If you weren't a popular TV chat-show host, what would you be?
A chef! It's a noble profession. Feed others and get happiness. Yes, I like the thought of being a chef.
But can you cook?
I'm hell at making dal-chawal! I also make awesome omelettes. And I'm a pro at Besan Ka Halwa. But I don't cook often. Perhaps once a month, when I get in the mood. I like to do baked and grilled dishes. Fish, chicken, vegetables... you know?
Do you refer to cookery books?
Yes. I'm very interested in knowing what happens when you mix this with that... and why. Tarla Dalal's my favourite author. When I got her on Movers & Shakers, I told Tarla: "Suna aap bahut pakati hai!"
Is food a turn on?
Dum Mutton Biryani is. I have it once a week. I'm also crazy about the Achari Chicken at Prithvi Cafe. Wah, kiya chicken banate hai! I like Sarson Ka Saag and Makkai Di Roti and lobster and prawns. Chicken is the safest meat in the world. Lamb stinks! I don't eat meat. Pork, yes. Lots of ham. How do you think I ham it up on television?
s desi khana your favourite cuisine?
No, I love Chinese food too. But the Indian-Chinese, which I can eat morning, noon and night. It has the right amount of spice for our palates. You should taste the Chinese food in US and UK... ugh! But, yes, I'll tour the world and come home to dal-chawal and sabzi-roti.
What about wines and spirits, cigars?
Once in six months, I'll have a Bacardi and Coke. Or wine. I don't throw parties. I'm a paranoid host. I'm house proud... can't stand people dirtying the place, leaving food stains on my walls! I prefer to have few people over for a sit-down dinner. And I don't smoke as well. But cigars... first let me acquire an Oval Office, then I'll smoke cigars!
Would you call yourself a gourmet?
No. I'm a glutton! I eat till my wife Alka says "enough". I have to be stopped. I can gorge. Go the whole hog on a meal. That's the fun of eating.
Obviously, you work-out as well.
Yes, two hours at The Club every day. If you look after yourself, you don't have to worry about what you eat. I'm also into health supplements. Myoplex and anything that's not a steroid. When I strip and stand before a mirror, I like what I see. I weigh 68 kg and my waist is 29!
Will you eat anything?
I have a great passion, a fascination, to try out new things. But I'm not daring. No monkey's brains and frogs legs! That's prohibited. I'd like to try yak meat some day... just so that I can say, "Yak! It's awful!"
Shekhar Suman, television's delightful Mover & Shaker, does not count himself among the country's recognised gourmets even though he experiments with food and loves eating out. He's embarrassingly patriotic about dal-chawal and sabzi-roti. And when he cares to, he'll take a flight to New Delhi just to stuff himself with Kakori Kebabs at the Bukhara. Doesn't that make him a discerning gourmet who will travel any lengths to get his fix of favourite foods. "No," he says, "that's just the fun I get out of eating!"
