Chef Madhumita Mohanta, who is all set to complete 10 years as the executive chef of The Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata (TLGE) in 2024, shares quick responses to questions we all want to know the answers to!
Madhumita Mohanta was the only lady executive chef at a star hotel in Kolkata until she was recently joined by Chef Ishika Konar, executive chef of Hyatt Regency
My Kolkata:The first dish you ever cooked in your life?
Madhumita Mohanta: Khichuri.
Three qualities you think are important to be a good chef?
Understanding of ingredients and local taste, hard work and patience.
You specialise in European cuisine, why were you drawn to it?
I started my journey with Pan Asian food and when I moved abroad I switched to European cuisine. Just like you need to know English to communicate with the rest of the world, European cuisine was a must to be skilled at.
Your message to newcomers, especially women, entering this industry?
You have to be patient and have perseverance to fit into the system and learn the skills required. Give it some time, everything will fall into place.
One dish made by your mum that you absolutely love?
Alu posto.
The most experimental ingredient you have worked with?
Kangaroo meat, ostrich egg, oysters, caviar, blue crab, truffles — the list is endless!
Your favourite cuisine?
To cook, it would be handmade ravioli with freshly harvested cherry tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil and to eat, it would have to be Bengali cuisine.
Which unusual food have you tried and liked?
Ant’s eggs, frogs and grasshoppers too!
The last kitchen tool you purchased was…
A sharp sushi knife.
At home, what do you cook? When are you making your house-special dish next?
I’m highly professional, I only cook when I’m getting paid! (Laughs)
