You aren't playing competetive cricket, do you need to diet and maintain fitness?
All the time now that I'm over 40! The diet is high-protein. Breads and rotis are out. So are sugar, fruits and vegetables. But meats and eggs are in. Eat and lose weight! My wife's put me onto it. I'm feeling better already.
Why, what were you eating earlier?
Any and every thing! I'm quite passionate about food, not so much Indian, but definitely Thai and Italian. Chinese food is like the second meal in India, it's so common.
Are you off rich North Indian foods?
Not off, but very careful about eating them. They're too robust and hearty! I'll taste a butter chicken, but not eat it. Instead, give me a Caesar's salad, some pasta, things like that.
Are you hooked onto anything?
Blue cheese! Stronger the cheese, better I like it. I got hooked on cheese when I started playing cricket. I can enjoy a wine and soda, this drink's called spinzer, and I've just started smoking cigars. I don't inhale! But smoke for the aroma, it's beautiful, and the style!
What do you look for in a meal?
Good company! If that's there, I can sit down and spin out a meal for over two hours. But foodwise, I would look for a hundred things. I'm quite fussy like that.
How often do you go to restaurants?
Now and then. My five-year-old daughter loves dragging me to La Piazza at the Hyatt in New Delhi. And if I can when in Bombay, I go to Trishna for the seafood. But otherwise any restaurant that will give me a good meal will do. My wife looks into these things. Abroad, she'll have our breakfasts, lunches and dinners meticulously planned for a week!
You're looking terrific! What do you do?
Play golf thrice a week, and walk four miles each day. No energy supplements and things like that. Indian home food is healthy enough if eaten properly.
As someone passionate about food, can you cook?
Sure, but I seldom do. I have a good wife! But when I lived abroad, I used to make my own meals. I can do sauteed vegetables using peas and corn. And I can make an omelette with mushrooms. That's a meal in itself.
You must be a popular name on guest lists.
I am... but I like eating between 7.30 and 8. Most people don't serve so early. So I have dinner at home and then go. Or I eat the servants' food at their homes and then depart!
Do you drink?
A couple of sips of champagne, more as a token, if a toast is being raised.
Are you into fitness foods?
No. I can eat practically anything - as long as it's vegetarian.
Kapil Dev passionately loves food, but is careful about what he eats now that he has crossed 40! He tends to put on weight, and this affects his game of golf. He can eat anything, but avoids Indian food outside home, and likes Thai cuisine best. Late night cocktail parties are out, because he's not so much of a drinker and is an early riser. And the secret of his energy is not "Boost", but a high-protein diet, and a clean and simple life. That's wife Romi's prescription. Nobody can object to that, he says.
