The Hindu Business Line : To Hell... and back

It arrived in India with the buzz of a new menu. With slices of real life. With intimate glimpses from a famed restaurant kitchen. With question marks galore about what a chef's life is all about, beyond the impeccably painted platters. That's Discovery Travel and Living's Hell's Kitchen show, premiered in India from May 15 (the five episodes were aired every Monday, beginning May 22, at 10 p.m.).

On the show, 12 aspiring chefs compete for a chance to run their own dream restaurant. Only one finally survives. They are pitted against each other in a merciless contest under the hyper-critical eye of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay at Hell's Kitchen in Hollywood.

One of Britain's most famous chefs, Ramsay is recognised as much for his temperament as for his passion for perfection. His first eponymous restaurant opened in Chelsea, England in 2001, gaining a highly prized three-star Michelin rating. Since then, his current list of nine restaurants includes Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Gordon Ramsay at Conrad Tokyo, and Verre at the Hilton Dubai Creek.

In the surcharged atmosphere of Hell's Kitchen, the contestants are driven to match Ramsay's exacting standards, or axed without mercy if they cannot stand the adrenaline-fuelled heat. Only the toughest survive. Including the live diners, who were kept waiting for close to two hours on one infamous occasion.

For instance, the teams have just 15 minutes in which to create an original dish from an assemblage of 15 leftovers. In a bizarre taste test, they have to identify strange foods while blindfolded. What's in store as a follow-up? Wine-tasting with Ramsay for the winners, an epic cleaning session of cookware from the previous night's service for the vanquished.

Sizzling moments

What else sizzles on the show? Tempers and tantrums, non-diplomatic verbal exchanges and personal rivalry, for starters. Small wonder, when the contestants are dragged out of bed at 4 a.m. to bake bread for the Hell's Kitchen night service!

At the show's Indian launch at Bangalore's Olive Beach, well-seasoned questions were brought to boiling point. How does the show engage with the Indian context? Are Indian chefs, diners and viewers ready for a no-holds-barred take on the restaurant business?

A.D. Singh, the brain behind the Olive chain of restaurants, notes, "We've come a long way since I set up my first restaurant 15 years ago. At that time, restaurateurs were treated as beggars, cooks as mere bawarchis. Now, our restaurants have achieved the status of an industry. This celebrated series is the first look most of us will have behind the scenes."

Madhu Menon, who runs the Shiok Far Eastern restaurant, muses, "My gut feeling is that it wouldn't really hold the average middle-class Indian viewer's interest. In our status-driven society, people in the restaurant business are considered by many to be from economically weaker sections."

Indian show?

What of an Indian slant, considering there are no desi contestants on the show? Are there plans for a local variant? Rajiv Bakshi, Discovery's Associate Director (Marketing and Communications,) responds in the negative over email, but adds: "I think the show has a great format and is universal in application. It might not require any tweaking for Indian viewers, though bringing film stars into the series as customers might increase the tension and fun."

Who, then, might step into Ramsay's shoes for an Indian version? "Rahul Akerkar (of Mumbai's standalone Indigo) would be a natural choice," states Bakshi.

Singh seconds that choice, but adds, "To young chefs, being on a show like this is important as recognition. Maybe they could cook whatever they like for a show here, even Indian or Asian food."

Within the game frame, the Discovery launch event pitted three of Olive Beach's chefs live against each other. Sachidananda, Prashanth and Tara were each handed a basket of the same ingredients — including chicken, mushrooms, and bell peppers. About an hour later, Singh and Olive Beach's executive sous chef Anuj Kapoor declared the former the winner for his culinary creation — mushroom-stuffed chicken with pepper Andalouse sauce and florets.

Chef's special

Kapoor, reflecting on his 12 years in the industry, says. "I could relate to the tough conditions in Ramsay's kitchen completely. That's why I'm quite conscious about what we're passing on as heritage. How can I do it differently? How are we treating our juniors?"

Menon adds another slant, "While chef-driven restaurants are big in USA and Europe, chefs in India are still not written about too much. How many times have you seen a true blue chef featured in a lifestyle piece?"

How much reality are we ready for? Abhijit Saha, director (food and services) at The Park, Bangalore, responds, "The environment in Ramsay's kitchen is very close to reality. Because being a chef is not just about cooking. It's about delivering your high-quality product consistently. About managing your team, your ingredients, your service. With dishes simultaneously in the oven, on the hot plate and salamander, how do you ensure that?"

Saha, voted one of India's ten top chefs in a 2002 independent Outlook poll, continues, "You'll note that on the show, Ramsay doesn't cook himself. How does he, then, train his team to deliver quality at all his restaurants? I can understand how he feels. Because, when I've lost my cool on a rare occasion, it could be because I was not able to ensure quality because of lack of control over service, ingredients, or even equipment."

As India wakes up to a generation of finely tuned chefs, as our diners acquire the sophistication of education and travel, the underlying provocation rings true. That Hell's Kitchen may give us more than we're ready to bite on at the moment. Or will it only whet our appetite for more?

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