MENU n.107 - Ottobre/Dicembre 2018

incontridigusto
cucina oggi davvero universale.
Com’è andata la sua giornata alla
Menù? Quale valore aggiunto hanno
i prodotti dell’azienda?
È stato fantastico. Non è da tutti mettere
una varietà così ricca di prodotti davanti a
uno chef. Avrei potuto fi nire per cucinare
almeno venti piatti se avessi avuto tutti
gli ingredienti per supportare la favolosa
gamma di prodotti Menu che posso
utilizzare per soddisfare i gusti indiani.
Le specialità Menù aiutano a migliorare
le nostre preparazione e hanno tantissimi
vantaggi come la qualità, la facilità di
cottura e preparazione e così via.
È sempre stato un grande sostenitore
dei giovani talenti in cucina: quanto
sono importanti l’allenamento e le
competizioni?
Estremamente importante. È necessario
che il settore dell’industria in generale sia
coinvolto, in quanto, il successo degli chef
di domani porta inevitabilmente anche al
successo di fornitori, produttori e aziende.
Tutti all’inizio della nostra carriera abbiamo
avuto bisogno di sostegno, tutti abbiamo
fatto la nostra gavetta: lavorare sotto la
guida delle persone giuste, imparare
metodi e ingredienti, è la base fondamentale
del successo futuro. Pertanto,
senza mezzi termini, tutti noi abbiamo la
responsabilità di investire nei giovani e
di aiutare a coltivare e sviluppare i talenti
di domani.
Quali sono i suoi piani per il futuro?
Stiamo per aprire un altro ristorante nel
giro di pochi mesi. Mi piacerebbe, inoltre,
riuscire a investire in un’altra scuola di
cucina asiatica e orientale. E voglio assolutamente
viaggiare lungo tutta l’India
per registrare i sapori e fare ricerca sul
cibo di questa magnifi ca nazione.
Passion for curry
During his visit to Menù
Cyrus Todiwala revealed
his unique way of
presenting Indian cooking,
a mix of original recipes,
entrepreneurial spirit and
authentic, fiery passion
His curry has been described as the
most elegant in London, in 2014
he was named BBC Food Personality
of the Year and his three restaurants,
Café Spice Namasté, Mr Todiwala’s
Kitchen and The Park Café in Victoria
Park East, have enjoyed great success
in the British capital. But Mumbai-born
chef Cyrus Todiwala has no plans to
stop there and continues to work on
new projects, experimenting with new
fl avours and cultivating new skills. Ever
since he left his role as Executive Chef
of the Taj Hotel Group in Goa to start
from scratch in the UK 21 years ago,
he has always pushed the envelope,
an approach he also applies to his
cuisine with its unique and original
combinations of fl avours, spices and
ingredients. Throughout his career he
has been a guest and presenter on
numerous television programmes on
the BBC and the History Channel, he
has written six Indian cooking books
and is always in attendance at the
world’s biggest food festivals. But the
thing that this multi-faceted chef likes
to do more than anything else is to
support new talent: in 2013 he founded
Zest Quest Asia, a competition for
students who dream of becoming the
best Indian cuisine chefs.
In July Cyrus Todiwala was a guest at
Menù, where he was able to concoct
perfect Indian-style recipes using the
company’s products, in his opinion
unique in terms of their fl avour and
versatility.
Where does your passion for
cooking come from and why did
you want to be a chef?
It comes from my mother and her
home cooking. As a boy I was very
asthmatic and spent a lot of time at
home ill. This allowed my mother to
involve me in cooking and keep me
occupied. My passion grew from
there and matured to the point where
I gained a qualifi cation in food and
began my career. I could have done
anything but the Executive Chef of the
Taj Mahal Hotel asked me to join his
kitchen and I couldn’t say no.
How would you describe Indian
cooking in three words?
Healthy, nutritious and universal.
What contribution can Indian
cooking make to other cuisines?
It can bring more value than meets the
eye. First of all, the medicinal benefi ts
of the spices and the condiments used
in Indian cooking which have a direct
or indirect impact on our bodies and
mental wellbeing. It can also provide
lots of variety in terms of fl avour. It is
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