Page 97 - UpperCrust e-Magazine Third Quarter 2024

MOHAN KRISHNAN | THE COMPL-EAT FOODIE

the Ritz, and elegant teppanyaki at a small This interaction is not just in fine- intently to any critique, and will not offer
castle outside Tokyo. dining restaurants. BS in response.
These will rub shoulders with Indian Take the pani puri guy at Kailash Parbat Eater trapped in yesteryear: This eater
railway omelettes, the paper dosa in instinctively calibrating the flavours of is fixated on the one way this dish was
Mettupalayam, fried fish and toddy on the pani to suit the khatta/meetha/teekha made by someone else a long time ago
the Kerala coast, and some of the usual tastes of the people arrayed around his by your mother, a little known restaurant
Bombay suspects − Coronation Durbar, Bade handi, responsive and decisive because he in Provence or Tuscany, or your then
Miya, Sarvi’s, Anantashram, Sindhudurg. I’ll can see the next wave of eaters salivating girlfriend in San Francisco. Leave your
share our Michelin discoveries – the and chomping at the bit. Ditto backstory behind. Or go back in a time
good, the bad and the ugly. We are Mucchad Paanwala, the God of machine. Food always tastes better in your
obsessed with ratings – does it have betel leaves and magic, catering to memory, than it ever did on the plate.
a ‘mere’ one star, or three? Does the stream of high-end cars lined What you remember is the total experience
Robert Parker rate that wine 95.8 or 96.2? up late at night. Even if you just ask for a of “that meal”, the company, the aromas,
Does the food match up with the meetha paan, you are in for an experience. the colours, the sounds…and that can’t
ratings? Are ratings tainted? And herein lies the rub. The chef brings ever be replicated. Look instead to today’s
We found that good food resides in the his game face. What does the eater bring to experience, and if it’s great, it will be
soul of the chef, and the best ones (even the table? At the very least, a good appetite hardwired in your memory. McLuhan said
Gordon Ramsay), have a heart, humility, and an open adventurous mind are essential. it best ‘the past went that-away.’
and are full of grace. They opened their Don’t go out to eat, if your headspace Preoccupied Eater: He is so buffeted
hearts to Mina, once they saw that she knew is full of dogma, or diets. by his life that he does not care about
her food, and was seriously inquisitive. But is there a way of eating that what he is eating. Turn off your phone!
I am no chef. So, what do I bring to the completes the circle? The world will still be waiting, the markets
table? Quite simply, I am a good eater. And Here are some ways NOT to eat will recover, your boss will be getting his
let me unpack what that means. when you go out. comeuppance. Wake up and smell the
What makes a good eater? Eater as critic: If your opinions are roses. This meal is the best thing that
We’re all into evaluating chefs, rating good enough, get someone to publish happened to you today – you deserve it,
them, critiquing them. That’s only 50% of them. But spare the creator of the food the please enjoy it.
the equation. For a chef to exist, there must Great chefs tell us that they respect the
be eaters. That’s the other 50%. We know ingredients they use, and they respect the
what the chef must bring to the table. But people for whom they cook. Respect is a
what about us eaters? What’s our role? two-way street. We owe respectful eating
There must be a collaboration between to the people who cook for us. Chefs, and
the person who cooks, and the person who yes, our wives.
eats. Cooking is one of the most nurturing benefit of your infinite wisdom, and the Mindful eating
acts in the world. What is more primal than sting of your barbs. I am learning the art of eating mindfully,
creating food? What is more visceral than We’re really not as smart as we think we of eating meditation. The slower I eat, the
eating and enjoying food? are – no one is. more I relish the food. I’m beginning to
It’s a time-worn cliché that the best chefs Eater as expert is only a more subtle recognise the ingredients, the flavours and
put themselves on the plate. Of course, you version – if you were that good, you’d their interplay. I’ve learned that it’s possible
are presented with a bill at the end of the be the one cooking. Please don’t try to to eat with all my senses, even if sometimes
meal, but it’s more than a transaction. It is show off your skill, gyaan, and technical the food drips all down my shirtfront.
an act of creation – and a good chef is only virtuosity. Check your ego at the door. You It’s not been easy, there is an ongoing
happy if you have a great experience. didn’t go to chef school. You might have battle between the mindless glutton in me,
The best chefs stand at the pass and flunked if you have been. and the mindful gourmet. I’ll get there.
check each plate as it goes out. Every plate Talk to the chef, to learn more about her We just need to be present, as we
with uneaten food goes straight from the intent and practice. eat. Engage, connect, be stirred, even be
table for the chef to scrutinise. What was Tell him what you liked and didn’t. Give enraged, dive in, above all, don’t tune out.
sent back? Why? her input, as an eater who enjoys food, It’s a collaboration. The question shifts
When these chefs do the walk around and she’ll love it. Chefs love to chat about from ‘Show me what you’ve got’ or the
and chat people up, it’s not just PR, this is a their food. They yearn for real input, and obnoxious ‘I’ve paid, so impress me’; to
painter surveying the canvas, assessing how questions that come from a sincere place, ‘I’m here. I’m ready. Let’s have fun’.
to make it great. from an eater’s heart. A good chef listens And you will.

JUL-SEP 2024 | UPPERCRUST | 95