Nuria Rodríguez Parra, who came to India almost a decade back has slowly made her mark in the culinary scene. Today Chef cum entrepreneur she runs this beautiful place Nua Café in Delhi and Mohali along with partner Neena Khanna. Always full of smiles, she oozes with energy and can charm that surely reflects in her food
You never wanted to be a chef right? then how ?
Hahahaha, if it is true, in my house I was destined to be an engineer, my parents this is what they wanted me to be. I started studying agronomist engineering for 4 years, but I never finished these studies it was the most boring thing I did in my life.
My grandmother was a chef too, whenever a have opportunity, I run to her place to help her, come out from school every day and I was there to eat and prepare with her always food.
You have had hands on experience working Michelin in starred restaurants abroad. Leaving that what brought you to India
I came to India in 2011, because of my husband's work, soon entered what would be a long way in the industry. I started working at the Cervantes institute teaching Spanish gastronomy and in the afternoons at Olive bar and kitchen where I was very curious to stay here and explore more and more about India. I worked for almost a year and a half and enjoyed the experience a lot. Then I joined Imperfecto and stayed there for 8 years, it is also an experience we worked a lot but I also enjoyed it. In 2020 I started my adventure with Nua – Cafe with my partner Neena Khana and here we are to revolutionize the food market.
From teaching Spanish cuisine to ladies at the Instituto Cervantes to heading a commercial kitchen tell us something about the whole shift.
No, it was not easy at all, the beginnings are always hard and you have to learn a lot from setbacks in a culture totally different from mine. But I survived so far and I love India and I'm used to working with all of it here. Repeating things 100 times is something I am not used to, I have to deal with many things every day, but slowly slowly, I got it and this is what matters to me in the end.
How easy or difficult was for you to understand the Indian palate and create a menu?
Yes, it was very complicated, our gastronomy is simple, and the cooking techniques are too. We eat a lot of grills, roasted, sautéed and stews. Make menus in India always look for the recipes that most resembled the Indian palate, the stews are fantastic, the grills, and typical Spanish recipes such as paella that is very similar to biryani, croquettes that is like a pakora, and so on. But always need adapt everything to the Indian palate if you want your menu to be brilliant. In our menu at NUA we have dishes that are only focused on foreigners, but I love to see when the Indian public explores and tries it and likes it, it gives me confidence to explore more every day with new things that we will be introducing
Does your experience of Spanish cooking come handy in Indian cooking?
Yes, as I mentioned, I always look for dishes that are assimilated to the Indian palate and in the end, it is a fusion that is always good with a touch of extra spices, it always works well.
We have grills and good oven as well so we can do many combinations but what is a big problem is the ingredients and one always go crazy in markets to look for, and most of the time not available as well so is difficult to keep in a la carte menus
Do you see any similarities in both the cuisines?
No, is totally different, we have similar dishes but in flavors we are not even 1% of it. India cuisine is rich in fats and that why is so tasty too, hahhahaha, I love it ! The cooking techniques in India are unique, like the tandoor and the street stalls that do not exist in Spain, we have street food stalls but they are very special as churros are almost always sold in street stalls on dates like Christmas and during winter. It is not very common to eat in the street, it is almost always everything from an establishment. On the beaches in Spain, you can eat paellas in the chiringuitos (is a restaurant that are on the beach in the sand)
What is that one learning from your mother’s kitchen that still comes handy to you?
Almost all the delicious recipes that I learned from the Spanish kitchen I learned from my grandmother, she was a super cook, the best stews recipes, have from her and still today used in my kitchen. Pisto manchego vegetarian and no vegetarian (it’s typical to my region in Spain) Paellas , Rice black with seafood, Breads , Lamb stew , Croquetas , Tapas etc
What’s the most whimsical dish you have created in the kitchen?
Goat cheese croquets with caramelized onion on top truffle and dip champagne sauce with pine nuts
Which is that one Indian dish you feel you have expertise in?
I think I can cook butter chicken hahahaha, but I love eating it more than cooking it. I love Indian food and I don't even feel spicy, it seems so normal that my mouth burns in every bite. The cuisine in Calcutta is my favorite, remember going 5 - 6 a go for a wedding and each dish is very good not too much spice but the flavors still in my memories.