A Chef Speaks: Kunal Kapur

As school children we loved our Show and Tell sessions, now watch Masterchef Kunal Kapur do the same as he discusses ingredients, his life and experiences as one of the best chefs in the country.

He begins with the marvelous spice Asafoetida, locally and more popularly known as Hing. Hing, as we learnt during the talk is actually a gum exuded from the roots of the herb Ferula assa-foetida to keep away animals from eating it – a yet another biological evolution, which like many others landed up in the Human Kitchen!

During the course of this fun trivia he enlightens us about a lot many curious spices and ingredients from the exotic Southeast Asian delicacy Bird’s Nest, which is essentially built with bird saliva to the most expensive Coffee in the whole wide world -Kopi luwak also known as Civet Coffee as it is made from the fermented coffee beans excreted by the Civet, which feeds on coffee plants!

This list of curiosity moves along followed by one after another lesser known facts, almost taking a ‘Ripley’s (rather Kunal’s) Believe it or Not!’ tone, dotted with anecdotes both personal and professional. To know more, watch the video below featuring Kunal Kapur at Usha presents Mountain Echoes 2014.