City’s supper club takes inspiration from cookbooks

If you love watching food shows, you’re sure to have come across American chef Samin Nosrat’s show Salt Fat Acid Heat, wherein she offers the perspective that the four elements — salt, fat, acid and heat — are important for good cooking, while giving an insight into her Iranian roots. Now, imagine her dishes from the show and the book coming to life before our eyes, right here in Chennai. That’s exactly what city chef Namrata Sundaresan and Suneethi Raj, the co-founder of LocalXO (which curates food experiences), had in mind for ‘The Cookbook Series’ of their supper club.

“Namrata and I have curated around 25 pop-up dinners together and were keen to explore a different concept. We thought of trying something new by attempting food from cookbooks authored by renowned chefs. The first edition of The Cookbook Series on February 28 at our supper club at Bungalow12 will feature Persian cooking based on popular cookbooks that explore the cuisine. Since the city has several people who appreciate good food, these dinners will allow them to have conversations on food techniques, their favourite chefs and the cookbooks,” says Suneethi.

Namrata, who is popular in the city for her cheeses, calls her cooking style rustic. “I’m a self-taught chef and I draw a lot of inspiration for my cooking from cookbooks. I have dined at Israeli-English chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi’s restaurants in London and have been a huge fan of his cooking style. So, when we were thinking of doing a new series for the pop-ups, I was keen to draw from some of my favourite cookbooks,” she asserts. Besides Samin’s Salt Fat Acid Heat, the upcoming Persian edition will also include food recreated from Yotam’s Simple and British-Iranian chef Sabrina Ghayour’s books Persiana and Sirocco.

Despite the mushrooming of several restaurants in the city, pop-ups like these are helpful in helping diners bond, points out Suneethi. “One cannot easily find niche cuisines like these at restaurants. The intimate setting of 15-30 people also makes the dinner an experiential one, allowing interactions with the chef, as well as among the diners. The focus will remain on simple cooking using locally-sourced ingredients, while showcasing global techniques,” she elaborates. The series hopes to explore cookbooks on other cuisines as well in future.