FROM THE TRIDENT, BHUBANESWAR.....01

TALENTED TASTEMASTER

  

Presently I am staying in the Trident, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Yesterday for the dinner, I had been to the restaurant of this hotel. The one and only F&B venue of this hotel. The name of this restaurant is "Restaurant". Here, I had the good fortune of meeting a talented Tastemaker. 56 yrs old Chef Prafulla Nayak impressed me with the delicious Oriya Thali. The speciality of this Thali being it encompasses Oriyan dishes only. All oriyan. Authentic.  Home style preparation. The beauty is that he had the patience to prepare the dishes without tomato in it, as I had requested like that. I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.

Now, let me introduce the Chef. Odisha born Prafulla Nayak has been working with this hotel since 1986. One of the senior most member of the Chef Community. Very patient and composed at work. Silent worker who happens to be the backbone of the Banquet Kitchen. Capable of dishing out the food in no time. Very quick footed.

Studied up to Seventh Standard; father has been a poor farmer; the poverty at home forced him to take up the job in the tandoor section at Kolkata in a small restaurant. He was just seventeen at that time. He spent ten years in Kolkata, working in many a small restaurants as a tandoor boy.

His life saw the transformation when he joined Trident in 1986. "At that time, it was Oberoi Bhuvaneswar" recalls Chef Prafulla Nayak.

He is equally good in both Western as well as Eastern cuisine of Odisha. The Eastern has more seafood based meat dishes, which are rustic flavored and spicy; while Western is more of stews and yogurt based dishes because of the extreme climatic conditions.

Remember: In 2006, he has been sent for a training program in Delhi. Oberoi Delhi had hosted all the Chefs from all over India and abroad. There, Chef Prafulla presented three seafood dishes, and impressed everybody, as the dishes have been simply delicious.

"He is very strong in Oriya cuisine. But he is equally good in Bengali, South India, Punjabi, and Rajasthani cuisines" informs Suprakash Tripathy, The Executive Chef, The Trident Bhubaneswar.

Prafulla is married to Soudhamini, a homemaker. His eldest son Jyoti Prakash Nayak is working in a software company. Second son Rajesh Nayak is a commerce graduate. Youngest daughter Alisa Nayak has a Bsc degree.

Text and Pics: R. Kesava Mallia, in Bhubaneswar