Molecular gastronomy in Kyrgyzstan - one more reason to travel/ tourism in Kyrgyzstan
Good afternoon Good afternoon, we have an appointment for an interview with the Chef. Sure, come in Hello dear friends! Today our interview is going to be with an amazing person - Ravil. Can you please tell us about yourself? Hello, my name is Ravil Tenishev, I am a Chef and co-owner of the restaurant “The Chef”. In short - I love cooking. Could you describe yourself in a couple of words? I am a perfectionist and a very good and kind person. Can you name any 3 achievements that you are proud of? First of all, it is the family, then my profession, my restaurant, and third is the future, what is going to be with us and with our restaurant in around 5 years. I think it will be success.
What do you like to do in your free-time? There is not much of it actually, for instance right now is my free-time. I’d say my profession is my free-time. Any advices for the new cooks? Of course. May just one - what should they start from? One advice is not going to be enough. For beginners, I would say that it is very important to understand if it is your thing.
If you love cooking. If you do, then you will need like 90% of will and some tenacity. Which traits must a Chef have? Discipline. You are leading a whole team; it is very important how you show yourself. Your team will repeat after you. Should he have a sense of humor? Everywhere an always the sense of humor is important.
Is there any motto that you go by? Not really. I am just always trying to finish what I have started. What is your dream? I am actually a dreamer. But for the closest future, as you may know there are Michelin guides that came to Russia and I hope that someday they will visit Kyrgyzstan. We are trying to advance our culinary, so my dream is to raise Kyrgyzstan on a very high level in the gastronomical sphere. Do you consider yourself to be role model? Personally, I do not consider myself as one, but many cooks do and they openly state it.
I am always trying to help the young cooks that send me messages by sharing some recipes with them, or some secrets, to actually put them on the right path. Do they say why did they choose you as their role model? Of course, I guess it is all about our dishes, the discipline, the process of preparation. We have shown everyone a new way of eating. When did you start working in this sphere? Since the 9th grade. I have decided that it is my thing since the school times. I did not enjoy learning as much as I enjoyed cooking in a kitchen. How exactly did you come to it? What inspired you? I can't say that it happened in one moment. I liked watching how my mom cooks from the very childhood. If you can do it, if you love doing it, if there is success in it, then it is your thing. It happened to me, I started cooking, people liked it, said I did good, in such a small age and that was it, I was in it. What is the secret of the best dish on your menu? Thats a secret.
Yes, it is a secret, you are right, how can I share it if it is a secret? But actually, it is not an ingredient, it is love and will. I have a very interesting team. They all love cooking. That is a secret of our dishes. Are there any lifehacks for the kitchen? Most probably there are. I think it is more automatic, you may not even notice doing it? Yeah, we just adapt in general. there are some rules that you have to follow in cooking, but we bring in slight changes, I guess you can call it a life-hack. Do you like fast-food? I love fast-food. I cook fast food. Our last question - your favorite product that you can use in many dishes? I love fish in general, so I would say salmon or trout. Alright, can you prepare something using salmon or trout right now? Sure, no problem.
What are we cooking? As I have promised, it is going to be a salad with mild cured salmon. What will we be needing for it? We have prepared grapefruits with oranges, molecular spheres, caviar, some greens and our own creams. So, as you are preparing it, may I ask several short questions? Sure I became a cook because It was very interesting for me The worst dish that you have prepared was Shorpo The most delicious thing that I ate in my life Wonton I hate cooking...
Hard question, I love cooking What do you love? If we are talking about restaurants, then I love getting the emotions from my guests - it shows how good was the dish. I am inspired by Cooks that create and do, international or Russian cooks, there are many of them The best ingredient The best ingredient is the one of a high quality The most important meal during the day If you did not eat anything as 12am, then of course it is breakfast. But if you had your dinner at 12 am, then it is going to be your late lunch. My favorite dish from the childhood Honey-cake To be a chef is It is awesome After work I.. Either I go home or stay at work and prepare something for the following day If I did not become a chef, who would I be Probably a builder For the ones who want to cook at home They need to have a will and products of a high quality The most frequent delusions of the chef’s work I do not know actually. It is hard, maybe some think that it is easy? Well actually it is easy if you love what you are doing. So, I do not know The first dish that I have prepared or helped in preparation I think it was oromo. At home, I was small. What would you take along with you to a deserted island? My wife If you need to have a fast snack Well, I hope you will be lucky enough to find a tasty bruschetta, if you have enough time, then stop by “The Chef” restaurant and have this salad because it has been around 5 minutes and it is ready.
What is your favorite dish? I love manti with pumpkin. In a week I have I have a day off every single day and at the same time those are my working days. I was lucky to get a job that I love so it is pleasure to come to work. In your free time you I am almost done, there are only decorations left, everything is edible. There is paste from cedar nuts, we add some caviar, some sweet and sour sauce. The last step is to fume it with an aspen smoke. In 15 seconds, the salmon will taste like it was smoked. Well, it looks amazing already.
So, the salad is ready, let us try some. It looks amazing and delicious at the same time Guys, this is amazing, really delicious enjoy your meal and let us enjoy ours! Do you like to travel? I love travelling. I have not been to many countries, but I love it because once I get to another country, the first place I go to is the local bazaar. Even in Almaty I see a lot of different products. Just by walking through a shop, I could already imagine a small menu for some restaurant. In our case, unfortunately we do not have such a big variety yet, but it would be awesome. From the places that you have been to, which country did you like the most? The UAE. I have tried those really awesome wontons in Dubai. I have never tried anything as good. It was not even a Michelin restaurant; however, I have been to several of them, and they were okay. But those wontons will stay in my heart forever. Apart from Dubai I loved Almaty due to the products.
Your most favorite spot in Kyrgyzstan If it is summer, then Chunkurchak - Supara 2, if winter - Karakol And if it is spring? Then it is a walk in an uptown park of Bishkek Why do you like Chunkurchak and Supara 2? It is an amazing place, the food there is really good. The cottages are very comfortable and I love horse-riding, so if you go there for a weekend, you will enjoy your food, have some good sleep and plus have something to do in the meanwhile. What do you like to do outside the city? Well, I imagine a picnic with my family Snowboard or ski? I have never tried riding a snowboard, I chose ski even though I am really good at riding a skateboard since my childhood. So once I raise my level in skiing, I guess I will try riding a snowboard and then I will be able to say for sure. How often do tourists visit your restaurant? When we just started, it was 2013, 95% of our visitors were tourists. Right now, due to covid of course not that frequent, I would say 50/50. They like our place. Some even come due to recommendations. It feels very good.
What do they usually order? Well depends on the will of the guest actually. We are trying to catch the vibe of our guest and based on what he wants, recommend him the best dish. What can you say about tourism in Kyrgyz Republic? I would like to thank the people who attract the tourist to our country. Because there is a lot to do with tourism in our country, a lot of thigs that should be worked on which is why I would like to wish success to everyone because it is really good for the country, the people and even us. Thank you very much for the interview. It was very interesting to get to know you. Wish you success in your business. Thank you very much.
2021-12-01 07:32
