What happens when you travel across India exploring each place you arrive at through its local beverages? Well, when it’s chef Kiran Jethwa hitting the roads, expect an all-new exciting television show — Spirited Traveller — to be aired on Fox Life, beginning March 20. In town to shoot the Calcutta leg of Spirited Traveller in January, chef Kiran Jethwa took time out for t2 to talk about his Indian roots, his fusion food, love for high-adrenaline environment and his flavour of the year, which he discovered in Calcutta!
You are almost at the last leg of the show’s shooting schedule. Now that you are in Calcutta, what’s your first reaction?
As I came out of the airport, I thought this city to be less chaotic and more organised than Delhi or Bombay. There wasn’t a lot of traffic. But now I think it’s all the same. It’s all as chaotic as each other but equally colourful, fascinating. No wonder they say that Indian cities are an assault on the senses!
How has the journey of Spirited Traveller been so far?
It has been a phenomenal one. Through this show, I got to explore India’s culture, beverage and experiment with its cuisine. For example, just one day old in Calcutta and I am already impressed by this fish wrapped in banana leaves with mustard paste.
That’s a Bhetki Paturi made with shorshe bata you have had...
Bhetki... shawrse bata... wait, I am going to write that down (starts jotting in his notebook). It was really, really delicious! And that’s great about being able to travel. People, especially from the Western countries, tend to throw a blanket over Indian food. There are a certain number of dishes, like Rogan Josh and Korma, that people talk about. Indian food is very under-represented outside. That’s why I take these notes... how to use different spices, how the different combinations work. In Kerala I found they use kokum in a very interesting way. In Coorg, they make a very thick liquid from a local plant, which is very vinegar-y and citrus-y and it’s incredible! So this show is about finding a lot of interesting food and drinks along the way.
We have heard you eat Gujarati food at home...
Massively. Gujarati food is a big part of our house. My mother (Clare Jethwa) is originally from Manchester but is actually quite famous in Kenya as an English woman who speaks fluent Gujarati and makes better Gujarati food than most Gujaratis. She learnt cooking Gujarati food from one of her sisters-in-law.
So you are familiar with the usual Indian spices?
Oh yes! Just not Gujarati food, I have grown up eating Indian food in general. My father would only eat Indian food. Hence my understanding of Indian food is quite comprehensive. I love how Indian spices are used. I love it. So it’s nice to come to a place where you just increase that knowledge base and see it in a different context.
MEET THE CHEF
Name: Kiran Jethwa
Age: 40
You know him as: The hot host of TV shows like Tales From The Bush Larder (National Geographic), The Fearless Chef (National Geographic) and Food Unwrapped (Channel 4)
He owns and wields the ladle at: The restaurant Seven in Nairobi
His India connect: “My grandfather was from Kathiawar in Gujarat. He left for East Africa in the early 1900s for a better life. He based himself in Kenya and started a business. My father was born in Kenya and my mother in the UK. But she also grew up in East Africa, like my father. So for me, I have a very East African, Kenyan family with mixed descent. And the family loves Indian food!”
KIRAN’S LIST OF FAVOURITES
Ingredient: Chilli
Cuisine: Mexican, Indian and Italian
Food street: The La Merced Market in the centre of Mexico City. Every weekend it turns into a huge food market with unbelievable variety and quality. Also, I have seen some pretty crazy food streets in Beijing.
Food book: All books by Yotam Ottolenghi, the Israeli chef from London.
Flavour: Now, for me, it has to be wrapping things in banana leaves! I loved the flavour.
I like the idea of it. I am going to play with that in my kitchen.
Restaurant: Eataly in New York. It is a huge Italian food market that has got six restaurants within.
It’s fabulous. My favourite!
You are known for cooking Afro-Mediterranean fusion with an Indian influence. Tell us more!
Haha, that’s pretty much like it. I love Mediterranean food, particularly Italian food, because of its simplicity. They take two to three ingredients and make an incredible dish. The polar opposite is Indian food. It’s incredible but uses so many things. In their own ways they are both fascinating. My restaurant, Seven, is in Nairobi and is known for its seafood menu. It’s not African cuisine as such that you get at my restaurant but it’s the ingredients that are from that part of the world. So I try and deconstruct Indian food, remove certain spices from the recipe and add some simple Mediterranean flavours... that’s kind of how I cook.
You are popular on TV. It’s a TV show that brings you here. Who do you watch on television?
I hardly watch TV... am always too busy making it! In the food space, there’s a great series on Netflix called Chef’s Table, which profiles some of the best chefs in the world and their journeys, their restaurants. I really am enjoying that quite a lot. That’s probably the only thing I am watching when I get time. And I watch sports... cricket, tennis, rugby.... I am a massive Federer fan.
From your The Fearless Chef stint, what has been the most striking experience?
My personal favourite was the episode we did in Mozambique. We were fishing for a very specific type of tuna, the dogtooth tuna, which is difficult to catch. You have to dive to the depths of about 30 metres without oxygen and then spear the tuna with a spear gun. It was very physically and mentally challenging and extremely dangerous. But it is incredibly beautiful, too, and this underwater world is fascinating!
Weren’t you scared?
No, actually I was not because I had an understanding of the place and what I was getting into. The fear comes from a lack of knowledge. I am naturally adventurous. I do love taking risks and enjoy high-adrenaline environments.
What’s your take on TV shows like MasterChef?
Umm... done to death may be? It’s a great show, no doubt. It’s a global phenomenon as a format. I think it has really exposed the facts or brought to light the fact that if you are passionate about what you want to do, you can achieve it, especially in the food space. You get some very highly-skilled people who didn’t realise that they were highly skilled. And it evokes that hunger in others to persuade. The food business is very, very tricky. It’s a very fickle industry. One thing I really like about the show is that it gives people an insight into the challenges of being in this industry.
What’s the weirdest thing you have ever cooked?
Oh my god, I have cooked so many weird things. The most recent one is silkworm! We cooked that in Nagaland while shooting for Spirited Traveller. That was pretty odd. It’s very tasty though.
Sibendu Das
