Lockdown has democratised food: Ranveer Brar

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar is amazed that males have caught up with their hobby of cooking during the pandemic.

On his visit to his hometown Lucknow, he says, “The men have started cooking, maybe hobby cooking. I credit this to the lockdown which has made males the weekend hobby chefs. The lockdown has democratised food, made it accessible to everybody. It is no longer kisi ki jageer. The floating content on internet also helped in this phenomenon which used to exist in older times when men used to hit the kitchen once in a while.”

He digs out some data. “On my YouTube channel, average male viewership is 63% while my non-veg recipes are viewed by 75% males. Trepidation towards cooking has gone down. Also, due to e-commerce boom, the accessibly of international and traditional ingredients has reached common kitchens,” he says.

On spending two nights in the city after years, he says, “It was important to catch up with the city which is changing so fast. I went to have a round of Hazratganj on Saturday. Savoured basket chat at Royal Café, then matar at Shukla Chaat, amazing Purvanchal platter prepared by chef Mohsin Qureshi at the hotel and this morning went to Old City. On returning I had Sharmaji ki chai! Now, as my family is in Mumbai so ghar bhi nahi jana hota.”

Brar feels that compared to other cities which are just growing blindly and chasing aspirational stuff, Lucknowites are still connected to the city’s food and roots. “I see a cosmopolitan edge in the city but I am very happy and proud that Lucknow is expanding yet rooted to its culture and food. I personally feel the progression but not at the cost of traditions. People understand food here and markets respect that. That’s the reason in modern areas of the city along with international food the authentic cuisines are equally popular.”

He is working on three books. “The first one is on seasonal cooking of India which is as per the seven seasons of the country according to Ayurveda. The second is about 100 recipes of India though the different spice boxes very unique in every region. And, third one will be on my Lucknow which probably will be my last book that I will write as I am not interested in writing my autobiography,” he says with his signature smile.

Project for jail inmates

With a belief that food has the power to change people, he is working on a project in Lucknow. “At Aadarsh Kaaragar (Model Jail) we have inmates with best conduct who are engaged with programmes like Jail Band, handloom and more. So, I am curating a bakery for them and standardizing stuff so products labelled under Jail Ki Roti will be sold in five-stars and the money earned by them will be spent on their welfare. I am also working with farmers’ groups in Odisha and Chennai where we promote millets and conventional methods of farming.”