In every country in the world, you will easily find an Indian restaurant and love for Indian food among people. Indian cuisines are famous for their spices, cooking techniques and a variety of flavours even among international chefs.
Here are a few international chefs who expressed their love for Indian food and even experimented with it.
1. Gary Mehigan
The Masterchef Australia judge and celebrity restaurateur has expressed his love for Indian food several times.
Trying various Indian snacks, he described Misal Pav as mindblowing.
Here’s a video of him naming as many Indian dishes in 30 seconds.
2. Gordon Ramsay
Michelin-star chef Gordon Ramsay once said that he wants to open a restaurant of his own in India. He was visiting the South India for one of his shows with National Geographic.
In an interview, he was quoted saying:
The south is all about spices and it felt amazing to smell the fragrances of those masalas. It was an incredible experience visiting India this time. I shot with local female cooks. Trust me, they are far, far better than me.
A fan of Indian curries, he even cooked Pumpkin Curry.
Not just South India, he even entered an annual competition with 40 home cooks in Assam to make an Assamese dish.
He keeps expressing his love for Indian food on Twitter and YouTube.
3. Jamie Oliver
The British chef loves Indian dal and is fascinated by Indian cooking.
I love Indian cooking. I’ve been experimenting for a few years now and whilst I’m no expert, I think I’m doing okay. I think a good dal is one of the best things you’ll ever eat.
He once even visited the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara to help prepare meals for around 1,00,000 people.
4. Nigella Lawson
The British food writer and television cook once said that her kitchen would not be her kitchen if she did not have cumin (jeera) and lime pickle on her shelves.
When she visited India in 2017, she shared a lot of pictures of the food she had been eating.
During the lockdown, she took to Instagram to share a heartwarming picture of one of the most popular comfort foods in India – Dal Chawal.
5. Guy Fieri
An American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter, people call Guy Fieri ‘Food Guru’. On one of his shows, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, he showered praise on 2 Indian dishes – Lamb Rogan Josh and Shrimp Curry.
After tasting the Lamb Rogan Josh, he said:
It’s not just one flavor. You get the lamb, the onion. You get the curry and the pepper. I took 16 bites, and I’m off the rails.
6. Gregory Bazire
Gregory used to live in France when he first had a cup of chai. His wife had brought the tea from India.
One day she made some masala chai…something she had tasted in India. It had ginger, cardamom, cloves, pepper, and for me, it was love at first sip! This was strange as I was not really into teas. In fact, I was an out-and-out coffee person.
His love for tea made him experiment with other Indian spices and soon he relocated to India and opened his own restaurant in Goa. Currently, he is associated with Mumbai-based cafe Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House.
7. Franck Geuffroy
The experienced French chef came to India as part of a collaboration with Vivanta Taj. Talking about the Indian food item that surprised him the most, he said:
I tasted paan in Aurangabad… and at first, I wasn’t quite getting the flavour. It was only after a bit that I understood, and was astonished with the explosion of different tastes in it.
8. David Rocco
The Italian chef hosts a TV show Dolce India featuring himself travelling around India to discover and learn new techniques and styles of desi cooking. When he first came to India and fell in love with the Indian food, he talked to NDTV about his life-changing experience.
I came to India to explore food. And it is evident that I have loved it. I have put on 15 pounds; I have had no discipline on eating and everyone has just been feeding me – chai, food, snacks, and they keep giving second helpings here! I love it.
Indian food is everywhere around the globe and it’s proud to see that some of the world’s best known chefs are its biggest takers.