Learning #culinary art# from #Kendall# Chef #Christopher Koetke#

Kendall Chef Christopher Koetke preparing roasted tournedos of salmon

When we attended a culinary art master class led by Kendall Chef Christopher Koetke at J W Marriott, Pune it was sheer delight to watch the celebrity chef cooking with such utmost passion and professionalism. Chef Koetke, who has trained thousands of chefs around the world and is a kind of encyclopaedia of cooking and food, was on a week-long visit to India. But what made the class interesting was the chef’s unique teaching style. He was dramatic when he taught them about discipline, he cracked jokes while chopping vegetables and whipping up an Avant-grade meal.

At the beginning of the class Chef pointed out that in order to become a good chef along with passion for food and cooking, having a discipline is very important. “If you have passion but not discipline, then you will not be successful.”Koetke  said.

Kendall College, a leading culinary arts school in Chicago, Illinois, USA held a master class at JW Marriott, Pune on September 12 th, which was hosted by renowned International Chef Christopher Koetke, the Vice President of the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College. The class was organised in order to generate awareness about culinary arts education and the many career opportunities it presents to students.

Chef Koetke walked the participants through the preparation of roasted tournedos of salmon with red wine sauce, mushroom snail ragout, salmon sausage, and succotash salad.

While preparing the exotic dishes, he revealed his trade secrets and doled out detailed information about various techniques of churning out the perfect dish. He started off with showing the demo of various techniques of holding a knife properly and how to cut vegetables in the exactly same size. He also showed us cooking methods like dry heat cooking method and moist cooking method. Koteke also highlighted the importance of having everything ready before actually starting cooking.

Chef Koetke with exotic spread prepared by himself

When it comes to cooking most of us heavily rely upon recipes, but according to Chef Koetke, it is a strictly no no. “You can get captive by recipes but by using senses you can cook anywhere in the world with whatever ingredients you have. Hence it is essential to cook with all your senses. “He informs.

The chef was very excited about his trip to India. “I am thrilled to be back to India. As a Chef I find it very amazing country. It is a pleasure and a privilege to spend time in India and to have the opportunity to engage with the people of this country.”

We asked him whether he has tasted any Indian food and his take on it. “When I was taken to a restaurant in Mumbai, there was a Kebab festival going on and just gorged on various types of Kebabs and biryani. Later when I was staying in a hotel in Bengaluru, I was famished and asked for a breakfast. They served me two laccha parathas and they were so yummy that I polished off both the parathas and complained to the chefs that why did they gave me only two laccha parathas?”He smiles.

While Indian food is perceived as too spicy, Chef Koetke feels the perception about Indian food being spicy is completely wrong. “Indian food has many flavours and it’s wrong to label it as spicy.”he explains.