‘One’s relationship with their craft is very important’: Chef Ranveer Brar

"When you are [at] rock-bottom, you become even more stubborn to bounce back and win," he said

"Relationships are everything. Me and my relationship to food is who I am," says celebrity chef Ranveer Brar. (Source: Instagram/ranveer.brar)

Chef Ranveer Brar’s recipes and food tips on Instagram have earned him fans from around the world! In a YouTube video uploaded by JoshTalks, he talked about his faith and the ‘zidd’ to prove himself — something that helped him reach where he is today.

Talking about the importance of food in Indian households, he said, “It’s a very important point in the conversation in an Indian home.” According to him, there were fewer choices growing up and life was straightforward.

“There were a lot of discussions about food. And being a part of that generation, food actually got imprinted on our DNA naturally.”

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He spoke about his growing interest in cooking by firstly watching his grandmother cook, and later when he would go to the gurudwara every Sunday with his grandfather.

“I was naturally gravitated towards langar since it was the place where the real action happened.”

He was 13 when he cooked for the first time and although he was happy to cook, it wasn’t his choice of profession.

“The turning point in my life came when I started exploring Lucknow even more. The relationship of Lucknow with food, that relationship was bigger than my relationship with food and more endearing,” he said.

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At the age of 16, he started working at Munir Ustad’s shop in Lucknow, learning how to cook kebabs. “The point isn’t how much cooking I learned, but the kind of work ethic it inculcated in me,” he added.

He faced resistance at home after telling his parents about his decision of becoming a cook. “Being stubborn has another advantage, it makes you responsible since you have to prove what you say.”

According to him, the one lesson he learnt after going to hotel school was that it was his relationship with food and the tool that had mattered, not the place.

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After he became an executive chef and opened up a restaurant in US, it closed down in 1.5 years. “I got destroyed due to my arrogance,” he said.

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After the incident, he went into depression, but something happened which helped him get his confidence back. People who he had helped at some point started calling and telling him how good they were doing by his grace. “It bought back my confidence to bounce back. And that relationship with people, it gave back to me.”

“When you are rock-bottom, you become even more stubborn to bounce back and win. And I came back with more stubbornness and faith.”

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He concluded by saying, “Whenever I cook, first it’s all about being stubborn, that I ought to craft the creation that I have in my mind. And second is faith, faith in that fire, that the final product, will be a masterpiece… A man makes you count his accomplishments, but I am looking forward to my next failure, because it is an amazing source of strength. We can all learn from each other’s life.”

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