Pradnya Gaonkar Rane
Traditionally a kitchen is supposed to be the ladies area of dominion. Ironically, the hotel industry in India especially where food takes the mainstage, has seen only a few women chefs finding the limelight.
Chef Harpreet Kaur Longani is one of the few who has made it big with her culinary expertise in Indian cuisine. “This is probably the first time in my 20year career that I am getting an introduction to the media and also get to serve them some of my favourite dishes,” said Chef Harpreet at a press interaction following her appointment as Executive Chef at Vivanta by Taj, Panaji, Goa.
The afternoon saw Chef Harpreet displaying her culinary expertise as she presented refreshing seasonal greens with roasted beetroot, toasted sunflower seeds, baby tomotoes and Balsamic along with fresh baked bread and grissins. For soups, she chose roasted almond and corn soup with butter turmeric pop corns. The Entree consisted of confit of duck and cherry pie with onion marmalade for non vegetarians while vegetarians relished masala paneer.
The exciting mains for the non vegetarians was braised shanks ‘nalli’ of Jodhpuri lamb with potato ‘katliyan’ dauphinoise and pilaf rice. The vegetarians got to try the Kerala style ‘Nadan’ vegetables in spicy coconut curry with Pilaf Basmatic Rice. Harpreet was also behind the Khoja cuisine at the Eid Special spread by Vivanta by Taj recently and always makes sure that the finer details while serving to customers are taken care of.
“I feel that a spoonful of a dish should tell you a 1000 stories. It has to be total experience of flavours, texture, the temperature at which the food is served too. I also make sure that I taste every dish before it leaves the kitchen,” says the Chef.
Before coming to Goa, Chef Harpreet worked as an Executive Sous Chef at Bombay Brasserie at Taj Cape Town, South Africa. She previously completed her BSc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration from Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi and pursued her Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology from Institute of Hotel Management, Ahmedabad. She also completed her Industrial Release training for six months at Oberoi Trident, Chennai.
Chef Harpreet has conducted cuisine workshops at all luxury hotels across the Taj Group. She was also invited to Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok to conduct a special training for Thai chefs in Indian cuisine.
A career highlight in her list of achievements saw Chef Harpreet accompanying former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to China as his personal chef. “Prime Minister Vajpayee used to have a list of his favourite Indian delicacies like the paneer, naan, basmati rice which is difficult to get in other places with the right Indian flavours. I got a chance to be a part of the Summit. In fact the Prime Minister wanted me to accompany him during other tours too but I couldn’t due to time constraints,” says Chef Harpreet.
Harpreet believes that during her career her colleagues and her seniors helped her sustain throughout especially during times when she had to juggle around between work and family. “Please don’t ask me what I cook for my kids, because I hardly get to cook for them. But yes, my family has been supportive and I stay with my in laws,” grins Chef Harpreet.
Harpreet also hopes to compile a list of her recipes in a book someday. She also hopes to start a family joint together with her chef husband (Shyam Longani, who is currently the executive chef at Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, Goa) sometime in the future.
