Sarvanan Subramani has cooked for royalty in the Arabian Peninsula and even prepared meals for movie stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
He said rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s best chefs and working the kitchen in fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong, Thailand, Kuwait, Mauritius and the Maldives has given him the best foundation and grounding on how to use local ingredients to excite guests’ taste buds.
“I cooked a whole range of vegetarian curries for Amitabh and he loved it, it’s about finding out what guest preferences are and maximising on that,” the 45-year-old Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay executive chef said.
“Working in 5-star hotels like the Grand Millennium in Thailand, Sheraton Grand Bangalore in India and Arraya Ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott in Kuwait City really helped me to sharpen my skills in terms of fine dining of international standard. “Along the way, I have learnt one very important lesson.
“Worked with different chefs and in different countries – you have to learn what the people want and study the guest make-up.
“I have been in Fiji for two months but I can already see the trend here.
“There are a lot of tourists coming in – so you have to make sure you have food that is familiar to them but also introduce them to some of the local foods as well.
“And then you have locals who live overseas who are returning home for a visit, so you must make sure you have food they are familiar with.
“So curries are a good menu item – the locals love it and a lot of Australians and New Zealanders also love curries too.
“Being a chef in an international resort is about working out a balance between giving people something different from what they would eat at home and giving them food they are familiar with.”
The Fiji Times met chef Sarvanan at the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay’s Sunset Series Thai themed event, Koh Samui. When asked what were some important things to consider when constructing menus for events such as Koh Samui, he said it was all about “balance”.
“Thailand has different regional cuisines – the city food is different to the food from the province. “So what I did with the menu was use the more contemporary Thai – not very spicy – it’s more northern Thailand and Bangkok cuisine.
“And this goes very well with the international market especially with Europeans, when you prepare food for any event you must strike a balance between presenting authentic taste unique to that country or part of the world, while taking into consideration your guest make up and whether you have a lot of families and children.
“It must be palatable for everybody.”
Chef Saravanan said two things excited him in the two months he has been in Fiji – firstly, the people and secondly, the food.
“Fiji is a nice country and the Fiji Marriott Resort is a good property.
“But what makes Fiji is the great culture and the wonderful and warm people, everyone smiles and makes you feel welcome, I have never seen this kind of culture anywhere else in the world. “And the traditional Fijian food is very healthy and tasty – it is cooked without oil and I love the earth oven, the lovo.
“As more resorts are established here and more local chefs come up, you will begin to see more traditional Fijian foods on the menu. So this is very exciting for Fiji and I am glad to be here to see this happen.”
