New Delhi: Manish Mehrotra has been cooking up delectable dishes for over 15 years, but if there's one learning he has carried back as the winner of the reality show Foodistan, these are the recipes of popular street food in Pakistan.
Mehrotra, who works at Indian Accent restaurant, a fine dining restaurant at The Manor here, was in the much India vs Pakistan final round with chef Poppy Agha from Karachi. He says the show has given all Indian contestants an insight into the food and cooking style of the neighbouring country and vice versa.
"When you meet so many different people from your profession, you get to learn many new things. The eating out culture, especially the street food in Pakistan was unknown to us, the show gave me more knowledge about Pakistani street food," Mehrotra told IANS.
Mehrotra started the journey in the show with 15 other contestants, and learnt how Pakistani food is as diverse as Indian cuisine.
"In India and Pakistan, we don't have any standardised dishes. For instance, if a chef is making 'mutter paneer', the same dish can be made in 10 different ways. Same goes in Pakistan, they can make one thing in different ways. It was fun to learn contemporary and modern fusion Indian dishes," added the chef who was declared a winner Wednesday.
Popular for his knack to cook fusion food, Mehrotra believes the TV show has earned him more prominence.
"Now the guests come at my restaurant and request the same dishes which I made on the show. We are also planning to hold a 'Foodistan' food festival, where I will make the same dishes which I made on the show," he said.
As the winner of the NDTV Good Times show, he has bagged a contract to pen his own cookery book and he will also visit any three cities in the world for a culinary experience.
He wants to travel to Australia, America and Northern Europe, he said. Mehrotra is a graduate from the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai and had been trained under master chefs in Thailand.
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