Over 14 brand endorsements; 200,000 followers on his YouTube channel; 306 k followers on Instagram: Chef Ranveer Brar has emerged as the coolest Indian Chef on the block, netting in global recognition and popularity through his innumerable travel shows as he uncovers the uncharted gourmet turf, writes cookbooks, wins awards, shapes menus in des and pardes apart from setting up restaurants, and more. Beat that.
You need to be passive-aggressive to be a successful chef. You need to have the aggression that no one can see,” shares Ranveer as we settle down to chat over cups of hot green tea. He has shed weight, and wears an air of calm, having just returned
from a challenging trek in the Himalayas where he shot for a food show. “The terrain challenges you,” he confesses. “But it has been the most beautiful, humbling experience of my entire life. Do you know people up there in the mountains survive on a modest intake of chai, butter, sattu… It is delicious, basic and just so fulfilling. Food needs to be simple and nourishing but sometimes, as chefs, we tend to overcomplicate things and this essence gets lost in the process,” he says honestly, having brought back barley jau to experiment with in the kitchen. “I study the ingredients I work with, understand why cultures used it the way they did, before coming up with my own renditions.”
His Insta bio labels him as a ‘FoodSufi’ and Sufi food served up with Sufi music is what he came up with when he visited the famous poet Rumi’s tomb in Turkey. “This is the kind of stuff I like to do. I began to paint, sculpt, write before I started to cook and everything pours itself into my creative canvas once I am in the kitchen,” he shares. Ranveer’s appeal lies in his honesty. His show Rasoi ki Jung Mummyon ke Sung was a superb hit owing to his able interaction with ordinary mothers, as he sieved their age-old recipes to share with the viewers. A simple, run-on show. Of course, he is a seasoned hand at whipping up mean successes in the kitchen on the telly. Case in point, his countless popular telly shows earlier in Brea…
Shilpi Madan for Deccan Herald
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