V-Day Special: Food & love have a very strong connection - Chef Ranveer Brar

Chef Ranveer Brar will be seen hosting a culinary show – ‘Family Table’. The celebrity reality show will be launched on OTT platform Epicon on February 14. It will have various celebrities like Tejassvi Prakash, Shweta Tiwari, Huma Qureshi, Fatima Sana Shaikh and others making appearances in every new episode.

Ranveer says that this show is not your ordinary celebrity reality cooking show, and adds, “It is different because it is not a show about celebrities. It is about families and how they represent their family traditions. How they do it passionately and that is what the show is all about. It is about some bigger cause, which we are often aware of but just take it for granted and never bring it up in the mainstream. It is our way of giving it a voice to that cause.”

The show is launching on Valentine’s Day, asked him about, when asked about if his thoughts on food made with love is always good, he admits and says, “Yes, food and love have a very strong connection. We stereotype love in only one form and highlight it on February 14. Love is visible in families everywhere and with food too and you cannot separate love from food. If we talk about food, we talk about love and all of it comes together. There is only one emotion you can attach to food that is love. There are only two driving emotions in the world, one is fear and the other is love. You do something out of fear or love. You eat food out of fear only when you are a toddler.  So, food and love inherently go together.”

Remembering about his time with his family on a dining table, Brar says, “I used to get scolding at my family table, when I was a kid. They used to complain about what I did or did not do throughout the day as I was a very naughty child. So, on the family table my family would talk about what mischief I did that day. Now when I sit with my family there is a lot of gratitude, we have gone through a lot of ups and downs, we talk about my father’s health. We are just very thankful to God that we are sharing this meal together. Apart from that, the conversations are all about what Ishaan has done today. He has to listen to all. Other than that, it is mostly about health and future plans.”

The concept of the show focuses on celebrities talking about traditional recipes, Ranveer too has his favorite traditional recipes and shares, “There are many recipes actually, but Rajma is something which my mom makes really well. It is there on YouTube. Every family has their own Chai ki recipe. My mother and father have their own Chai recipes. My Dadi used to make this churi or churma. Those recipes I still consider as my family’s traditional recipes. I have tried to make them but it cannot be the same, you can take those recipes but there is something called taste of hand. So, you can’t take their hands, as every hand has its own taste.”

Talking about family, who has influenced him in his life and career he says, “My grandmother and my mother. My grandmother passed away when I was very young. But her value system in the kitchen is something that inspires me till today. My mother because she inspires me every day to keep going irrespective of what is going on around, she is a fighter. I am who I am because of these two ladies.”

Does he believe in experimenting and learning when it comes to traditional cuisines? Brar replies, “Over the years I have realised that with Indian food something new will always be limited. We have very old and diverse cuisines. Everything has been done with them. With Indian cuisine, a lot is about discovering. You are not trying new things, you are discovering a new way to present the same thing which has been done for centuries.”

Ranveer had acted in a show, ‘Modern Love’ with Pratik Gandhi, he is once again donning the hat of an actor. Revealing details about the project, he says, “I have done a film called ‘Buckingham Murders’. It will be released in a month or two. I am really looking forward to it. Then I will see how it goes. I enjoy acting and I think I have good timing. I have realised that it makes me a better person and a chef too. Acting allows me to go into a head space where I can’t go otherwise. It allows me to be uncomfortable in a right sense. I love it.”