A TREAT FROM DOWN UNDER

Shraddha Kamdar spends time with with former MasterChef Australia judges Chefs GARY MEHIGAN and GEORGE CALOMBARIS and food critic and writer MATT PRESTON and comes away with a newfound ability to adapt to cooking, and have fun while doing it

- Shraddha Kamdar

Time flies when you're chatting away with them, no matter what you're talking about the afternoon I meet them, the conversation is divided between cricket, food and how much one can talk. As I sit across from former MasterChef Australia judges Chef Gary Mehigan and food critic and writer Matt Preston, I am pleasantly surprised to be asked about myself - what I do, what I like. The conversation starts on the note of a shared love for cooking, and how the food scene in India has boomed over the last decade with the easy availability of ingredients, and with taste buds being exposed to new flavours every day.

"I know what you mean," says Gary, introducing the term 'Gujaratified' into the conversation. As an almost instinctive answer to the quizzical look on Matt's face, he says, "I heard it on my last India trip to Gujarat," one on which he did not find the need to have a drink (it is a dry state, after all!) or eat a meat dish. He was satisfied with all the vegetarian fare on offer. "It means that they will take any dish and make it their own - with the addition of sugar, or cheese, or anything that suits their taste buds." he smiles.