FEA has been a catalyst for collaborations between home chefs and restaurants or hotels for food festivals. Reetika Jalan Gadia talks about the Surti Food Festival, part of the Weekend with a Home Chef series at The Green House
Do you think such food festivals can support home chefs?
Festivals at such renowned places empower a hobby cook or home chef, because they get both experience and exposure. Hobby chefs get an opportunity to serve food to a large appreciative audience. Home chefs get connected with potential clients.
How did you decide the menu?
Surat is my home since childhood, so I presented Surti food for the festival because many of these dishes are not available in Ahmedabad. The menu was decided with Anil Mulchandani to include a mix of Surti classics and street food. Apart from traditional dishes of South Gujarat, we included cold cocoa which is popular in Surat and street food.
Was it challenging to work in a commercial kitchen?
Working in a commercial kitchen was a huge challenge and a learning experience. Everything in the professional kitchen is huge in scale of operation and it is very different from working in a household kitchen. Bhura Maharaj was very supportive and entire House of MG team helped me a lot.
Who encouraged you to take on the challenge?
Anil Mulchandani supported me through the journey. Geetika Duggal helped me with her inputs based on her experience of a food festival here. My parents sent me ingredients from Surat to help me make dishes more authentic, and my mother-in-law and husband managed home and my children so that I could focus on the festival.
Which were the heart-warming moments?
One lady said that her father and grandfather used to get ghari for us when they went to Surat, and the food festival was amazing as they felt they were having Surti food while still in Ahmedabad. Another lady said she recently visited Surat and liked my food more than what she had there. I served the Khawsa, the Surti take on the Khowseuy that has become a popular Surti street food, and a customer from Mumbai said I must have a festival of this dish in that city. It was exciting getting such feedback.
