Few chefs have demonstrated the talent to execute risk in the Top Chef kitchen like Rasika Venkatesa. Her pretzel-barley cake with honey mustard sabayon and her daal quenelle have been highlights of the season, during which she emerged as a fan favorite.
Rasika stops by Pack Your Knives to talk about her desire to reinvent cooking from Tamil Nadu, which she recently visited on a months-long food tour. She recounts her trip, which included convincing village fishermen to take her back to their homes to cook snapper with their families. She also shares her experiences on Top Chef with little formal training, despite rising from station cook to Chef de Cuisine in three years.