You can't cook restaurant curry at home - official

[Ian S.]

That's what The Fabulous Baker Brothers told me on Channel 4 this evening, so it must be true. I didn't see the whole programme, but I was channel surfing and caught sight of a a couple of guys in a BIR kitchen so I naturally paused with interest.

"You can't cook restaurant curries at home, and here's why", one of them said.

1: You don't have a Tandoor at home. No, really, you don't. Indian restaurants use a Tandoor. And you don't have one. Apparently.
2: The dishes are cooked in a special blend of spices.
3: Each dish is cooked in a special sauce.

Phew! That's a relief. If only the Fabulous Baker Brothers had been around back in 2005 when I joined this site. They could have saved me an awful lot of time and effort.

However, all is not lost. Apparently you can make a nice curry if you use something called 'Garam Masala', and add your own choice of spices as you see fit. And coriander. Plus, I know someone who can give you a good price per kilo for your aluminium curry pans, so it's not all bad.

They then went on to cook a fish curry, but I switched over because I didn't want to miss the start of Celebrity Big Brother - not now that I know I can't cook restaurant curries at home.

The programme isn't yet available on 4OD as I type, but when it is, it'll be here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-fabulous-baker-brothers/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2

Call me optimistic, but I think I'll wait until I see the whole prog before I bin the contents of my spice cupboard. They might have a recipe for Spicy Baked Loaf, or something.

;D

[gary]

I think No. 2 was actually 'A secret Marinade'?

Their (the Baker Brothers') Fish curry looked pretty dire, talk about crunchy onions :|

Gary

[Ian S.]

Haha - yes, a 'secret marinade' - that was it. Was there anything in the restaurant footage that I missed before I tuned in?

I'm usually quite good at spotting cookery programmes that feature BIR in the schedules, but this one slipped under the radar.

Oh, and hi, everyone. I've been meaning to post again here for a while now, just to say I still read the forum every day, and have learned a lot from it over the years, and thanks. Couldn't really think of anything else to say - until the Fabulous Baker Brothers tried to put me straight!

Thought it might give you a chuckle. 

Ian
--

[abdulmohed2002]

As a chef, cooking Indian dishes both at home and in the restaurant; I have not seen any difference in regards to the taste. The difference is you have to try harder when at home as things are not set as they are in the restaurant kitchen. There are dishes you can cook which you do not have to put in the tandoor; chicken tikka; and tandoori chicken.

When I had worked at a restaurant in the beginning of 80s, the restaurants which did not have tandoor, had grills which they used instead.

I do not totally agree with their statement , I will be interested to watch the programme and then comment further.

Abdul

[Razor]

Hi Ian,

I actually heard the programme being advertised on local radio (Key 103 Manchester) and thought I'd V+ it.  Wished I had now, especially now they have put us all straight.  I only wished that I hadn't started to knock up a batch of base gravy, seeing as though the BIR's cook their curries with a "special" sauce

And welcome back ;D

Ray

[gary]

As a chef, cooking Indian dishes both at home and in the restaurant; I have not seen any difference in regards to the taste.

Abdul, I am going to treasure this statement of yours

[Graeme]

Could we see the Fabulous Baker Brothers
'secret fabulous marinade' in Tescos soon ?

[ELW]

Haha - yes, a 'secret marinade' - that was it. Was there anything in the restaurant footage that I missed before I tuned in?

I'm usually quite good at spotting cookery programmes that feature BIR in the schedules, but this one slipped under the radar.

Oh, and hi, everyone. I've been meaning to post again here for a while now, just to say I still read the forum every day, and have learned a lot from it over the years, and thanks. Couldn't really think of anything else to say - until the Fabulous Baker Brothers tried to put me straight!

Thought it might give you a chuckle. 

Ian
--

Hi Ian, check Wed 10th Jan BBC One Show, where a restauranteur claimed it was his belief that western cooks cannot replicate dishes cooked by asian chefs , citing nothing more than cultural reasons rather than cooking skills. In typical prime time tv format, they conducted a blind taste test by the restauranteur(pretty young looking & maybe not the best person to judge the food), by pitching a(22 year old) Asian chef against a (22 year old)young female college student, who we were told, had only cooked the dish twice before(sorry 2 x days exp). He picked the chef's dish as his preferred choice, although crediting the students effort as very good. Of note, the pro's dish was far more oily than her's, I'm also reluctant to use too much oil/fat/sugar/salt in my cooking, but I'm trying to change! : )

The point of the feature ,was to highlight situation faced by the immigration legislation changes, which it's claimed are providing a shortage of labour in a large industry. It's no coincidence that large organisations such as Ashoka Group, who would be well placed to be tipped off about the legislation change, have positioned themselves in the new altered market, which is probably funded partly or in whole by the taxpayer

Personally I was trying to see inside the pans : )

Regards
ELW

PS. The Fabulous Baker Brothers ... what next?

[Ian S.]

Hi ELW

Thanks for the heads-up on The One Show (Tuesday 10th). I watched it this morning on iPlayer - it's still available for a week or so, if anyone else is interested. What a great little film. I seem to remember a similar crisis many years ago, with an appeal for students to come forward to learn BIR cooking due to a shortage of Asian chefs in the country. I can't remember the name of the catering college offering places at the time, but there was an item on Breakfast TV about it. I remember wishing I was a college student, anyway.

Paul Bettany's enthusiasm for Aktar's venison dish in the studio afterwards reduced me to tears of laughter. Nice to hear Aktar say that, of course, it's perfectly possible for anyone to cook Indian Restaurant food given 'Time and passion'. But we know this.

PS. The Fabulous Baker Brothers ... what next?

'The Fabulous Bhuna Brothers' - I'd watch that! ;D

[ELW]

Caught a bit of the Baker boys the other week, they look like the Kray twins of Candleford  I'll check this one out...still on the topic of chancers, Jamie Oliver was in a bir kitchen on Jamie's Britain recently, & showed us a "classic" curry house dish being made.......stuffed peppers or aubergines!  ...in the background a real chef was checking what looked like a gravy in progress with his ladle  :

Trade secrets are seldom revealed to the masses on tv...it's taboo 

Regards
ELW