Three celebrity chefs in Delhi

Over this weekend, Delhi will see Peter Kuruvita, Gary Foulkes, and Marco Pierre White — all three, chefs who’ve attained celebrity status — do ticketed events

Gary Foulkes, from the UK, February 15, 2020

(He’s here as a part of All Things Nice and DLF’s initiative to introduce Michelin star chefs to a Delhi audience)

“It’s going to sound like a cliche, but I love Indian food,” says Gary Foulkes, who chefs at the Michelin-star Angler in London. On his day off, he and his family enjoy spicy food, so it’s often Indian or Thai. It’s often Brigadiers, Gunpowder, and Trishna in London.

This is Gary’s third visit to India; he stayed here the longest when on a three-year trip around the world with his wife. “Most of my inspiration comes from travel,” he says. He picks up the nuances of ingredients, and uses them for their flavour profiles, without actually cooking that cuisine. For instance, he’ll infuse curry leaf into a roasted cauliflower with cashewnut milk and curd, to give it a different “flavour spectrum”. There’s also a cashewnut pesto he does, with curry leaves, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

His style of cooking he says, is “tasty, light, rooted in classic cooking techniques but delivered in a modern way, but it’s all about flavour.” At his dinner, “Expect big flavour, presentation — it’s very important to me that food looks as good as it tastes. It should be delicious,” he says. While his king fish and lamb will be similar, the menu is based around what’s of prime quality in India.

At Set’z, DLF Emporio, ₹6,500 for a five-course dinner with wine, 8 p.m.

Peter Kuruvita, from Australia, February 15, 2020

(He’s here to kick off Table Stories, a Delhi-based pop-up, by Foodink Expeditions and Roseate Hotels & Resorts, which will bring to the city 11 chefs every two weeks, upto May 10th)

He calls himself a chef, restauranteur, TV presenter, author, consultant, surgers, fisherman and family man, and tells stories that are an amalgamation of all. At a preview, he goes from person to person, pouring the coconut-based sauce onto the Snapper, as he talks of his of his grandmother’s kitchen, his own childhood in Sri Lanka, and his oldest son of three taking part in a surfing competition. Peter Kuruvita pulls up memories easily. Of his fondest food memory, he says it’d have to be “My Aunty Padmini’s breadfruit curry. She’ll still make it when she knows I’m coming. It’s just rich and creamy, nutritious, satisfying — food filled with memories.”

His life has been touched by the food of the islands: Sri Lanka, where he spent his growing-up years; Australia that he’s made home; and Fiji, where his wife comes from. “The ocean is my soul; it’s a part of me,” says the chef, whose Noosa Beach House that has a Chef Hat (Australia’s version of a Michelin star) is based around his cooking style.

His dinner is about the sea, with crab, fish, and prawn forming its core, with ingredients from the tropics: coconut, palm treacle, pineapple, tamarind. He describes his food as using the freshest ingredients from not more than 200 km away, modern, with a Sri Lankan twist. His butter-poached crab and beetroot curry are dishes to look forward to.

At The Roseatte, NH 8, D Block, Samalka; ₹6,000 upwards, for a seven-course dinner, 8 p.m.

Marco Pierre White, from the UK, February 15, 16, 2020

(As a part of Delhi’s first World on a Plate, a food festival now in its fifth edition that facilitates people’s access to international chefs)

Marco Pierre White says the rogan josh and the black dal at the JW Marriott are sensational. The Indian food here feels different to London, he says: “You get bones; I love bones, and meat always cooks better on the bone. It gives me the perfect excuse to eat with my fingers here. Also, I am a fan of mutton. In England, you put mutton on your menu, it’ll never sell,” he says, though he’s not sure why, despite mutton being more flavourful than lamb.

On his third visit to the country (his first two were also a part of World on a Plate), he’ll be doing a masterclass helping people cook a saffron risotto with vegetable stock. “It’s not about teaching people. It’s about giving people insights — insights into my world. In India you eat lots of rice, and it’s vegetarian,” he says, meaning everyone will have a taste of the food.

The class will have White engage with people in a conversation, as he invites people to cook with him, sharing the principles of making a risotto. “Once you learn the principles, then you can create your own flavours.”

Known for being the youngest chef to have three Michelin stars and then returning them later, White who was called “the original bad boy of British cooking” by The Telegraph, is relaxed and feels he’s almost on holiday in India. “This morning they made me the most delicious dosa,” he says, adding that Indian cuisine’s time is yet to come. “People in India have given me more than I have given India. In India, they don’t try to impress you. ”

At the Philips Taste Theatre, DLF Avenue, Saket; on February 15th at 5 p.m., on February 16 at 3 p.m., ₹7,500 for all masterclasses on both days