Father of modern cooking tries his hands at Mumbai-style food

Marco Pierre White conducts the masterclass as VJ-turned-chef Mario Goretti looks on. Pic/Shadab Khan

"Why do you keep calling Mumbai, Bombay?" Marco Pierre White, wonders out loud in the middle of an interview. White, 58, is one of the best known chefs in the world. Possibly, even, the first celebrity chef the world has known. In Mumbai - his first trip to India - White is addressing a press conference for the fourth season of World On A Plate (WOAP), a food event of pop-ups, masterclasses and dinners at The St Regis Mumbai and High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel.

Now Bombay, we know, is an emotion, and Mumbai is the city. To give him a taste of it, we present him a serving of sev puri and bhel. He looks at it with a hawk's eye, asking if it has been brought in from a street cart. To ensure we don't upset his stomach, we've got the hotel to rustle up the dishes. He takes a bite, and goes silent for a couple of long seconds, his poker face not giving away a verdict. "I like the way it makes the juices run in your mouth," he says, adding, "How much does it cost?"

Marco Pierre

Anything as low as 25 pence, we tell him. "If you got this, why do you go to McDonald's? This is affordable, and delicious. It has all the textures and balance of flavours," he smiles, reaching out next for a spoonful of bhel. "Indian food is the finest in the world. Certain spaces have an emotional tug, and I have wanted to come to India for a long time now. I was very silent on the ride from the airport to the hotel. It had an enormous impact on me - I saw beauty, sadness, a peculiar smell of creativity. It was mesmerising," he says, adding, "I wanted to come with a blindfold, and have no preconceived notions about the place."

The image of White in our minds, until now, has been that of a enfant-terrible young chef with a cigarette in his mouth in the Harvey's kitchen [his first restaurant] of the '90s. His recent appearance as the presenter of Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef Australia adds to a sense of nervousness. But he is neither, and both, in one breath. A vibrant sense of humour, humble personality that mocks the canape-size portions chefs dole out over 16-course meals at restaurant, White has one answer for everything: "Keep it simple." Dressed in black T-shirt and jeans, he jokes about have landed straight at the event, with no time to bathe or shave, his signature dishevelled hair in tow.

Marco Pierre

'Share stories, not recipes'
In 1987, White earned a Michelin star for Harvey's in London within the first year of launch and second a year later. In 1994, White won his third Michelin star for Restaurant Marco Pierre White at the age of 33. "Winning three Michelin stars is a most exciting journey for a young chef but retaining them is the most boring job. You become like a Rolls Royce that moves on set wheels. I had three options: Stay in the kitchen long hours to retain the stars, live a lie by pretending I cook or pluck up courage to hang the apron."

In 1999, at the age of 38, he gave up his stars. "I realised I was being judged by people who have less knowledge than me. I no longer had a reputation to protect." Today, he says, he sits with young chefs to share his knowledge, just as his mentors had taught him "Share stories, not recipes". "There are three things common between great chefs: they respect and accept mother nature, their food is an extension of themselves, and cooking is a philosophy unless it's a pastry recipe."

'More importance on eating'
He once said that he would regularly peek into the dustbins of his kitchens. "You have a duty to see what is wasted. Food wastage is created by poor management. There are lots of people who struggle to have food. You have to have awareness and you have to have respect," says White, who now owns a string of restaurants across the world.

What's changed over the years - he first entered the kitchen when he was 13 - is that earlier "it was all about the customer, not the chef". "The establishment was famous or the maître d'hôtel. Today, it is all about the chef, where they even dictate the number of courses - some that last for even five hours. The light is so bright now. The most romantic thing that doesn't date in restaurants is romance."

Today, he says, even diners place more importance on the visual aspect rather than the eating. "The world I came from, there was more importance on eating. There should be generosity of presentation. I don't like the canapé portions doing the rounds. The more you do to food the more you take away from it. Keep it simple. Chefs today want to reinvent, which is foolish. What they need to focus on is refining the dishes," he adds. White looks like he'd be happy to talk more, but his publicity team gesture that the time is up. The man smiles and asks, "Did I do well?" Well, we are in love.

Taking lessons from Marco
On Saturday, White conducted a masterclass on his famous mushroom risotto at The St Regis Mumbai. With Marco Pierre White, The St Regis Mumbai hosted their first chef under Masters of Marriott, a culinary programme of Marriott International in India which will see visits by a list of Michelin chefs in future. "I promise to cure any insomniacs in the room," White promises as he calls for a volunteer to be his assistant for the cookout. "They must know how to chop onions". Almost every hand goes up. "They must know how to cut them really fine." Most hands drop. Maria Goretti, dapper in a red dress, gets picked for the job. Instead of a knife, he hands her a cheese grater.

"Most of us cannot chop fine. Why fret, when you can grate them away," he says, setting Goretti on the job. He adds a handful of butter to the pan, tossing in the onions to sweat. Next is grated garlic. He then generously pours in some white wine, allowing it to reduce. His tips: for the mushroom stock use dried porcini mushrooms as they have 10 times more flavour that fresh ones. "There will be a moment with the rice, where it is still chalky but you want it to retain its texture and not overcook. Look out for it." He confesses to never using measures. "I learnt a new word yesterday - andaaz. Which most Indians who cook at home use, their own sense
of measure."

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