BENGALURU: Chef Manish Uniyal has donned the chef’s toque for several 5-star properties across the country. In conversation with CE, he talks about how beet is one of the most underrated veggies and his interest in the history of aircrafts.

What’s your most favourite ingredient to work with?
Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables to cook. You can make a decent seven course meal out of this versatile taproot. From salads, drinks to desserts, beet is an underrated vegetable.

If not a chef, what would your 
alternate career have been?
An aviator.

Do you also cook at home? 
Yes, I do usually on my days off, I find it relaxing. At home, when I cook, it’s usually one meal. I am not worried about the strict time factor, whipping up dinner for 200 people or juggling eight different orders at the same time.

Do you give cooking tips to your mother and/or wife? How do they react?
Yes, it’s hard to resist. My wife loves it and is quick to share them with her friends at first opportunity.

What are your hobbies, apart from cooking?
I love reading history and making model aircrafts.

Do you watch cooking shows/reality shows? If yes, which shows and contestants are your favourites?
I am not a big fan of cooking shows. Probably because, as a chef, I can see behind the curtain, intricacies and prep that have gone before the final take. But I do watch food travel shows sometimes.

What’s your family’s most favourite dish that you prepare?
It’s a rendition of fannah (a native lentil preparation from Uttarakhand) which I prepare with white rajma and freshly churned butter.

If it were your last day on earth, what would you love to eat?
Food is something I would love to die for. Well, I would be torn between a well ripened Casu Marzu, Surströmming or some ammonia packed Hakarl (pun intended). But would settle for a nice thick porterhouse cooked between medium and medium rare and a slab of dauphinois, having it in my sunny backyard with some good friends and a nice chianti. 

What’s been your worst/funniest kitchen incident?
I was in Goa working as a sous. During one of the packed lunch 
services, fire sprinkler went off and was spewing water all over the live kitchen area, much to the amusement of the diners.

Any famous personalities you’d like to cook for? 
I would like to cook a Christmas dinner for my favourite author, Ruskin Bond. The menu would have roasted lamb, curried red fowl, hillside strawberry short cake and plum pudding.
- The chef has been recently appointed as the head chef at Hyatt Centric, 
Bengaluru