Chef's tale: The papaya's pursuit for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

In Chef Satish Arora's book "Sweets and Bitter's: Tales from a Chef's Life". A detailed chronicle of the chef's frantic pursuit of finding perfect ripe papayas for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the the very important Commonwealth meeting in 1983. The incident is vividly recounted of the chef rushing through the streets of Goa in search of the perfect papaya and getting past security, offering a delicious peak into the culinary escapade.

New Delhi: In an anecdote recalled in chef Satish Arora’s book "Sweets and Bitters: Tales from a Chef's Life". The pursuit for finding a perfect squishy papaya for the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1983. It remains a flavourful anecdote recounted from his book. In the detailed chronicle, Chef Aroara vividly recalls how the Prime Minister's request for a perfect papaya for breakfast during the CHGM retreat in the Taj Hotel, Goa left the staff and the hotel in chaos.

The 48-hour retreat hosted 40 countries, which gathered in Goa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Also branding Goa as a potential tourist destination on the world map. Chef Satish Arora and his team were tasked with the honour of preparing lavish buffets featuring an extensive array of dishes for the dignitaries. Amidst all that came a particular request from Gandhi for papayas every morning for breakfast.

The task was challenging because the demand for papayas came during November, that, too, in Goa. Anticipating this, Arora arranged for raw papayas from Mumbai and wrapped them in paper to accelerate the ripening process of the fruit. Unfortunately, a mishap occurred on the first day of the service as one of the staff left a couple of papayas wrapped in paper for, too, long! Sending the kitchen staff into a manic frenzy, knowing that Gandhi and her guests were just moments away from arriving at the breakfast table. Being a star chef he could never bring himself to serve soggy overripe papayas to the Prime Minister! And was adamant about serving her the absolute best.

Determined to serve the Prime minister her desired choice of fruit, the chef embarked on an epic adventure to procure the ripe fruit racing through the streets of Goa in a police jeep, escorted by uniformed men to procure a dozen of them. It was a funny yet exhilarating experience for him because he felt like a warlord, who in reality was just looking for humble papayas.

The actual challenge began back at the hotel when the Security and the Special Protection Group wouldn’t let Arora pass with the fruits, even after desperately requesting them to let go, they did so only after subjecting each fruit to inspection by looking for explosives by puncturing several holes in every fruit.

Despite all the challenges, Arora with his culinary experience and finesse was able to serve the distinguished guests perfectly plated ripe papaya, a saga that is memorialised in his book “Sweets and Bitters, tales from a Chef's Life”. Published by Bloomsbury India, "Sweets and Bitters", priced at Rs 599, Unveils culinary tales and delves into the most well-guarded food secrets of celebrities and world leaders, and in the process preserving culinary landmarks in India.