Chefs could be broadly categorised into three types: Those who were ‘born’ in a professional institute; those born into a family business/tradition of cooking; and those who are ‘born’ at home!

Today, more and more chefs are emerging from the third category and creating ripples, if not waves, in the world of F&B. They are largely driven by passion, bordering on insanity. I should know as I belong to this group.

I must confess, the path is strewn with as many potholes and mines, as it is with laurels and bouquets. And while it is not an easy ride, it is a thoroughly enjoyable one.

For a home chef, the biggest critics are right there at the family dining-table, as also the biggest cheerleaders. The barbs can, at times, drive the chef-in-the-making to contemplate abandoning the kitchen... I did, a couple of times, only to become more entrenched in the kitchen and ended up abandoning my journalism and filmmaking career.

My forte today is south Indian coastal food, but decades ago, as a schoolboy, my experiments began with the oven and baking. Unfortunately, my first cakes never ‘sank’, and the overwhelming encouragement from my family pushed me to become its official baker. The cooking bug well and truly established, my journey towards chefdom began.

A couple of decades ago, when we married, my wife and I decided to manage the house without any domestic help. That meant looking after the kitchen too.

My mother passed on to us a diary with a collection of simple recipes. Both of us treated it like the Bible and followed every single step, especially the measurements.

The sudden discovery that one can create good home-food, or at least that’s what we thought of it, was a great feeling. But along came the potholes — friends loved the food but critics in the family were not going to be generous. From downright “What is this?” to “Could be better, something missing”, the comments were enough to drive one to order in. But a chef was being born, and it was one who was not willing to give up.

From fellow chefs who have been through professional training, I have heard that there is always a ‘turning point’, from something as simple as getting the right consistency of scrambled eggs, to making a smooth white sauce... the perseverance in mastering something simple that, in fact, is a process of honing and perfecting your skills.

They had their instructors, but in my case the dining table at home had to be conquered. And one of those simple dishes that helped me in this was the humble pumpkin erissery .

In Kerala, erissery is a common dish and also an integral part of the festive meal or sadyas — it almost is the touchstone at a meal. If that turns out right, the rest of the food passes muster. What is the erissery all about? It is yellow pumpkin boiled, mixed with a simple coconut chutney, a tadka and garnished with browned grated coconut... sounds simple but is the easiest thing to get wrong, especially when your mother, sister and aunts are at the table.

For almost two years, at every Onam and Vishu, whenever I boasted of hosting a traditional sadya for the family, the erissery was constantly a letdown. The avial may have been great, the sambhar, pachadi and payasam too, BUT the erissery ... either the pumpkin was overcooked/ undercooked, the coconut chutney was not smooth enough, or the browned coconut garnishing was either not brown enough or too brown.

Perfecting all of this is where the skills are honed... from choosing the ingredients, the method of prep, the cooking, and getting the right consistency, smell, taste and colour.

After two years, and alongside a steadily increasing repertoire, the erissery finally got the thumbs-up from the ‘high table’ during Onam. What was involved in those two years of gestation for the home-born chef was free training, passion, and a complete audit. A great school to be in.

Now, what happens when this home-grown chef decides to step out from the cosy little home kitchen and into the professional, commercial world of restaurants? The initial experience can be nerve-wracking.

I remember the first day I walked into the commercial kitchen I was supposed to take over. The magnitude of everything rattled me.

The ranges were large, roaring and spewing flames like a dragon. The pots and ladles seemed made for a giant’s home. The sinks were as large as tubs. My kitchen could have fitted in the walk-in freezer. The dishwasher was like a drive-in carwash. No, I did not run back to the comfort of my home kitchen… instead I plunged right in and — with the sheer instinct and passion cultivated at home — I slowly tamed the ‘monster’ into a domestic pet.

Soon enough, it was like working at home. And the food too turned out like the kind you get at home. Simple, uncomplicated, delicious, reflecting the familiar smells and tastes.

Today, straddling two tables, one professional and the other at home, the latter remains a valuable ‘testing ground’ — concoct, set it on the table, and look for reactions. It invariably varies from silence, a little noise of approval, to pure appreciation. An honest-to-goodness skills audit.

Arun Kumar TR is Master Chef of Zeaside, specialising in home-style coastal cuisine. He is based in Delhi

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