Chef's Knowledge Exchange: A modern twist to traditional cuisine
Express Food & Hospitality|October 2019
While giving a modern appeal to a traditional dish, it is important to maintain the dish's core purpose and authentic taste. This was the view expressed by executive chefs of leading hotels in Hyderabad at the Chef's Knowledge Exchange on the fisrt day of Express Food & Hospitality Expo at Hitex recently By Akshay Nayak
Akshay Nayak
Chef's Knowledge Exchange: A modern twist to traditional cuisine

The second panel discussion on the first day of the 38th edition of EF&H Expo in Hyderabad saw the presence of executive chefs from leading hotels in Hyderabad coming together to speak about the need and application of giving a 'Modern Twist to Traditional Cuisine'.

The esteemed panelists were Chef Sajesh Nair, executive chef, Taj Falaknuma Palace; Chef Gaurav Malhotra, executive chef, Novotel HICC; Chef Dharmender Lamba, executive chef, Trident, Hyderabad; Chef Kumar Sambhav, regional executive chef, Lemon Tree Premier HITEC City; Chef Yogen Datta, executive chef, ITC Kohenur and Chef Sekhar Rapaka, pastry chef, Novotel Hyderabad Airport KC.

Commencing the panel discussion, Chef Datta said that when it comes to tweaking the traditional cuisine, all that the chef has to provide to the patrons are experiences. He feels that tweaking the traditional cuisine in some bits does add to the experiential element. “You have to be upfront about the tweaking that you have made. You tend to give more experience, then as long as you are explaining for yourself, you are playing a safe game,” he said.

Chef Nair reverberated Chef Datta's views and said that the chef has to upfront about the twist that they have given to a particular dish, and why so. He said that the well-travelled guests now know what they exactly want. “Tweaking will be required for today's generation is looking for a healthy diet and hence the ingredients need to be changed. We like to stick to our traditions. So we do something to appeal to the eyes as well as the palate.” he answered to a query about how Taj Falaknuma tickles the tastebuds while sticking to the traditions.

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