Plated in style

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar was recently in the City for the launch of ‘Cuisine Regale’, a premium lifestyle modular kitchen gallery brand.

The brand made its debut in the upmarket neighbourhood of Indiranagar. The launch witnessed chef Ranveer taking the guest on a spectacular culinary journey.

Known for his television shows ‘Breakfast Xpress’, ‘Snack Attack’, ‘Homemade’, ‘The Great Indian Rasoi’, ‘Thank God It’s Fryday’ and ‘Health Bhi Taste Bhi’, Ranveer was also one of the judges for season four of ‘MasterChef India’.

During the launch, the chef walked the guests around, introducing them to the different types of kitchens — ‘Melange’, ‘Glacier’ and ‘Neue’ — where each one of them had a dish prepared by him to complete the look.

He also had a fun session with the guests where he requested four volunteers to plate an ‘Italian styled chaat’.

He also educated one about plating and the final presentation. He was enthusiastic to answer the questions — culinary related and others — posed to him by the guests.

One of the hard-hitting questions was, “Is it true that presentation matters more than the taste of a dish?”. To this, he took the audience back to the Mughal era where one wouldn’t even share the recipe with another.

He said, “Back in those days, whoever cooked, cooked. They didn’t bother writing down the recipe anywhere, so the future generations could only guess what the ingredients may have been. This is how most of our authentic Indian recipes have come about. Although Westerners have a ‘presentation first and taste second’ policy, we are yet to complete the circle. However, there are many who are balancing the act of making flavours as good as their presentation.”

When asked which one of the kitchens he would choose to be his own, he said, “It would have to be ‘Melange’ because of the way it’s ergonomically designed. Since I am a right-handed person, everything I need is accessible and it gives me the comfort to be in the kitchen for however long I want.”

As Indian cooking is strong in flavour, in order to remove the after-cooking smell, he suggests, “Lemon is a great deodorant that way. Just keep it in different corners of the room and it’ll absorb all the smells. Scented candles are also one of the best to bring back the homely smell.”

And what are some of the essentials in a kitchen? “Apart from the basic essentials and ingredients, my kitchen will also have spinach, ‘ghee’, long pepper and cilantro.”The guests enjoyed the evening and they explored the intelligently-designed kitchens and returned home with a smile.