Exclusive Interview | Chef Shibu Thampan, Executive Chef, Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts,Maldives
/“ Every profession required different ingredients for success, and to become a successful chef which is a very challenging one, a lot of passion and patience are required.”
Editor: How did it all start? Share your culinary journey with us.
I grew up eating homemade pastries, savories, and pasta as well as brilliant Indian food including Hyderabadi dum biriyanis; because my mother was an excellent cook. If not, I would have turned out to be something else perhaps. We also traveled through various cuisines of India through my childhood, as my father served in the Indian Airforce. So, we had been in most of the states of India.
During my electronics and instrumentation graduation, I watched cooking shows on TV with my mother, and later watch her making those dishes. It was during this time that I decided to become a chef, inspired by my mother’s passion for cooking and the tastes of her food. Little did I know about the tough life would be getting into, working in a professional kitchen.
I completed my hotel management from EMPEE IHM Chennai. During the industrial training from Taj Hotel in Chennai, I was fascinated by the kitchens of the hotel and the chefs working in a buzzing environment. I would stay back observe and learn more.
During my third year, I found time after college hours to learn the basics of foreign cuisine unknown to me at the time. I trained myself in a French Standalone Restaurant. In a few years, I joined the Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Resort in Shimla as Commis Chef. That is where my journey into professional kitchens started. I was fortunate because in the Oberois you are trained to be a true professional, a true culinarian, a true hotelier.
I have covered 18 years in my chef career, working with the best brands and hotel chains in India and abroad – Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Atmosphere Hotels, and Resorts Maldives, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group – Radisson New Delhi & Radisson Calgary Canada, P&O Cruise Liners and Sheraton Canada, to name a few. And celebrity chefs like James Martin in the UK and Chef Baranidharan Pacha in Oberoi Hotels.
Editor: What are your earliest memories of the kitchens you worked in?
The great opportunity to work with great chefs in various sections of the kitchen in Taj Hotels Butchery is still fresh in my memory. That was where I experienced the joy of being appreciated and given additional responsibilities over time.
Editor: A dish your patrons/guest love
It depends on the place where I would be working, and the guest preferences there. I always make sure we have two ingredients in anything we cook – passion and love. I feel that it made every dish, one which the guests love.
Editor: A dish that you love but do not have on your menu
I love rustic authentic Italian food, which I learned from Chef John Paul Adamo in Canada, which I miss and is not in my current menu. The list is long as I have been to so many places and in so many hotels and prepared so many dishes over the years.
Editor: What according to you does it take to become a successful chef?
I believe that professional education and training in skills and a passion for cooking are necessary to be successful as a chef. Every profession required different ingredients for success, and in ours – which is a very challenging one, a lot of passion and patience are required.
Editor: What advice would you give to a young culinary student?
It can seem simple and easy, to see people wearing nice chef coats, clicking good food pictures to post on social media. A chef’s life is far more. It will demand extended hours of hard work and maximum quality time. You should also be ready to work on festive days, miss holiday plans; and love what you do when you enter the kitchen, despite anything else.
In summary; have patience, work hard, respect your colleagues and seniors.
Editor: What instruments/ equipment/devices you cannot imagine working without?
I will start with the tasting spoon. Then add a good sharp knife and add sharpening steel.
Editor: Your favourite ingredient is…
I love the fresh and green look of fresh herbs to complete my dish. They are the essence of every dish I prepare.
Editor: Name chefs, you find amazing or chefs work you admire.
I like the way Chef John Paul Adamo, a Celebrity Chef in Canada, connects with his roots. He promotes local produce and farm-fresh vegetables, healthy eating in our guests; by using simple and fresh ingredients to make amazing dishes.
Editor: What books should every chef read?
Larousse Gastronomique – For French Cuisine
The joy of Cooking: Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker
Modern Cookery – Thangam Philip (A must of Culinary students)
The Flavor Bible by Karen Page
