Best Practices in Chefs ?ood Supplier Collaborative Innovation

There are lots of recipes and cuisines we have that has not been documented. They have been standardized that creates confusion in the mind about what is an Indian food. We need to do a research, standardization of our cuisine which can be authenticated by the culinary institute. There is no denying that our chefs are doing a great job in promoting Indian cuisine but something strong has to be done to keep that legacy going. Here are few pointers chefs and experts believe can help sustain our cultural diversity and cuisine.

Relationship between a chef and a Supplier: Right now the challenge is to bring the supplier closer to the customer. How would your customer know that who is the supplier and from where does our produce is coming from? It’s not from a cold storage and has been stored for months etc. It’s fresh, healthy and as much chemical free as possible. “I talk to the farmers, producers and try not to have any middlemen. It is very interesting to be a seasonal, ingredient based restaurant and not a cuisine based restaurant,” shared Vanshika Bhatia, Head Chef & Co-Founder, Together at 12^th.

Adding New Ingredients: Ingredients have been our life and we have been learning so much from our ingredients. We are always keen on learning new techniques, flavours and textures by making it more interesting. There are lots of challenges that come in between on how to change those ingredients into culinary gastronomy and give that experience. “I believe that one should have fun with the ingredients. You should always play with the ingredients but do not create any confusion. Simple and consistent is what we should aim for,” said Nishant Choubey, Corporate Chef- Senian Group and Consultant Chef- Indus Bangkok.

Sustainable Eating: We see lots of people are travelling abroad, most of the time they are out of the home wherein they didn’t get home cooked meals. And, that’s the need of the hour that people should eat healthy. “I feel that’s when the role of a chef comes in to create healthy, nutritious and sustainable food,” pointed Avanish Jain, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu Faridabad by adding that procurement of ingredients is very important to produce healthy food.

Drawing Familiarities among Cultures: “I always believe in knowing the cultures. In India we have very different cultures with change in region. So, knowing cultures and familiarities will help present your guest with different types of cuisine and food,” said Sanjay Agrawal, Founder, Partner & Executive Chef, Salad Chef who added that we have been recognized by the food we eat in our daily diet. Food has an integral connection with our culture.

Menu Designing Hack: “While designing a menu we should always keep in mind that the design should express the brand personality. It should focus on the overall operation of the restaurant or eatery for which the menu has been designed,” added Ashish Khanduri, Executive Chef, Elior India. It should take care of the profitability; budget and most importantly leave a lasting impression on the guests. According to a research it is believed that most of the guests just flip the pages when going through a menu. Hence, it is important to bold mark, highlight the dish in the menu.