‘Indian food needs more global visibility’: MasterChef Australia contestant and chef Sarah Todd

MasterChef Australia contestant and chef Sarah Todd opens up on Indian cuisine and global food trends

By Siddhi Jain

She had the Indian audience hooked with her appetizing ‘Aloo Gobhi’ in the sixth season of MasterChef Australia, and followed it up with opening three restaurants in Goa and Mumbai. In India again for a four-city masterclass tour with CRED, the Australian chef Sarah Todd says Indian food excites her for its diversity and that it deserves more visibility.

On Sarah’s masterclass itinerary are Gurugram, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. The model-turned-chef chats about Indian cuisine and her association with it as a global chef and restaurateur:

1. What excites you about Indian cuisine? Tell us about your first encounter with Indian cuisine.
   ST: For me, what exciting about Indian cuisine is that it’s an umbrella for hundreds of different cooking styles. Everywhere you travel you get some different and interesting to try. My first encounter with Indian cuisine was with my son’s Indian-origin father. He cooked keema for me which is still one of my favourite Indian dishes. I love to cook lamb keema with some mango pickle, roti and raita.

   2. Do you see enough international visibility and demand for Indian food?
   ST: No, I don’t think Indian food has been represented internationally that well. It’s just a few dishes which have been in the limelight, which is not the true representation of the Indian cuisine.
   In India, it’s the home food which needs to be showcased to the world as its very light, healthy and nutritious. For example, you can have ‘Khichdi’ if your stomach is upset or the various drinks which help cool your body.

   3. The culinary space can be a lot more sustainable. Your comment.  
   ST: Whatever you do daily, it is important to look at the sustainable ways to live from the smallest of things — like ordering coffee for yourself to work, whereas one can just take coffee from home and also reduce food wastage.

People also need to look at alternatives to understand what is good for them as well as the environment. A lot of people who used to take meat have started consuming vegetarian food, which is good for Indian cuisine because I feel it is the only cuisine in the world which has a wide variety of tasty and nutritious vegetarian food so you can eat something different everyday.

4. Please tell us about your experience of running Antares.
ST: For me, Antares has been a huge learning curve and it has taught me how to be a leader and how to manage a team. I have learnt things about myself and I try to share my experiences with budding entrepreneurs and people who are in the food industry. That was the whole idea behind having the masterclass.

5. Any upcoming food trends you are noting.
ST: I think farm-produced food is something which is going to gain feet not just in India but globally because I think people are more aware and they want to know what they are eating and where it came from. It’s time to appreciate the farmers, and the good work they have been doing and to give them some respect.

(Editing by Deepika Bhan and N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe).