More than his bread & butter

And he takes that belief into his personal life as well when he admits that in his spare time he likes to eat and cook. "I am quite adventurous in the kitchen and I do not stick to recipes," he says. And his favourite ingredient? Flanders’ Cheese. Available in six different varieties — Gouda, Italian Mozzarella, Kwark, Ricotta and plain and smoked Scarmoza — these dairy delicacies can be eaten straight as table cheese. But Kwark is a cream cheese made from partially skimmed milk which can be used in cheese cakes and pastries and is used in the Italian desert Tiramisu.

Jehangir’s personal favourite is smoked scarmoza which, besides being a table cheese, can be used in cooking too. But while Jehangir is cognisant about the uses of cheese, most Indians do not realise how versatile this product can be. "Indians tend to associate Mozzarella with pizza but it can be used raw in salads and eaten just with crackers," he says. The difference is that here cheese is seen as a luxury item. "Abroad everyone has cheese in their fridge. Here cheese is exotic, people out of the metros have not even tasted Amul cheese. To them cheese means paneer," he adds.

In fact when he goes to collect a consignment he has to tell the handlers that the cheese is ghee. "Even chefs in five-star hotels know very little about cheese," he says. But lack of knowledge hasn’t affected Jehangir. His business is only two months old and Fortune Foods has already broken even this despite popular perception that it takes up to six months to to cross that line. In the first month he sold 60 kg of cheese and in the second month he sold 200 kg of cheese. He supplies cheese to hotels like The Taj, Leela and President as well as specialist shops like Rustoms, Nature Options and Cheese Bazaar. He even takes private orders and will deliver cheese to any home in Mumbai. His prices are also not out of range as costs start at Rs 67 for 250 gm.

But the main reason that Flanders’ Cheese are becoming popular is that taste is as authentic as most foreign-made cheese. The Flanders’ farm is a huge estate just outside Delhi and all the cows are imported. The feed for the cattle is also specially grown. Indian cows are not used as their milk is low fat. Since his cheese are cultured and not processed they are a healthier option. Processed cheese contain a lot of added ingredients like preservatives and colouring agents. "Also they are not so consistent in taste," adds Jehangir. He has not become an expert on cheese by studying but by reading information off the Internet. There is a web page on cheese which he has referred to from time to time. Except for food, his other hobbies are running and squash. Essentially to work off all those calories that he samples in a day!