Celebrity chef Enzo Oliveri, who has plated up for the likes of Princess Diana and John Travolta, visited Kolkata recently to serve a niche guest list at the first event of Calcutta Gourmet Club hosted by Suborno Bose, chairman and CEO of IIHM and Indismart Group Worldwide, on February 23 at Hyatt Regency Kolkata’s La Cucina. Renowned as ‘The Sicilian Chef’ who started his culinary journey only as a 23-year-old and is now the owner of six restaurants in London and Sicily, Oliveri is an honoured judge of many reputed culinary competitions and dons many hats in his field. The Telegraph caught up with Chef Enzo on his various roles, his culinary journey and cooking for Kolkata...
What do you love about visiting Kolkata?
My first visit to Kolkata was five or six years ago and I have been coming here year by year. Kolkata is my own town. I feel more at home in Kolkata than anywhere else. One reason is the welcome I get here from the people and the warmth that I find in going around. It is a nice place to be. I have been there many times.
Have you explored Kolkata’s cosmopolitan food culture? What are some of your favourite places?
Yes, very much so. In the four-five years that I have been coming to India, I have experienced all the different kinds of food possible and imaginable. This time that I came, I visited restaurants to see what is going into the future food industry. I am still learning and exploring places. I haven’t made up my mind on the best, I would like to explore more.
You cooked for Kolkata for the first time at the Kolkata Gourmet Club event. How did you decide on the menu?
It is not easy when you have a big party, you have to make sure what people don’t want. Exclude those and find a common ground. With the chefs of IIHM, I did manage to do three different kinds of menu and then chose one that had more similarities.
Your Instagram reveals your love for seafood. Which seafood dish do you love to cook the most?
Well, there’s a lot. Depends on the day and situation where I am but overall I think there is scallop that I like to cook with, it is very delicate and rare, and when I find it then I cook it. It is so nice and delicate, one of my favourites. One of my signature dishes is crab claw in Sambuca sauce, so when I see crab and the claws, I know where it is going to go. But any seafood is appreciated.
What’s your favourite cuisine and comfort food?
My comfort food is Indian, believe it or not. My wife and I have to have it at least once a week because it is comfort food for us. When we want to relax, we have our spicy food. We come back to India and it is something essential for us to have once a week.
You have an enviable list to boast of of all the people you have cooked for so far. Could you share with us one of your memorable experiences?
It is funny that one dish I am famous for is for American celebrities like Sylvester Stallone and two other people. When they come to London they go for my spaghetti meatballs. In America, it is very famous. They think I can do the best. But it is not about the people. They could choose anything anywhere anytime but choosing certain dishes for them makes me really proud.
You have often emphasized in your shows and chat how travelling and exploring different cultures help in mastering the art. What are some of your favourite culinary explorations so far and how have they influenced your style of cooking?
Ingredients. Whenever I travel, I take interest in ingredients and how the locals cook it, so that I can twist it to add a little bit of my personality to it. In the YCO (Young Chef Olympiad) competitions, every time there are so many new ingredients that are local products that are not yet explored. I really love that.
What is your favourite contemporary cooking or kitchen trend?
It is not molecular cuisine for sure! (Smiles) Any traditional cuisine that is made contemporary, I like it because of the innovation.
What is one of the earliest dishes that you learned to cook and still love cooking?
My mother’s tomato sauce. Since I was very young I saw her cook it for hours and hours as the tomato was seasonal and it was cooked and kept for the winters.
Restaurant chains, TV shows, the role of executive chef, master classes and judging renowned culinary competitions. Does this allow you to keep aside any time for cooking experiments?
My repertoire is very vast now. All different people of different cultures. My favourite is television shows and has always been because I want to pass on all that I know. With television, I can get a wider audience. The attachment is wider and bigger.
You started your culinary career very early in life at 23 and you have been judging these young chefs for years now. Is there any difference in perspective and attitude you see in their approach to the profession?
Not really. I am every day inside a kitchen that gives a perspective and I still learn every day.
What are your top three advices for budding chefs desiring to make a career in the culinary world? What qualities do you look for in them?
What I always tell my students is to focus. You will get obstacles but just forget and go for it and being specialized on something will get you the requests from the big companies. It is the techniques, the skills that they use and the innovation that they put in and also the use of local ingredients. Because they are going to be top chefs of the country and some of the world also.
What is your favourite Indian ingredient?
My favourite is the Indian spices. You cannot beat the spices. There is so much that you can do with the spices. You can use it on fish or meat in any way.
Italian cuisine is a popular cuisine adapted in different places in different ways…
Italian cuisine was making things in a different way. Sometimes adapting changes in original Italian cuisine because of the ingredients found in that place but now that we can import a lot of stuff, I think it is getting more original Italian.
You have been in the culinary world for decades now. What has been your key learning in sustaining in this industry over the years?
My mentor helped me believe who I could become. If we see someone believes in us, we get extra power in believing what we want to become and achieve what we want to achieve.
Pictures: Pabitra Das