Talk to Thai Chef: Chef Veena Arora of the Spice Routh, The Imperial, New Delhi

Trends in the food industry are largely dictated by the demands of the customers. Restaurants are inspired to keep experimenting and reinventing dishes and menus according to the changing tastes of the diners.

An emerging trend in the food industry is the acceptance of a cuisine froma region in its authentic form. Customers are willing to try out ethnic cuisines without tweaking it to suit local tastes and flavours.

The internet has brought the world closer and people now have greater exposure to international dishes and foods that a country has to offer. When people return to their homeland, they are willing to try the same dish back home. Food preferences are not restricted to the traditional fare and ethnic cuisines are making way into the kitchens of various restaurants, hotels and homes. This is a great opportunity for chefs as well to showcase their talent and knowledge of various ethnic cuisines.

Diners who want to alter the original taste of a dish to suit themselves are now in a minority. I have noticed that customers today are willing to experiment and try out different foods.

Also, multi-cuisine restaurants are coming up in a big way. While they serve authentic food, these restaurants also provide a variety of options to diners. It is difficult to launce and sustain a single cuisine restaurant as compared to the demand for say a multi-cuisine restaurant.

The emerging trends in technology are a great boon to the food industry as well. Simple tools such as a papaya grater or a deep fat fryer save you a lot of time and make working in the kitchen a lot more efficient and convenient.

● The best meal I’ve ever had

The buffet at Grand Hyatt, Thailand, eight years ago. Everything searved was so good that even after all these years I remember the taste.

● Five must-haves in my kitchen

Thai herbs, white pepper, a wok, a raw papaya grater and a range of sauces – fish, oyster, light soya.

● My comfort food

Thai cuisine. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a simple dish like Tom Yum tastes great.

● Discovery of the year

Karthin leaves. They are easily available in Thailand but I found some here this year. I took some seeds and have planted them in my garden. I like using them in my cooking.

● One person I would want to cook for me

My husband. His cooking skills have really improved over the years.

● A dish I only make at home

My mother’s fried rice. It’s simple rice with lots of vegetables and spices as accompaniments.

From page 52, India Today’s Woman Magazine, October 2012

Veena Arora

Chef de Cuisine, The Spice Route, The Imperial, New Delhi

She developed her passion for Thai food early on in life as her family owned a restaurant in Thailand, which is where she also grew up. After her wedding in 1980, Arora moved to India and decided to convert her passion for cooking into a full-time career. She has since worked with the Lalit and later joined the Imperial Hotel as their consultant chef for their award-winning Southeast Asian restaurant, Spice Route. Arora has won a host of Industry awards including the National Tourism Award for Best Chef as well as Food N Nightlife magazine’s Gourmet Guru Award.

On 4 December 2012, Ambassador of Thailand to India awarded Spice Route a certificate to certifying that a Thai chef is working at the restaurant and authentic Thai cuisines are served with genuine Thai ingredients.