Chennai
My day would begin with buying milk each morning and later fetching groceries that my mother required,” reminisces. Later, having entered the MasterChef US kitchens for Season 10, which was aired in 2019, Subha continued to churn out several winning dishes that made him one of the top five contestants of the highly popular show. Along with a fellow contestant on the show, Noah Sims, who also made it to the top five on the show before facing elimination, Subha is now back in his homeland, Tamil Nadu, to re-explore the culinary heritage of the land.
“It has been an amazing journey getting back to my home town. When I was planning to visit Chennai, I asked Noah, who became a good friend during the filming of MasterChef, if he wanted to join. He readily agreed and I am glad to explore the region with him, and also to be able to cook with him for a good cause. I have known Vidya Shankar of the Relief Foundation in Chennai, which is bringing quality Montessori education to rural kids. I wanted to give back through my cooking, so we decided to cook for over 100 families from Gummidipoondi using locally-grown ingredients,” recollects Subha, speaking to DT Next.
Subha and Noah took their MasterChef experience and finesse to present children and adults from Gummidipoondi a meal of vegetarian gumbo (a stew popular in Louisiana of the US), rice and salad. “It was exciting to make a vegetarian gumbo out of local vegetables,” Subha shares, adding, “I believe that food is thy medicine and medicine is thy food. Using right herbs and ingredients, I have been able to reverse my type-2 diabetes.”
The duo also worked with the staff at the Gossip Bistro on East Coast Road to present a MasterChef-inspired meal to city’s foodies. “Noah and I brought cooking and plating techniques that we learned during our time on the show. I specialise in Indo-Cajun flavours, so we included a jambalaya and gumbo on the menu,” adds Subha. Noah, however, admits to have fallen in love with idli, sambar and masala dosa. “It has been a lovely food pilgrimage for me. I’ve tried several dishes and have been loving the flavours. We will be going on a tour across the state to Kodaikanal to cook a meal there and will be exploring food in and aroundKaraikudi,” he remarks.
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