Cooking up a storm in Pakistan

Chef I-Wayan-Subrata on offering a blend of oriental cuisines and his culinary experience in the country

ISLAMABAD:

The magic of oriental food lies in its rich use of spices, nutritional ingredients and artistic presentation. Although Chinese cuisine is a top favourite among Pakistanis, many also seem to have acquired a taste for Thai and Japanese gourmet foods, among others, over the years. As such cuisines continue to garner a dedicated following, oriental food prodigy and chef de cuisine I-Wayan-Subrata brings them under one roof at The Wild Rice Restaurant in Serena Hotel, Islamabad.

“My secret ingredient is love,” said Subrata. “If you don’t cook with love, the food will taste different. That’s why when two people cook the same dish with the same recipe, the outcome is usually different,” he added. Subrata, who is of Indonesian origin, started his career 28 years ago after studying from Bali Tourism Institute in Indonesia. He then worked at the international chain Four Seasons hotel in the country.



Having been working in Pakistan for the past five years, Subrata continues to bring forth his international culinary experience to satiate local taste buds. “The biggest challenge I’ve faced working in Pakistan is that the staff has limited knowledge of cooking, which means I have to train them from scratch,” he explained. “They come here like an empty cup that needs to be filled. But the good thing is that people here are willing to learn and are easy to train.”

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He helms a team of 11 that includes sous-chefs, junior chefs, assistants and managers, all of whom play a significant role in bringing together palatable dishes. But it’s Subrata’s job to plan a unique menu that blends together Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian cuisines, with a dash of Malaysian flavour. The menu features soups, noodles, a variety of chicken and duck dishes, sushi and sashimi, and express bento boxes. Oriental as well as contemporary desserts complete the menu.

Subrata holds that their specialty lies in customising each meal in line with customer preference. “The customer is king because he’s paying. Having ample experience under our belt, we can gauge the type of food the guests would prefer just by looking at them,” he explained. “For instance, if it’s a diplomat or an ambassador of oriental origin, we keep it less spicy and closer to authentic taste. Other than that, customers have the option of telling us how much they’d like us to spice up their meals.”

Subrata’s top recommendations for oriental food-lovers are the Grilled Indonesian Fish, Chinese Szechuan Chicken, Japanese Sushi and Sashimi and Pad Thai Noodles. Although Subrata’s job is a high-pressure one, where he works up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, he emanates an aura of genuine happiness because cooking has been his ultimate passion since he was a boy.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th,  2015.

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