Is it good for our industry to get expat chefs to continuously come and work in India?
Jiggs Kalra: It depends on the type of cuisine they’re doing. It’s good to have this intellectual trade and cultural exchange with people from other countries, especially if they come and set up great restaurants. It would be great if Ferran Adria comes and sets up a cool new restaurant in India. I’d love it for Heston Blumenthal to come here or Thomas Keller. Danny Meyer should get some of his restaurants here. I think it’s a great thing. There’s nothing wrong with it at all.
Zorawar Kalra: But, I personally feel that cream rises to the top. So, if good expat chefs come into India we should not be afraid of them taking our Indian chefs’ jobs. Because if an Indian chef is better, he’ll get the job. And Indian chefs are among the best chefs in the world.I think the food in India in general tastes very good because at the moment, it’s still quite highly organic. That’s changing with this genetically modified stuff coming into the country, so let’s see where that goes.
How do you see the talent in India?
Jiggs: I obviously feel, as an Indian, that India has some of the best culinary talent in the world. And I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I only hire Indian chefs. So, it’s about the culture of the company. We’ve built this culture of innovation, of never trotting the beaten path and of chalking our own little roads. So, yes, we should definitely keep both. Indian chefs, I will continue to hire as we continue to take our Indian cuisine overseas. And it’ll be great if some of wonderful chefs come here as well – Pierre Gagnair or Wolfgang Puck opening a steakhouse here, although that’ll never work since there’s no demand for that!
What are the innovations or the ideas around fusion cuisine that you’re going to introduce?
Zorawar: The word you want is progressive Indian food which uses ideas, techniques and ingredients from the world over and tries to incorporate it without losing the essence of the host cuisine. When we try and look at any fusion aspects, we look at first ensuring the host cuisine, Indian in our case, remains intact. At the same time, we’re able to introduce some modern techniques, some molecular gastronomy and some unique ways of presentation without infringing on the authentic taste. I think that’s the future of any cuisine otherwise there will be no cuisine left. Everything will taste like everything else!
Jiggs: Food should be open to any interpretation. Experimentation should never end. Experimentation is great if there some logic and rationale and some smart thinking behind it, not for its own sake. For instance, my new Asian restaurant is going to take Asian food and completely flip it on its head.
