Business Trade

Menu
  • Home
  • Promos
  • News Segments
  • Featured
  • Trending
  • News
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Home
News
Will take India’s regional cuisine to the world: Chef Vikas Khanna
News

Will take India’s regional cuisine to the world: Chef Vikas Khanna

user1 May 13, 2017

He has been named the “Hottest Chef of America” by People magazine and has won a Michelin star for his restaurant in New York, but Chef Vikas Khanna’s roots remain in India — and he now wants to take the country’s regional cuisines to the world.

“My focus for the next 10 years will be on regional cuisine. Though it is extremely tough to assimilate all of Indian cuisines under one roof, I am trying my best. I want to bring as much of India as possible to the US,” Khanna, 45, told IANS in an interview on the sidelines of an event where he launched Quaker Nutritious Food products.

Khanna has put Indian gastronomical delights on the world food map and was recently named by Gazette Review in its list of Top 10 Chefs in the World.

His charm is no secret. From serving food to the Obamas to gifting his book “Utsav” to a host of global personalities, Khanna has immensely contributed to giving Indian culture and delicacies a global identity.

Twelve handcrafted, gold-gilded, hand-painted copies of “Utsav” were created. They have been presented to world leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, religious leades like the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis and celebrities like Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, among others.

The 12th was to have been presented to Apple founder Steve Jobs, but he died before this could happen. It was auctioned earlier this year and went for a whopping Rs 30 lakh (more than $46,000) that will feed 200,000 under-privileged children in India through the NGO Smile that Khanna supports.

Talking about his love for regional cuisines, nothing can be more exciting for him than discovering the hidden recipes of the eight northeastern states.

“I would love to explore the northeast more. I have travelled extensively in the northeast, even have taken choppers to go to the remote corners of the region to know about their hidden food and recipes. Their way of life has not been touched because of connectivity issues. Things are very pure and natural over there,” Khanna explained.

On his many trips to the northeast he encountered several techniques that cannot be performed in a modern kitchen.

“I have found how, in places where there is no refrigeration, people are preserving food. For instance, take spinach, add garlic, wrap it in a banana leaf and bury it under the ground. It’ll virtually be fresh for ever. The whole of the northeast is home to such natural culinary tricks,” he pointed out.

His love for regional recipes is evident from “Utsav”, a magnum opus of 1,200 pages that covers the length and the breadth of the country. The book, which took 12 years to compile, also explores the festivals, ceremonies and rituals that symbolise India.

“But still it covers only 12 per cent of what we have. The remaining 88 per cent cannot be penned down. You will not get to know them because they are from diverse regions and so many of the recipes have been forgotten,” the chef lamented.

Khanna opened his first restaurant, Junoon, and, in virtually no time, it started attracting praise from every quarter. Junoon has been awarded a Michelin star by the Michelin Guide for six consecutive years since 2011.

Former US President Bill Clinton once said to him: “Vikas, I hope you will focus on selling culture and not food. Because culture is more important than the food.”

“More than focusing on food, we need to highlight our culture as cuisines are equally a part of it. We are aware of Western dishes because of their marketing. We have so much of beauty and diversity, but we don’t push it,” Khanna lamented.

Asked about the trends that would rule the gastronomic world this year, he said it was the Spanish Tapas cuisine for him. And what would be over done? “Punjabi food,” was the quick reply.

Everything else apart, he is also working on a new book.

“My new book, ‘My First Kitchen’, is going to be released soon. It is a massive book on how to run your kitchen, how to do parties in your kitchen, how to make cocktails and mocktails, and how to be very , very conscious about your cooking,” Khanna said.

Share
Tweet
Email
Prev Article
Next Article

Related Articles

Television actors getting bashed on social media is not an …

“Know me first before judging” – Divyanka Tripathi gives it back to the trollers

MUMBAI: Name change is not an unusual phenomenon in the …

Post name change, Kaisi Yeh Yaarian fame Chetnaa Meeraa bags Jeet Gayi Toh…

About The Author

user1

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Captcha loading...

Recent Posts

  • Meet Jennifer Winget’s ‘SOUL SISTER’
  • His calm demeanour is admirable: Aahana Kumra on Rajeev Khandelwal
  • Keith Sequeira REVEALS his FITNESS mantra
  • Erica surprises Parth Samthaan and Hina Khan
  • Nia Sharma and Arjun Bijlani have their ‘Tip tip barsa paani’ moment

Recent Comments

  • Harpreet on Ramayan’s Vibhishan Passes Away…
  • Gurpreet on When fan mistook Shah Rukh Khan for Akshay Kumar
  • MOHAN on EK THA RAJA EK THI RANI: BADI RANI MAA TO DIE, RAJA SAVES RANI
  • Jasvinder on Raja and Rani get ‘INTIMATE’ in Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani!
  • BALDAV on KAALA TEEKA: KALI GETS MARRIED!

Archives

  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • Featured
  • News
  • News Segments
  • Promos
  • Trending
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Business Trade

Copyright © 2023 Business Trade
Theme by MyThemeShop.com

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Refresh