The challenge that the fridge poses in every household kitchen has now spilled over to the television screen in the form of a reality show, titled Chef vs Fridge. With the limited ingredients available in the fridge, two chefs have to battle it out to create extraordinary dishes for a winner to be declared at the end of each episode. And judging them are Chef Vicky Ratnani and actor-comic Gaurav Gera. t2 tunes into the celebrity chef’s thoughts on the show and the current situation. (Chef vs Fridge airs on Sundays at 8pm on Zee Cafe and 10.30pm on Zee Cafe HD and Zee TV HD, in English and Hindi respectively, and streams on Zee5.)

Chef vs Fridge — the title is quite intriguing. What is the show about?

We have personified the fridge as the boss. We ask the two contestants to guess the theme of the episodes. They have to use the key ingredients in the fridge in their recipe to cook a dish based on the theme in one hour. After tasting, we decide the winner.

Do the contestants use the same fridge?

Yes. The ingredients offered to them are the same. They are creating different dishes over one hour. There are two chefs going head to head in every episode. Some are home cooks who are doing well and are passionate, some are junior chefs from restaurants, some left hotel jobs to teach culinary courses. We have a nice mix of people connected with food with varied experiences.

How did you pick who cooks against whom?

The balance is very important. Both their skill set and ability would have to be the same. There were several auditions to pick the 24 chefs from difference parts of India. There are 13 episodes with the 13th episode being a wrap-up. We finished shooting last week.

Which dishes cooked on the show were you most impressed with?

We had specific themes for each episode — Royal Darbar, Global Punjab, Gully to Gourmet, Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Fish… Some very interesting dishes came up in the episode on royal dishes. They cooked some forgotten dishes from royal cuisines. The one on fish was also good. One chose prawn and the mackerel as the main ingredient.

Are the contestants told the theme in advance?

No. We show them the ingredients in the fridge. Then they play a game in which they have to guess the theme. They get to know the theme right before they start cooking.

What are the biggest challenges on the show?

Cooking skill and knowledge are one part of the game. Another part is cooking on the platform under time pressure while the camera roams around you. You may be good with conceptualising but you have to complete the dish in one hour. That is an acid test where a lot of people break down. Someone chose to make a Delhi-style Nalli Nihari, using mutton shanks, which normally takes five to six hours to cook. He used the pressure cooker to combat time without compromising on the flavour. The Sugar-free episode, requiring the participants to make a quick dessert, was also challenging. Each episode has its own identity and its own winner.

In this pandemic situation, what are the biggest challenges that professional chefs are facing?

The pandemic has taught a lot of things to everyone, including myself, like rebooting life and respecting local resources, local ecosystem.... When you go to a restaurant there is a different kind of expectation — you will be seated, you will be served, your food will be plated well etc. But for deliveries at home, the customer looks at a few factors when choosing food from a delivery platform — repetition, flavour and taste, cost and safe packaging. We have a platform called The.SpeakeasyKitchen where we try to provide hygienic food in sustainable packaging. You can’t expect the same ambience as a restaurant at home but food is the show-stopper and the quality will tell.

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