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'Hello ji! Hello Hello Hello!' Koi yaad aaya? No? Let’s introduce the one who likes to greet people this way while making some of the most scrumptious dishes in his superbly efficient and alluring kitchen. We are talking about a young boy from a farming family who was born and brought up in Lucknow, the Nawabon ka Sheher. He ditched the idea of taking up a conventional profession of his time (the 1980s), stood against his parents’ will, and went onto achieve great success in the culinary world. The one who doesn’t see any limit when it comes to creating new dishes and has a very pleasing way of conversing. Yes, we are talking about Chef Ranveer Brar who is always fascinated by stories that usually do not make any sense to logical minds, as he says. And, most of such stories are always about food. In a recent interview with Slurrp.com, Ranveer opened up his mind and shared some of his thoughts about cooking and things related to it. We will straight away share the excerpts and dive into his life that walk and talk food.
What made you think about starting a YouTube Channel?
I think what made me make a switch to YouTube was the fact that I felt a lot of limitations in the stand and stir format or the instructional cooking format as we call it. For example, most of the time you have to work as per whose platform it is going up on, which channel is it going up on, sensibilities of the channel, etc. So, I thought if there is an opportunity where I can really be myself without worrying about ‘Ye chalega ki nhi chalega’ then why not opt for it.
How important is it for you to know the history and stories behind a dish or ingredient and tell the viewers about the same?
I think it is important for us to transfer a certain connection to recipes. It is significant for us to make the audience connect to the dish with more than just a series of instructions on how to cook it. Once that happens, the dish stays in their memory for longer. Also, the objective is not to make you cook but to make you build a relationship with food. These two are very different things. After seeing one of my cooking videos on YouTube, you might not cook but may have somebody cook that dish for you or you may just go to your favourite restaurant and have it, or just think let me dabble with it over the weekend. These things are perfectly fine as long as you are connected to that food via a story and you feel is your own. And, I just feel that eventually, if you bring it down to the rock bottom, we all are bunches of emotions and memories at a common plateau where all of us are intertwined.
When you say, 'The more I give to food, the more it will give back,' what do you exactly mean?
Chef Ranveer Brar (Image exclusively created by Zoheb Nasir Hussain Shaikh for slurrp.com)
How does cooking food or love for cooking shape one’s personality?
It makes you more analytical, expressive; believe in magic, intangible along with the tangible. It also makes your senses sharper.
Life lessons that cooking teaches you.
Patience is one of the most important things that cooking teaches you. You can’t cook a Nihari in 15 minutes or Dum Biryani in 2 minutes even if you are hungry. “Waqt se pehle to fal bhi nhi gidta hai.” Right? Apart from patience, it teaches you the basic value of respect, compassion, humanity, and gradually makes you a better cook. You can’t have anger or angst on your mind and cook well. These emotions can make your food taste angry. This is what I have learned. If you can clear your mind and fill positive thoughts in it, the food will definitely come out well.
When a woman gets married, she is told that “Husband ke dil ka raasta unke pet se ho kar jata hai.” What do you think? Is it true?
This stereotype is absolutely wrong. Rudhiwaadi batten hain ye. But, the fact that the goddess of food, Maa Annapurna is a lady and only a woman can have that power of Barkat to create everything out of nothing may be the reason people say what you just mentioned.
In addition, what I do believe is the fact that women can definitely cook better than men as they are more aware of their emotions. They feel a lot more than men and if you feel well you cook well. If you don’t feel you can’t express.
