Page 78 - Hospitality Horizon - February-March 2021
P. 78
F&B PARTNER
EDIT NOTE
having fun
with food
Alfred Prasad, mentor chef at
Omya, The Oberoi, New Delhi,
speaks to SUHASINI JHA
about himself, his biggest
culinary influences and more
Did your multi-ethnic and multicultural
upbringing and education play a role in
your expansive and original outlook
towards the culinary arts?
My family background with an Anglo-Indian
mum and Tamil Brahmin dad gave me an
early exposure to the diversity of micro-
Indian cuisines. Also, I was fortunate to have
lived in many places across the Indian
sub-continent including Wardha, Delhi,
Kathmandu, Madurai, Coimbatore,
Andamans, Hyderabad, Vellore and
Chennai. I moved to London in 1999 and
after few years of a European tenure, I felt a
unique outsider-insider perspective, which
helped shape a more original outlook toward
the culinary arts.
Who has been your biggest culinary
influence?
There were two big influences: my childhood
years in India had a huge impact from mum’s
cooking to the many places we lived in,
absorbing new micro-cultures, cuisines
and experiences. Living in London has been
another huge influence. An up close
understanding and practise of international
78 FEBRUARY-MARCH 2021 hospitality horizon
