q&a with chef kuv sharma
Q1: Tell us more about your roots.
They are super deep and well spread out. They grow deeper every day in the search of knowledge.
Q2: What is the first thing you ever cooked?
There have to have been many firsts actually. I am sure it was a dal of some sorts. Dal is the first dish I teach anyone during cooking lessons. The first bake was a carrot cake.
Q3: What ingredient have you been experimenting with, and how are you using it?
I have recently been exploring the fruitiness of vegetables. How the flavour profiles of certain veggies actually contain fruity notes.
Q4: Favorite inspiring chef, alive or dead, what would you want to ask them?
I would want James Martin to comment on my food, hopefully at a Secret Supper. Who knows?!
Q5: Outside of cooking itself, what issues do you worry about most as a chef?
As the host for KSSC I am constantly worried if my guests are well fed and watered. I worry to ensure the food I serve has a positive impact on my guests’ digestion. Outside of those I worry about aesthetics so constantly ensure my table linen is well ironed. Phenomenally concerned about fragrances other than food that may interfere with the KSSC experience.
On a personal level and as a professional Chef I am constantly worried about our environment and busy putting in as many circular processes in kitchen practice as possible.
Q6: If you could travel anywhere in the world to eat or learn more about the food culture, where would you go and why?
This is an endless list. There are several regions of the planet I would like to explore to understand why people eat what they eat and how impactful it is. On personal/ communal and environmental health.
Q7: What might a more culturally equitable food world look like to you?
I see more woke diners and cooks in such a world. They would challenge the status quo, question the practices of mass-production to eventually bring about some slow industrial revolution that is good not just for our personal, communal and environmental health. I predict this world would contain more patient cooks. Ones who are able to convey the multi-layered cultural nuances of recipes and a diner who is willing to listen/learn.
Q8: What’s on your playlist when you’re prepping for a supper?
Hindustani classical Raag-dari music.
Q9: Do you have a kitchen rule you follow by the book?
So many. No noise. Clanging kitchen utensils is a big no no. Neat arrangement deep within a store room/pantry or a kitchen cupboard translate to beautifully neat plates and clean flavours.
Q10: How do you feel about the ‘well-done steak shame’? As a chef, are there certain foods that you think you flat out refuse to serve in any other way?
No. As a cook the challenge is to reinvent the wheel several times by smashing it entirely and starting anew. Strong values, etiquette and morals of a chef will always result in a round wheel no matter what. Some guests want a chewy steak. That is perfectly fine. The challenge is to cajole this diner into eating something else entirely. So they can have a new favourite and give up on rubbery meat.
Q11: The best culinary advice you’ve received.
Smell everything. Feel all textures of produce. Colour is supremely important.
Q12: Where would you take an out-of-town guest to in Dubai?
To Deira and Bur Dubai.