FEA has been a catalyst for collaborations between home chefs and restaurants or hotels for food festivals. Ankita J Sharma talks to Aman and Shipra Sharma about their experience in a commercial kitchen.
Do you think such food festivals can support home chefs?
Mewari Food Festival of the Weekend with a Home Chef series at The Green House was an excellent experience. Such festivals give home chefs much visibility. This also helped us to create awareness about our brand, Pushtainiz, among new patrons.
How did you decide the menu?
I am from Bikaner and my husband Aman is from Udaipur so we specialize in Rajasthani food. Some of our most appreciated dishes were Rajasthani Dal Bati, Makai ke Dhokle with Panchmel Dal, Rajasthani Gatta Curry, Gulab Gulkand Ki Kheer Shahi and Mevo Ki Kheer.
Was it challenging to work in a commercial kitchen?
Getting to work in a commercial kitchen is the most fascinating experience that any home chef can dream about. The food festival at House of MG gave us the confidence that we can handle large volume orders and that we can plan for further growth in the business.
Who encouraged you to take on the challenge?
We are very happy that Anil Mulchandani gave us this opportunity. The team of House of MG led by Chef Ashish Sharma and Bhura Maharaj supported us in the entire process of food preparation and service. The FEA admin and some members came to support us.
Which were the heart-warming moments?
A lady from France praised our Mewari thali saying she has never had such colourful food with so many flavours in one meal. She had the thali on Saturday and came back for a meal again on Sunday. Snehal Suthar and Bhadri Suthar, architects who have designed Mitti Ke Rang Restaurant, told us they had never had such good Rajasthani food in Ahmedabad. They invited us to sit with them for Sunday lunch. These were some highlights of the festival.
