Gelinaz are back. Dec. 3rd 2020 will see the return of the inimitable, culinary, international dining experience from the team at GELINAZ!. Once again, the collaboration is global, and this 4th edition is more soulful than ever. From Dec. 3rd, 130 chefs will remix, play, perform, Matrixes, ideas, menus, recipes, from locked down, in-betweener, silenced GELINAZ! chefs. And like last year, they will be staying at home (again), but this time, they will support their colleagues by giving voice to the Slient Voices. The Silent Voices are the Gelinaz chefs who had to permanently or temporary close their restaurants (for covid or other reasons). If you happen to live close by or can travel, do support this event and the hospitality in general. For any further information please do check GELINAZ.
I am looking forward to introducing the curators of the events in different countries. They will present also the chefs who they engaged into the projects. In Mumbay, the main curator is Prateek Sadhu of Masque:
Why are you doing Gelinaz this time?
It’s been an impossible year across the world. We had to close our doors, then reopened on a delivery-only model – which we’d never attempted before – and only just began dine-in again, at a fraction of the scale we used to. I cannot tell you how badly, for months, I itched to serve somebody an actual plate of food, fresh out the kitchen, instead of packing it into a takeout box. Restaurants and cooks everywhere have been dealt this blow, many of them hit far harder than we were. I was keen on Gelinaz this year because it feels like, well, community. I love that the matrixes are coming from “in-betweeners” and that there will be collaborators (co-conspirators?) in every city. It feels light and fun and necessary.
What is your concept?
Well, we have received a few bizarre recipes (hello bear paws…in Mumbai!) and will be hosting it all at our new space, the Masque Lab, which I’m super excited about. We’d launched the Lab as an experimental, 12-seater open kitchen in March this year, and managed to hold a grand total of 1 dinner there before India went into lockdown. We’ve also roped in someone who is, in my opinion, one of the best chefs we have in India to cook with us, which I am really looking forward to. We’re focusing on deconstructing the matrix we’ve got and rebuilding it with more local ingredients and techniques, so it should be a fun and challenging few days!
Why should people not miss it?
1st Because our collaborating chef is an absolute beast in the kitchen
2nd Because it’s going to be really interesting to build on the recipes we’ve received and see what comes out of them! I think Gelinaz is a really cool opportunity for diners to experience the way chefs around the world cook, in your own backyard.
Who will cook together with you?
I have swindled my friend and fellow chef Gresham Fernandes to cook with us this year. I have immense respect for his skill; he’s got one of the sharpest palates I’ve seen in India and is a total blast to cook with. He also moonlights as a DJ which is super handy for the rest of us in the kitchen.
You already received the matrixes. What was your reaction when you received them?
I kind of just had to laugh. A few of the recipes are so far off the spectrum of what restaurants here would serve, or even what we can manage to get our hands on in terms of ingredients! But that’s the beauty of it, right…? Take the hand that you’re dealt, put your own spin on it, and pray it works! It’s been fun working with the team to see how we can put our own twist on things.
How will you approach the matrixes?
With trepidation, as you would a sleeping bear.
After Gelinaz, what comes next?
We’ll be reopening Masque in a few weeks, so it’s all hands on deck for that!
