Echoing John Denver’s soul-stirring eternal lyrics, the “sunshine” on your shoulders can certainly make you either happy, cry, look lovely on the water or almost always makes you feel high, but the Sunshine that we are focusing on here is none other than the Kolkata-based celebrity chef, writer and a stage performer of repute — Sanchayita Bhattacharjee Alam. Her claim to fame catapults her status as the only trained lady chef from the City of Joy which vouches for its food-fetish in the same frenetic vein as its crazy fixation for cricket, cinema and fine-arts.
Armed with a grand diploma in cuisine and patisserie from Le Cordon Bleu in London, Sanchayita has accomplished herself as a qualified professional chef on a pervasive diverse foodscape. Good news is that this globally active gourmet specialist has recently published her first documentation of world cuisine in a book called Travelling Flavours. Dabbling in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and African gastronomy, the book essentially encapsulates a rigmarole of interesting anecdotes and historical perspectives garnished with Chef Sunshine a.k.a. Sanchayita’s take on the concept revolving around cultural integration of cuisine. For those not in the lip-smacking loop, this high-profile food consultant and entrepreneur also runs a famous eatery called The Restaurant On The First Floor at the heart of India’s culture capital.
Of late, a 40-minute-long talkathon series based on Sanchayita’s tome-title Travelling Flavours was instituted by her own studio under the conceptual guidance lent by stage actor-cum-event ideator Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee in Kolkata. Her penchant for storytelling craft blended her craving for culinary passion with her background in dramatics spanning over two decades. Harbouring these faculties, the highly engaging session had further equipped Sanchayita to emote her culinary journey through a narrative saga of a woman whose honeymooning with food moved like a caravan of gregarious gypsies.
“The talkathon basically navigates my whole trip from being an innocent little child to becoming a worldly-wise expert chef. The talk involves nuggets of trivia from my life’s experiences and harks back and forth in time with flashes of memories crossing a conversational path via the album of gold-rimmed halcyon days of my studentship as well as my work-stints as a chef. It also encases my tryst with various exotic lands around the planet, their influences — thereby leaving a deep indelible mark on my mind — and the ensuing journey which took a first-class pupil of international relations studies from the world of academics to the kitchens of several countries. The next talk will be hosted at Kolkata’s swanky literary corner of the Crossword Bookstore ahead on July 15,” she elaborately explains.
Shedding light on the USP of her book, this classy Karen Anand of Kolkata volunteers to pitch in the details of her compact compilation: “The content of Travelling Flavours rustles up a roll of recipes, plucked from the hinterlands of Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern and African belts. Besides, it is an amalgamation of my personal trekking up the cookery-cliffs and learning to cull ingredients, toss up condiments and dish out an array of must-have specialities from the other side of the culinary-map. I’ve keenly taken pains to find out and make a note of both typical and atypical items sprouting out of these nations’ bed and which can easily be prepared at all Indian rasoighars.” The catalogue indeed reads some unusual names.
“Incidentally during this relishing recce of mine,” the graceful chef admits to be able to “spot a lot of commonness in terms of techniques, ingredients and spices,” and could clearly gather that it was simply the major difference in combining either the essential features or adding some extra flavouring agents that by far has rendered each cuisine with its separate, signature identity. “You know at times, just for the lark, even I’ve gone on an experimental mode to whip up the knickknacks readily available on my Indian kitchen-shelf to substitute and recreate many a mouth-watering dish without compromising on its authenticity of taste and scent,” she assures.
Stressing on the increasing popularity of the Indian grub at foreign hubs, Sanchayita opines: “Well, the desi khana has the fastest growing fame in phoren fast-food markets. Especially, it is a ‘runaway hit’ among the young crowd who swears to possess a palate for preferably strong tongue-tingling fare in the cuisine world. You know a lot of ready-made Indian spices, pulses, pickles, herbs, vegetables and masala-mixes are packed into jars to grace the display racks of most international supermarkets and that in itself indicates the augmenting attention that our nation’s cuisine attracts from all over. Be it Punjabi, Gujarati, Parsi, Rajasthani, Hyderabadi or Bengali, every other provincial cuisine has achieved a universal tag through its doors of a brisk restaurant business on overseas shores.
A chain of branded retail outlets with a flourishing status of a front-runner has thrown open its properties to ladle out the sumptuous Indian paos, pohas, sarson da saag, makke ki roti, biryani, kebabs, parathas, chops, dhoklas, lassis, upmas, uttapams, dosas, batatapuri, shrikand, payesh, mishti doi, rosogollas, machher jhol, et al. The list is endless. In fact, one can be reminded of the first few eateries having served up an authentic Bengali cuisine on platters either in UK or US, were actually floated by a migrated Bangladeshi populace, which settled abroad.”
On wholesome dietary-charts, healthy food with minimal “oil and sugar” seems the order of the day. In tandem, the theory of “spa cuisine” is also boomingly evoked in vogue. When questioned if she as a food connoisseur subscribes to more natural greens and fruits rather than a regular intake of animal-protein, to this, Sanchayita replies: “Fact is, simple healthy eating is a way of life now and is effortlessly facile to stir up as soon as one develops a habit of making healthy choices. But healthy food also requires a fat foil of fresh and best quality ingredients which when purchased, can leave a dent in one’s pocket. In context of conventional cuisines, a variety of fruits and greens have always been used as a tradition.”
“However as a bell-ringer, one needs to rewind back to realise that how snacks and 4-square heavy meals with high fat and cholesterol content have only become an acquired tendency since the last century. You see, packaged entree has only become a matter of huge convenience and that leads to an alarmingly unhealthy consumption of junk food with high levels of preservatives and chemicals in great deal. To address your query, I must confirm that both vegetables/fruits as well as animal protein are unarguably the essential building blocks to constitute a human body but the quantity of regular regimen must be properly balanced and the process of preparation should be equally correct. Otherwise, even a nourishing meal can be converted into an indigestible one,” she cautions.
When probed about her unique pseudonym “Sunshine”, Sanchayita reasons: “Well, this moniker was initially given to me by my teachers at the training institute of Cordon Bleu which later on became a permanent label during my pursuit of a professional sphere in London. I guess my genuine happiness in matters of art coupled with the enjoyment that I pleasingly derive from my field of aroma, flavour and aesthetics makes me suitable to fit this name to the tee,” shares the glamorous chef.
Currently paying a visit to London, she reveals the purpose of her tour. “Me and some fellow chefs from the world over hold frequent meets in England to draw vibes, share ideas and discuss trendy as well as salubrious food-fads, ruling the roost across the ever-widening ubiquitous table spread. We also attend conferences and check out gala food-festivals to exchange notes on the latest new kitchen equipment plus novel culinary methods to aptly call the shots under the sky. At present, I am in London to take a break, formulate my next book project and catch up on the delicious tidings over international titbits,” she serves up with a sunny smile.