something simple and easy to digest.

The cuisine I specialise in is called ‘Western’ cuisine. It’s continental cuisine but the term ‘Western’ is a broader term. At ‘Tangerine’, I fuse Western flavours with what Indians like. I make sauces spicy by adding more chilly flakes. The way we like to eat food is with more sauce and less meat, but abroad it’s the opposite, so I try to tweak all the dishes accordingly.

The reason I chose to share the recipe of ‘Chicken Tuscany’ is because it’s something different. For a lot of people, pesto is just a basil sauce. But pesto can be compared to chutney in Indian terms. I tried to make the pesto with sun-dried tomatoes because we like a tangy taste in our food. I also infused a little spice into it as it goes well with grilled chicken.

I try to ‘productionise’ most of my dishes, that is simplify them as much as possible so that it’s easy for people to cook. I take a difficult dish and make it simple because I might be able to cook it but everyone might not be able to replicate it.
Vijay Shankar

Executive chef Tangerine — Sizzlers and More