Mumbai's chefs and their fave pastimes

The lockdown has turned everyone into a kitchen star. What about those who put splendid food on the table? Here's how chefs are making the most of me time

'Music, like cooking, has a rhythm'

While everyone has become a chef on social media and is baking banana bread and frying donuts, chef Paul Kinny is happy to let his apron rest during the lockdown. He's busied himself with an online course on Drumeo to brush up his drumming skills. "I always wished to learn drums and percussion as I had natural inclination for rhythm. I couldn't do it earlier because of the lack of time and money," says the director of culinary at The St Regis Mumbai, who bought himself a drum kit last October, and has been practising with the little time at hand. "The lockdown proved to be an ideal time to start learning and so I enrolled for an online course. I practise a few hours every day. The course introduces you to technique, beats, hand-and-foot coordination and reading musical notes and patterns," says Kinny.

He says drumming or percussion is much like cooking. "It involves timing, precision, practice and discipline, just like cooking. It also has a sequence and rhythm in terms of technique, ingredients and science. Percussion changes from region to region, in terms of instruments and beats," explains Kinny. Apart from the drum kit, he also plays the djembe and the cajon. "I am hoping to master a few songs. No, I am not changing my profession. I'll just be a more rhythmic chef," he signs off.

'I am exercising my green thumb'

Milan Gupta gardens with his daughter Raayah

Food history geek and chef-partner of Taftoon, Milan Gupta wakes up and makes a list of things for his 10-year-old daughter to do, from multiplication tables to art and craft. "She insists I do every 'assignment' with her like a classmate. So I have been making puppets and trying my hand at oil painting," says Gupta. Based in Powai, which is a containment zone right now, the chef is happy to be at home. He has time to pursue a new passion, of creating a balcony garden. "My father is a scientist and I grew up in Sindri, Jharkhand where he was then posted. We were surrounded by greenery, and he nurtured a garden. He has a green thumb. He would drop any seed he spotted into a pot and turn into a healthy sapling. I think I have 70 per cent of his habit," Gupta quips. His muskmelon sapling is six inches tall, and the karela is almost fruiting. "I have oranges too," says Gupta, adding, "everyone is a chef today, but I am happy to try my hand at things I never get time for."

'No one is allowed to touch my bikes'

On the Royal Enfield Classic Desert Storm

Chef Gautam Mehrishi got his first bike in 1998 when he was 23. "I remember going to Meerut and driving my Royal Enfield Classic all the way to Delhi. A new bike cannot be raced over 30 to 40 km per hour so it was a long, slow drive," says Mehrishi from his home in Juhu.

The chef, who has worked at Sun-n-Sand, Mumbai and Taj Palace, is currently executive chef at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. Mehrishi prefers to ride alone; biking groups are not his thing. The lockdown has given him the much-needed time to care for his two bikes — a Royal Enfield Classic Desert Storm and a Royal Enfield Lightning. His third and most favourite is a 1983 vintage Royal Enfield, at his home in Ajmer. "I begin my day at 7 am by preparing meals for 25 senior citizens in the area. We have tied up with Project Mumbai that delivers the meals. The lockdown has given me time to care for my beloved bikes. The Lightning is not in good shape, and the battery has gone off. Caring for them includes dusting, starting the engine once a day, oiling, ensuring there is no water accumulation that can rust the parts. The wheels are spoked, and cannot remain in one position for long. So, in spite of the battery, I have to lug it around the building to ensure the alignment doesn't go haywire," shares Mehrishi, who is happy to spend time with the bikes. "On a normal day, I have to rush through it as a job. For a biker, caring for a bike is part of the passion. Also, no one is allowed to touch my bikes."

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