Revealing the many secrets behind food

Celebrity chef, Ranveer Brar known for his food techniques, knowledge about ingredients and love for cooking, spoke to DC and dished out secrets about food and cooking in this interview.

Secrets Behind Food that Ranveer is associated with is an anthology of 3 shows – Supermarket Secrets, Food Factory Supersized and The Food Detectives — premiering on Sony BBC Earth on 25th July which takes the viewers onto a delicious journey starting from picking the right ingredient to the right blend of spices to making the most delicious meals.  

Q What does food mean to you? When did you decide that you wanted a career out of it?
I decided at 17 that I wanted a career out of it. Moving around Lucknow I realized that food is something that is very important and beautiful to me and a lot of other people. So, then I decided to pursue it as a profession.

Q What are the craziest food secrets that you have unlocked in your career?
The craziest food secret that I have unlocked so far is that the only secret behind cooking good food is to understanding the basics. There are no secret masala in your pocket that can make a difference; it is a collection of basics and experiences that comes together to create good food. Another secret that I discovered over time is that as much it is about the science, it is also about the thought.  You’ll never know why and people probably won’t be able to explain it but though always translates into your cooking. A happy thought will translate into a good dish and a bad thought will translate into an average dish. So the state of mind always translates into what we are cooking.

Q What is that one food secret that you were personally amazed to find out?
So the one food secret that I was personally amazed to find out was about vanilla pods. Every vanilla pod is hand pollinated. They take a toothpick and pollinate each flower by hand so every vanilla pod is a labour of love.  

Q Do share some of the everyday secrets that can make cooking and life so much easier that many people might not know about
We take soaking for granted. For example grains and lentils are 12 times more nutritional when soaked. A germinated legume is high on nutrition content compared to regular ones. And this is something not many people know. Soaking these also save time and electricity by reducing he cooking time.  

Q What is the best way to get most out of food in terms of nutrition that often gets lost in the cooking process?
Pressure-cooking food is not really good. It destroys a lot of nutrition in the food so never bring any food item to boil on at a pressure-cooker temperature.

Q Debunk some of the popular myths that people believe about food
The first myth that people believe in is that the more spices you add the tastier the food becomes. The second myth about food is that a lot of people think overcooking some food items like green leafy vegetables is very necessary to properly cook them but this is untrue. Basically overcooking destroys the vitamins in these items.

Q What do you consider as comfort food personally?
Khichidi  I would say is comfort food for me.

Q What is that one dish you love cooking the most?
I love cooking kheer. Basically anything with rice and that is sweet works for me. I love cooking even gud waale chawal (rice cooked with jaggery).