Exclusive Interview | Chef Hardik Bali, Indian Specialty Chef, Oberoi Group
/“Food has always been a form of art of expression to me. I used to draw on surfaces as a kid then and I do it today also but on plates, nothing much has changed.”
Editor: How did it all start? Share your journey with us!
Cooking began at a very early age back then as a kid. Like most of the kids, I was never much into outdoor sports due to health reasons and hence I had to find activities in-house. Apart from painting and playing state-level chess; cooking took a lot of my time and came to me naturally. I used to watch a lot of travel shows understanding different cultures on how people evolve around food and ingredients which eventually made me do what I am doing today. I pursued my hotel management and wrote my thesis on marketing but kitchens happened to me purely out of my passion to cook and explore more and create more on plates. Food has always been a form of art of expression to me. I used to draw on surfaces as a kid then and I do it today also but on plates, nothing much has changed.
Editor: What are your earliest memories of the kitchen you worked in?
I don’t come from a family that belongs to a hospitality background where someone could guide me on the challenges of working for hotels, restaurants, and professional kitchens. I had to figure it out myself understating how they all operate/function individually as they all are very different from each other serving various markets. Working in community kitchens in school is what I remember and yes helping my mother in the domestic kitchen is also what I remember and I still do it whenever I go back home during short breaks and not a vacation☺. I can say I learned my phulkas, and parathas there which I believe I do the best. I entered the professional kitchen for the first time post my enrollment in a graduate hotel school at Taj Aurangabad.
Editor: A dish your patrons/ guest love?
I could have been a marketing professional or sales professional or any guy doing numbers with any financial firm but I am a chef out of choice where I believe each dish can be an experience for diners who gives you an opportunity to cook for them. I do market my dish which becomes my identity in the hotels and for the restaurant. My butter chicken is something which people rave about whenever I have done it for any of my guests, gosht ka haleem, Gujarati kadhi or may it be aubergine bharta are to name a few dishes which has always drawn the attention of the guests.
Editor: A dish that you love but do not have on your menu?
Rajwadi khichdi a very regional dish from India which can do wonders if done right with locally sourced ingredients, a power pack bowl of nutrition.
Editor: What according to you does it take to become a successful chef?
Culinary and gastronomy is an ocean with so much innovation happening all across the globe. If your diners, guests, and customers appreciate your food and are coming back, you are a successful chef!
Also, depending on one’s own definition of success he can have a plan for himself. It’s a mix of multiple experiences with various chefs in different regions that would give rise to a concept which eventually will become your style of cooking and expressing flavors. Have a mentor, believe in yourself, and be loyal to your cooing…I am sure it will work not immediately but definitely.
Editor: What advice would you give to young culinary students?
Possibilities are endless with cooking techniques and the availability of ingredients. Have patience and a vision, identify a mentor, and cook at various kitchens gathering experiences – understand cultures, people, and emotions; cooking will come naturally.
Editor: What instruments/equipment/devices you cannot imagine working without?
There are many but to name it’s 1. Weighing scale 2.Sous vide machine and 3. My phone connects me to the world.
Editor: Your favorite ingredients Is –
1. Black pepper 2. Fresh Lemon
Editor: Name chef’s, you find amazing or chefs work you admire
I have been following Chef Vineet Bhatia’s work since my early graduation days and I have been fortunate enough to see him cooking and be around him very closely at various events, you can say he is my role model as a Chef and also as someone who connects his food with people and cultures. Also, I look forward to the work done by Chef Manish Mehrotra and his team taking Indian food to what it is today which is commendable.
Editor: What books should every chef read?
‘On food and cooking by Harold McGee’, It’s a nice book to understand cooking as a science.
