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Tasty, tongue-in-cheek

Sudha Menon

When the Tiger Lilys, a group of Pune power-women headed by socialite-publisher Sabina Sanghvi, invited India's best-known chef Sanjeev Kapoor for a tete-e-tete recently, they had no idea they would get such a mouthful to chew on.

The articulate Kapoor, with his ready smile and quick wit, charmed the ladies with his funda on everything from preventing a cake from sagging in the middle to the merits of microwave cooking.

What's the trick to get difficult children to eat, one mother asked. Kapoor, author of three best-selling cook-books and a TV cook-show veteran, swore by presentation which, he said, was the second-most important thing after taste. Package your dishes di fferently each time, he advised.

Kapoor should know, considering he himself is a good example of good packaging. A chef in one of Mumbai's oldest five-star hotels, the simple boy from Ambala today has a fan-following spilling across geographical borders... expat Indians even log onto hi s Web site to download recipes for special occasions.

What about hubbies who want food cooked just as Mama does, asked one distraught young woman. ``Change the son,'' quipped Kapoor. The audience was in splits...

How about getting indifferent husbands to cook? ``You should have got him to this chat session... he could see for himself how much attention a guy who can cook gets from the fairer sex. Rest assured, he will always do the cooking!''.