As a small boy, Mandaar Sukhtankar loved spending his time in his mother's kitchen packing lunch boxes for her. He almost didn't become a chef. Hailing from a family that had seen nothing beyond the defence services, Sukhtankar, now 35, had to conciliate his grandparents by sitting for the entrance exams for medical college and the National Defence Academy, before he joined the hospitality sector.
"Although my parents were very supportive of my decision, it was a mental block that had to be overcome by not joining the defence services," admits the executive chef of The Park, Bangalore.
Six months into his first job as a management trainee at The Park, New Delhi, Sukhtankar had not managed a single meal within its swanky kitchens. "I was spending 10 hours ferrying the inventory and store supplies to the kitchen and that was the closest I could get," he recalls, admitting that quitting was on his mind.
"It was the most gruelling period for me personally, when all I was required to do was peel mounds of garlic, potatoes and oranges." Eventually, graduating to an occasional omelette under the supervision of the chef, earning a "pat on the back", was the beginning of Sukhtankar's tryst with flavours and smells.
Sukhtankar admits to being deeply influenced by chef Antonio Carluccio, his mentor. "I began my affair with Italian cuisine with him at a London restaurant called The Neal Street. We have spent some quality moments in its kitchens learning and discovering Italian tastes," he confesses.
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But moderation was introduced in Sukhtankar's kitchen to suit his Indian guests. "There is no such thing as vegetarian Italian food," he lets in, adding, "that's why I had to create a range of Italian cuisine that could suit Indian vegetarian taste buds."
As much as he loves messing around in his kitchen with a six-year-old son baking cakes and rolls, this chef-de-cuisine admires the food cooked by his wife.
"She plays around with Indian food and flavours like no one else. I absolutely love her home-cooked meals," he says shyly. So, is his son his food critic? "He is more than a critic, he can rightfully point out when meat has been over- or undercooked," says the proud father.
Sukhtankar is no snob to street food. He makes sure to get his share of jhal-moori and puchka whenever he visits Kolkata. He's been known to hassled a street vendor to toss jhal-moori seven times just so he can write down the sequence of ingredients. "The secret is the mustard oil," he says with a gleeful confidence.
Today, after 15 years of cooking, tossing and running a profitable kitchen for a five-star hotel, the chef can order an army of hundreds of trainees. Some days he even manages to enjoy his success.
"When guests like Nandan Nilekani and senior government and ministry officials thank me for my food service, I still feel a sense of gratification akin to what I felt when I tossed my first omelette in The Park kitchen."
FAVOURITE RECIPE
SALTIMBOCCA
4 chicken breasts, 120 gm each, cut into slices of 20 gm each
24 fresh sage leaves
6 slices Parma ham
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Fresh crushed black pepper, to taste
Lay the sliced pieces of chicken breast on counter. Lightly pound with your fist to flatten. Season each piece with very little salt and black pepper. On each piece, place a sage leaf. Cover each sage leaf with similar-sized slice of Parma ham. (If you do not have this try any ham
