The ultimate food and music festival, HT City Unwind started with a bang on Friday at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, in New Delhi. With more than 100 food stalls, the three-day event promises to be a food-filled extravaganza, for the city that loves to eat, sleep and repeat. The festival’s Masterchef partner, Slurrp, is also hosting the Slurrp Masterchef Cookout, where home chefs get a chance, to cook live, with their favourite celebrity chefs for the three days of the festival. The first day featured chef Kunal Kapur, chef Nishant Choubey, and Chef Vaibhav Bhargava, who not only cooked live on stage with their new companions, but also entertained the audience with secret tips, tricks and personal stories. Fun games and quizzes also gave audience members a chance to win exciting gift vouchers.
Commenting on the cookout session chef Kunal Kapur who cooked Aloo Tuk with Garlic Yoghurt said, “Mine was a simple, fried dish. A Sindhi classic, perfect to go with the weather. What I love the most about the fest, is that true to its name, it is giving you a chance to unwind and indulge in the best food. The home chef community, bloggers are very essential in keeping hyperlocal cuisine alive, and giving them a platform is a great initiative. The enthusiasm of the audience also made the live session a great success.
Chef Vaibhav Bhargava echoed the sentiment, “I am very delighted to be part of the first-ever Slurrp Masterchef Cookout, the highlight of the event for me is definitely how we are getting a chance to bring the world on a plate. Vietnamese food is becoming so big in the city, my dish was also a simple, warm and crispy eggplant. Vietnam’s cuisine celebrates simplicity and original flavours of the ingredients. I got two very gifted home chefs from the Slurrp Community by my side to make this crispy appetizer”.
Chef Nishant Choubey who also broke into a dance with his team on stage after his live session said, “there is this unfair perception that cooking should always be a very grave, serious affair. I am the happiest when I am cooking and hence, dancing on stage was definitely a highlight for me (laughs). But yes, coming to anything organized by Hindustan Times, is like a home-coming for me. The response has been great. I am glad people found the session so insightful and fun, and I am hoping this would warm them up towards olives, an extremely healthy, versatile ingredient that deserves all the praise”.
There were many popular bloggers and influencers in attendance too, food blogger Anupriya (@lifelikeparadise) said “It was so wonderful to be at HT City Unwind at JLN. Enjoyed to the hilt and learned a lot from great chefs like Vaibhav, Nishant Choubey, and Kunal Kapur. They are true legends of cooking.” Maahir (@foodmaska) said, “had a gala time at the Slurrp zone, Chef Kunal Kapur whipped up magic on stage, also got a chance to have a picture with him, it was a fan moment for me. Absolutely loved the experience, thanks team Slurrp”. “I had a great time at Slurrp Masterchef Cookout. I actually went to see chef Kunal but I was fortunate enough to see all three and it was a wonderful, insightful experience, got to learn so many tricks from the best in the business”, said food blogger Prerna (@prernaaaaaaaaa). Blogger Karan Puri (@author_karan) also said “it was an absolute pleasure to visit the Masterchef cookoff, the atmosphere was electric. I got to try the delicious recipe of chef Kunal Kapur, who is an inspiration.”