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Which are the airlines that TAJ SATS currently handles?
We cater to 22 airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Korean Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and amongst Indian based carriers we have Air
India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Air Sahara as well as Air Deccan. So there are quite a few and the list keeps on growing.
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What are your responsibilities in your current role?
Food is the backbone of any hospitality industry. In air catering, food plays a very important role especially in long haul flights. Besides entertainment, food is
undoubtedly the main focus. The passengers are interested to know what kind of food will they be having on the flight and even the airlines have become
demanding with the increase in the number of carriers and increase in competition. We have to keep on doing meal presentations for the airlines, develop
new dishes and so on. I have spent about 32 years at the Taj and 7 years with the Flight Catering and all these years my passion has been cooking of hygienic food. The only thing
that has changed is the administrative work which has increased. The main difference then and now is that in the Flight Catering the mise-en-place, the
cooking has to start 12 to 14 hours prior to the flight as the food has to go through a cold chain what is known as a cold soak. |
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Cold soak is done to avoid
bacteria to grow in the food because food which is cooked and transported into the aircraft is consumed by the passenger at least 12 to 14 hours later. In
case of domestic flights it is generally around 6 hours.
The main criteria here again is HACCP which stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. HACCP is an international requirement where external
auditors come and they audit your unit for total hygiene- whether your temperatures are as per the basic safety requirement, how much time the food is
kept out, how much time it takes to cook your food, cutting the butchery, how you have thawed your meats, etc. We have to record all these things.
Food when it is cooked, they are put in stainless steel trays which are put in a trolley. Each trolley has about 14 trays which has 15 to 20 kilogrammes of
cooked material in it. Once it is put in the trolley, the food comes to us at a room temperature after which we put it into a blast chiller. We have to bring the
temperature down from 70 to 80 degrees down to 5 degrees so that the bacteria does not multiply and this takes about 90 minutes.
After the blast chill for
90 minutes, the whole trolley is taken in the holding room and it is maintained at 5 degrees. Thereafter, those who are incharge in pre-setting the food take
out the items tray by tray and place them in casseroles and again they are put back into the holding room. It stays there for about 2 hours or so and then it
is put into the oven cages after which it is transferred into the aircraft. All along one has to ensure that the temperature does not exceed 10 degrees to
ensure that there is no risk of bacteria formation.
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How do you ensure the balance of meals that is the number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals on a flight carrying around 300 passengers?
Here we need the help of the airline staff. They send us the first load around 8 hours in advance known as the book load. Usually, the thumb rule is 60%
vegetarian and 40% non-vegetarian. This ratio could change as per the customer profile, the destination being served and various other factors. For
example during certain festivals or seasons in India, a larger number of people are predominantly vegetarian or a certain sector may be served primarily by
travellers who are primarily vegetarians. We get a second load request around 5 hours in advance and at times even during check-in there are special
requests like low-fat food, special meal for diabetics and so on. At the time of booking this should normally be indicated. Very rarely there is a situation of
short meals. However, there could be instances where the number of passengers do not balance with the number of vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals as
it is most likely that during the booking a passenger may have requested a particular meal and may change the decision on the kind of meal as per the meal
contents available on flight. But this is not a very large percentage of passengers. The airlines also alerts us during the festival season to change the ratio of
vegetarian vis-à-vis the non-vegetarians.
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How do you decide on the meal contents or the number of items for a particular meal?
For each meal, weight plays an important role. Every airline has a standard set of items they would like to include in the meal. In business class, they want
to give choice of meal within the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options whereas in economy class there are fixed menus. In case of Jet Airways, for
example, they have started giving choice in economy class as well. So what they do is, they serve meals in casseroles especially during lunch or dinner which
may comprise of 100 gm of rice, 120 gm of chicken or vegetarian in gravy, an accompanying dish which could be a dal (lentil) or a vegetable comprising of 60
to 80 gms. There is 80 gms of salad or chaat and 80 gms of dessert along with a bread roll of 40 to 50 gms.
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So this is how the economy class meal is
presented comprising of 500 gms of food per passenger. In case of business class, there may be a choice of starter, soup and for the main course there
could be one Continental, two Indian and one vegetarian but the ordering is done according to the ratio. Say for example, in case of non-vegetarian if the
general trend is to order more of Indian than the Continental, then there will be more of non-vegetarian Indian meal than the Continental meal.
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What are the various achievements of TAJ SATS as well as at your achievements at a personal level?
As TAJ SATS, the most recent award was received from El Al Israel Airlines as being the most consistent caterer worldwide. We have received awards from
Delta Airlines, Cathay Pacific and we had also received an award from Singapore Airline for being the best vegetarian caterer. Letters of appreciations keep
on coming.
As far as I am concerned, I recently got the Hall of Fame Award from IFCA (Indian Federation of Culinary Association) which is a joint association of all the
regional culinary associations of India and it is affiliated to the World Culinary Organization. At a Conference held recently in Chennai they gave me the best
Chef Award and that was indeed a great honour. Sometime back I had got a Gold Medal from the Japan's Chefs Association for participating in the Culinary
Olympics out there. Letters of appreciation from various airlines keep on coming.
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What are the challenges you face and how do you overcome them?
The major challenge is keep your clients satisfied, create new menus and ensure that the menus are not repeated. One of the great challenge is that I am
one of the panelists on the International Culinary Panel which was started by Singapore Airlines about 8 years ago. There are 8 world class chefs on this
panel out of which I am the original panelists since the last 8 years. My role is that I advice Singapore Airlines on Indian food and my menu on Singapore
Airlines goes to around 79 countries across the world and every third month I have to be in Singapore to develop about 50 to 60 new dishes. This takes a
lot of time and therefore is one of the greatest challenges as you have to come out with something creative and innovative whilst planning new dishes. The
fact is that since I am on the panel for the past 8 years shows that they are satisfied and we are achieving the desired results of offering the best cuisine to
the people flying on Singapore Airlines.
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Who are the other Chefs who form part of the International Culinary Panel and how do you interact?
The other chefs are Gordon Ramsay from U.K., Georges Blanc from
France, Nancy Oakes from San Francisco, Matthew Moran from
Australia, Yoshihiro Murata from Japan, Alfred Portale from New
York, Sam Leong from Singapore and Yeung Koon Yat from Hong Kong.
These are all very famous chefs in their own way and each of them
run restaurants of their own and probably I am the only one who
has not yet ventured into starting my own restaurant. Every year Singapore Airlines has a Culinary Gourmet Forum where all 8 chefs meet and we have a brain storming session where each of us discuss what
we should do with our own cuisine and what are the latest trends in the market and this way we share lots of new ideas. This year the Forum was held in
Shanghai, China. On the second day each Chef had to make his own cuisine and that itself becomes an 8 course menu and Singapore Airlines calls the who's
who of that country and there is extensive media coverage. |
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When your course arrives you have to go on the stage and explain what you have prepared. So
it is a very challenging assignment and at the end of the day you have a feeling of great satisfaction. I am very proud to be part of this Panel.Since the last 2½ years I am also inducted on the Air Mauritius panel. Previously, Mauritius to India sector, they used to serve more of the continental food
and less of the Indian dishes. But since I have been on the panel, I have changed the entire style. Now there is one continental and the rest of it is Indian
and people have widely appreciated the new cuisine as a large number of travellers are Indians or of Indian origin.
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What is the style you use in developing new cuisine & have you compiled a book with your dishes?
The variety in Indian cuisine is enormous. There are regional specialities too like North Indian, South Indian and so on. What I like to do is a lot of R&D on
the cuisine and at the same time keep the traditions alive. I do not want to fiddle a lot with spices. I do not want to innovate to such an extent that Indian
food does not taste like Indian food. I like to use fresh herbs and spices and I use the authentic Indian cooking methods. Earlier I used to be more vibrant
with North Indian food. Today I do all sorts of food and I invent new dishes as well.
Earlier I had done one book for the Taj group which was sold to the British market and I am looking for a publisher to publish a book with many new dishes.
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What additional training is required for Flight Catering?
Flight Kitchen is a specialized job with certain aspects such as food safety, hygiene, security and processes involved in airline catering. My suggestion to
catering colleges is to incorporate Flight Catering as an integral part of the learning process in their curriculum. Today at times, we find difficulty in recruiting
new candidates as many feel that flight catering is a monotonous job. However this is a major misconception as today the flight kitchen industry is
booming and airlines are looking for new menus and innovative ideas. There are many new airlines coming, lots of passengers travelling, so I think that flight catering
has a good future.
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What is your opinion of having Chefs on Board?
Actually at the moment, there is no airline flying a Chef on Board. I am suggesting to our national carrier to do a Festival where some of their flights can be
named as Gourmet Flights. There I intend to fly a Chef. In this case the role of the Chef would be to interact with the passengers and explain the menu or
the dish well and this definitely would add value. The Chef too would be in the best position to explain to the guests what he has prepared and the
ingredients involved in preparing a particular type of dish. Unfortunately the restriction on the aircraft do not permit a Chef to do live cooking on flight. At the
most, they could make a few egg dishes like omelette or poached egg or scrambled egg or at the most do the mixing of salads. So there are quite a few
limitations.
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What do you see the future of catering with aircrafts like A380 coming in?
Actually with A380 coming, Singapore Airline is one of the first airlines to fly A380 which is likely to be around December 2006 and being part of the
International Culinary Panel, all our Chefs have taken an oath not to reveal what our future plans are. No doubt, there is going to be extensive work
involved both on the ground as well as on the flight. So you would have to wait and see until the end of next year.
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Your son Puneet is also a Chef. Was he inspired by you?
I think probably in the beginning, I might have been an inspiration due to the appreciation in the press and on the job as well. However, it was his own
personal decision and he completed his training in Mumbai. After his 2 years training, he worked with the Taj in Mumbai for about 3 years and got
transferred to Taj Samudra in Colombo where he got lot of accolades. Thereafter, he got an offer from Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. After having worked
for 1 ½ years at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, he is now with Noon Product, U.K. as a Sous-Chef in the developmental area to develop new recipes. This new
challenge of developing recipes interested him as he is a very vibrant individual. He is working there as an Executive Chef cum Director Operations since the
last 5 years and he is also working for Bombay Halwa, the original company of Noon Product. The greatest thing is that although I might have been his
inspiration, he achieved success in the field entirely with his own hard work and merit.
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What is your advise to youngsters who want to pursue hospitality as a career and more specifically becoming a Chef ?
I always feel that the youngsters are always in a hurry to make money and they are very impatient compared to our times. My advice is that there are plenty
of opportunities. Please spend time in learning first. Strive for perfection and then look for avenues later. Work with passion and love. Don't just take short
cuts and mess up the Indian cuisine. There has to be standardization in Indian cuisine. For example today if I want to make a Pomfret Bon Femme or a
Chicken a la Kiev, I can pick up a Larousse or a repertoire and worldover it is made in the same way. On the other hand , if I have to make a Mutton
Roganjosh which is featured in most of the Indian restaurants and a Kashmiri for example would try out a Mutton Roganjosh from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in
various restaurants, he would probably commit suicide.
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Here the problem is that each Chef makes the dish in a different way. Even common items like
Chicken Tikka Makhanwala or Vegetable Jalfrazie which are in the Indian menu today, are differently done. This is because Indian food is not standardized.
My advise to youngsters is please don't play with your food, be proud of your cuisine learn and then you will go places.
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What are the attributes to be a successful Chef?
Firstly, he should cook with his heart. He should not be a clockwatcher. He should leave his temperament at home when on duty. He should be willing to
share his knowledge with others so that he can spread the knowledge and others can learn your art. He should not mix up too many spices just because
they are easily available More spices does not mean food will be tastier. Do research on your job. Be polite and nice to your profession.
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Why is it that men make better Chefs than women?
Well this was the case earlier but now things are different. Probably you find more men in this profession is because of the hard work in the kitchen, the
constitution that a lady has or probably they are more committed to the house once they are married. But in today's world there are quite a lot of lady chefs
also. For example Nancy Oakes who is on our International Culinary Panel is an exceptional Chef and runs her own restaurant in San Francisco. Always we
know at home, that ladies are the best chefs. In my house, my wife too makes excellent food and people ask me who cooks at home- Is it you or Sushma
and my reply is that you can't have two cooks in one kitchen and she is the Chef at home. My daughter Kanika who by profession is a Fashion Designer is
also a food connoisseur.
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You've achieved all the accolades and awards for over 3 decades of hard work So what next?
In our profession the learning does not stop. Although I have been in the profession for 39 years, I still continue to learn though now I think it is time for me
to start a restaurant-maybe in London, where my son is or in Singapore where I go once every 3 months or maybe in Mumbai, depending on the financial
backing I get to start one as I am confident that I can run a restaurant with my name and experience.
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