Kitchen is a Place of Worship:Chef Vijaya Baskaran V.

Socially responsible and  known for the innovative start up- “Everything Recycles “ of which he is Co- Founder & Director, Vijaya has more than four decades of experience in leading hotel companies. He is actively involved in organizing IFCA's culinary congress and other events over the years. He also represented India in Asia Pacific forum of Chefs in Bangkok, Gold Coast and was judge at Bocuse d'or at Shanghai. He is the recipient of IFCA National Culinary Award 2012, IFCA Culinary Leadership Award, IFCA Chef of the Year and Golden Hat award from South India Culinary Association. He is the Vice President of Indian Federation of Culinary Associations. In an exclusive interview he discussed his opinion about the Kitchen. 
What is your first impression when you hear the word 'Kitchen'?
It's the place I've spent most of my life in! First impression- Worship
What is the importance of the kitchen in your day-to-day life?
It seems for a chef that being in kitchen is the daily life, a place you love, that provided you with a career, and life. 
What do you have to say on the gradual development of the concept of working kitchen when you started your career and now?
Technology, modern helpful equipment has made chefs life much better now. People have adapted to modern working style, chefs have become ambassadors of establishments, they are also salespersons, apart from of course continuing with dishing out delicacies.
What is the most challenging job in the kitchen in your opinion? 
Documentation and recipe formulation. Chefs need to learn to document the recipes in more organized way that will not only include weights and measures but also cooking time, temperature and other details. This will help in knowledge being passed on to future in an organized way. 
How do you maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the Kitchen? 
Now a days all kitchens have a standard operating manual, food safety manual and other requirements. Just read thoroughly and follow with due diligence. There is no compromise here. Its safety and hygiene first. 

Tell us about the safety features of your kitchen.
Though we have a small research kitchen at the Olam Innovation Center in Bangalore (relative to large humungous hotel kitchens), a show kitchen and an outdoor area, we have installed all safety features. These include gas leakage detection system, that will alert and auto shut off gas in case of leakage to prevent any untoward incident. We also have installed a modern fire suppression system that's a hybrid model that can be manually be operated too apart from auto fire control. Food safety systems are a necessity and have of course been taken care. 
Which method of cooking do you pursue in your kitchen, traditional or modern? 
Since it's an innovation center Kitchen we do all kinds of cooking and baking. We also mimic industrial scale production of bakery products too. From ‘dum’ cooking as well as to cooking with a combi oven.
Describe the role of the trained staff in your kitchen? Do you face any specific challenges in hiring the desired staff?
We are a test kitchen; we also engage chefs visiting us and helping us in our projects. For example, we also do RTE product development, hence chefs should know a bit of science and technology to understand and execute. 
Frozen foods are becoming popular now-a-days. What are your views on the Frozen Foods?
Its welcome and good. I have seen that hotels buy fresh prawns clean and put them in deep freezer, thaw and use them later. Be discerning and decide as to which frozen product would be suitable for you. Frozen peas is an example that has indeed helped farmers and chefs.
What are the essential health and lifestyle trends prevailing now-a-days that you like to incorporate in the kitchen? 
Wellness is a buzz word now, but it's always been an integral part in Olam Food ingredients. We deal with Edible nuts and the wellness aspect is well known. We are also innovating with cold pressed oils from Cashew and Almond, the nutritive benefits are excellent, and we will soon come up with innovative products to make these oils popular.
Ingredients play an important role in food preparation. Do you prefer using local ingredients in your preparations? How do you select the vendors? 
Thank you for asking this question Olam food ingredients is a leader in the field. Our cocoa, coffee, edible nuts and spices are sourced from farmers across the globe. We follow sustainable models in our supply chain system, and we are the trend setters in this field with our`At source' platform that enables our customers to know in detail about our ingredients, origin and complete details about each consignment.
Do you agree that there is a need to change the curriculum of culinary courses in India? 
Rather than change, I would say it has to evolve and keep pace with Industry. Here the educators and industry professionals should work closely. Both need each other and Industry leaders must find time and contribute to education. They cannot get engrossed or get 'busy` with work and not contribute to this evolution. At the same time educators should constantly interact with industry. Industry exposure should be for both students and faculty. 
What are your views on framing the curriculum designed especially for Indian food?
Lots of work needs to be done with this. Employability is the key element. Students those who learn specialty cuisine also need job and good placements. Are we there yet? Let's face the reality. For this Indian food must go more global, and then it will have cascading effect. Its better now but we have long way to go. 
India is extremely diversified where as its food culture is concerned. What according to you is the scope of popularizing Indian regional cuisines across the globe? 
Indian Federation of Culinary Associations IFCA is the body of chefs that always aspire to popularize Indian food across the globe. We do participate in World Chefs events and engage chefs across the world. We also invite Chefs from various countries for our events and competition. They become our ambassadors. For example In the recent past at the Festival Gastronomica in San Sebatian , Spain (San Sebastian has a number of Michelin star restaurants), India was partner country and our chefs show cased our cuisine in its varied forms at the festival.

(This story has been published under arrangement from Better Kitchen magazine)