Chef’s secrets From food writer Roopa Gulati

The chef’s secrets that made me a BETTER COOK

What can home cooks learn from the professionals? Roopa Gulati explains how her time as a chef has made her a smarter cook – and why her kitchen must-have is baking parchment

Having grown up in a small village near the Lake District, I conquered northern comfort food and left Cumbria at 18 to train at London’s Le Cordon Bleu school, before heading to India and a job in Delhi’s luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel.

I shared the kitchen with visiting chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants and regional Indian cooks, plus apprentices and artisans. Each of us brought something to the table – a little-known style of cooking, a new skill, a dish for sampling. And it’s this shared experience that has shaped the way I cook for my family today.

After a trial test in the Taj kitchen, my frst assignment was to make lemon cheesecake for 1,000 guests. I’d made the recipe countless times in Cumbria using my mum’s sturdy Kenwood mixer. So, after increasing the ingredient quantities a hundred-fold and grating the zest of what seemed like a thousand lemons, mum’s cheesecake recipe morphed into a triumph of industrial dimension.

However, I realised that ingredients behave differently when combined in big quantities. For my cheesecake, I ended up using threequarters of the lemon rind indicated in the recipe. The same goes for spices – a little goes a really long way.

Chefs value great-quality utensils: pans with metal handles that won’t melt in the oven, roasting tins that won’t warp on the hob, and sturdy strainers that don’t buckle under pressure. If you want to shop like a chef, focus on basic items that will last for years rather than following fads. Choose items for their practicality and durability rather than their looks.

I still use the original knife set I bought more than three decades ago. The blades have weathered well, considering they’ve been used in hotel kitchens, demonstration studios for TV shows, and in my own home. While a curved grapefruit knife hasn’t seen the light of day for 20 years, my Microplane grater is a key bit of kit. Many chefs prefer long, narrow graters rather than squat ones. They’re so much easier to handle, and quickly transform garlic and ginger into paste.

Despite my attachment to gadgets, baking parchment is my most valued kit – and not just for lining cake tins. As Culinary editor at the Royal Opera House, I marvelled at chefs plating perfectly cooked fsh fllets, seared in a hot frying pan. Each fllet had a glistening, unbroken and crisp skin – something that had eluded me for years. The secret? All it takes is a sturdy frying pan with a rectangle of baking parchment laid in it, a drizzle of olive oil, and the fsh placed on top. The parchment stops the skin from sticking to the pan (but don’t confuse it with greaseproof paper, as this won’t work!).

I recently catered for my daughter’s pre-wedding afternoon tea – an occasion I wanted to be absolutely perfect. Every dish, from the samosas to the Dundee cake, was inspired by the chefs I’ve worked with, favourite recipes – and my mother’s home cooking. Just as in a professional kitchen, I typed up my timeplan so that I would be organised, on time and calm. My experience meant that I enjoyed the tea as much as the guests.

Roopa, pictured centre working at Delhi’s Taj Mahal Hotel, has collected top tips for griddling fsh and preparing spinach

M Y TOP TIPS

1Be super-organised. Professional chefs read through recipes a few times before starting. Then they prep ahead, grouping their ingredients before they start cooking.

2Create a menu like a chef. Prioritise your time and kitchen equipment. If the main dishes are hot, include a couple served at room temperature, and a make-ahead dessert.

3Chefs can’t afford waste. Transform a glut of herbs (chives at this time of year) into purée by blitzing with warm olive oil. Herb oil can dress up leftover roast chicken in a salad, and keeps in the fridge for a fortnight.

4Cooking in bulk, and the need to prep ahead, make life easier in a restaurant kitchen, and will help at home too. I make big-batch recipes and freeze extra helpings of back-up meals – soups, stocks, casseroles and lots of pastry. A well-stocked freezer is a thing of beauty!

5Don’t splash the cash on a full knife set. A good chef’s knife with a 20cm blade is great for dicing and chopping, while a paring knife works for smaller fruit and vegetables.

6When baking puff pastry open tarts, heat a second underlying baking tray to ensure a crisp, golden base.

7Top-notch veg. When preparing baby spinach as a side dish, heat a sturdy pan and wilt the leaves without oil, then scoop them out and toss in hot olive oil. This prevents watery liquid gathering around the leaves when they’re plated.

8Silicone sheets are a fantastic investment – meringues and biscuits glide off them after baking.

Roopa is a food writer, cookbook author, TV consultant and presenter