Take Three UK Chefs ...

Chef Partha Mittra of the Bengal Dynasty in Shotton, Deeside

A former personal chef to the Prime Minister of India and highly respected master chef in the UK and native Kolkatan, Partha cuts an imposing figure on the culinary landscape.

After graduating in Hotel Management in Kolkata, Partha worked at the prestigious Taj Bengal Hotel for 17 years, progressing to the role of executive sous chef. So renowned were his skills that he was selected to become personal chef to the Prime Minister of India who was then Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Travelling to locations like Malaysia and Singapore and cooking for high profile politicians and celebrities including John Major and Hilary Clinton, Partha looks back on this episode in his career as a once in a lifetime opportunity: “It was a fantastic experience to be with the premier of a country,” he says, “Security was very high of course and all dishes had to be checked and of the best quality.”

After being head hunted from India, Partha came to the UK in 2001 where he became executive chef at the Bengal Dynasty in Flintshire and now divides his time between Britain and Kolkata where his wife, mother and daughter live.  His past creations at Curry Life Fusion Festivals have included spicy variations of traditional dishes including spicy flaked fish with sherry and walnut dressing, roasted red pepper soup and his signature dish of Chicken Tikka Lababdar.

Chef Abul Monsur of Taj Cuisine in Chatham, Kent

“Cooking has to come straight from your heart,” says executive Chef Abul Monsur.  If that sounds a bit like a soundbite it’s a philosophy that has never failed to achieve spectacular results for Abul.

Born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, Abul, who is otherwise known as Jewel, first came to the UK at the age of six and learnt his culinary skills in his mother’s kitchen and uncle’s restaurant in Hammersmith, London where he became captivated by the style and techniques of the Bangladeshi and Indian chefs who worked there.

As a young entrepreneur he opened Taj Cuisine ten years ago and has enjoyed considerable success ever since. Winner of the Medway Curry Chef of the Year Award in 2005 and Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers Outstanding Restaurateur of the Year award in 2010, Jewel has showcased his fusion dishes in five-star hotels and top restaurants across the world.

He says a lot of his culinary skills have stemmed from his experience at international food festivals where he has the opportunity to research and learn from other types of cuisine. His speciality fusion dishes include an interesting concoction of flavours including English Lamb Shank cooked on the bone with a hint of mint, aromatic spices, green peppers, coriander, ginger and mustard and Salmon Sharisha, marinated and shallow fried with herbs and spices.

“Techniques of cooking – especially of lamb and fish - are very different in Bangladesh and India resulting in two very different tastes,” says Jewel. “It will be interesting to see how my recipes translate.”

Chef Shahidur Rahman of The Raj Spice and Blue Spice, West Midlands

The embodiment of cool, calm and collected, Shahidur has been running his own restaurant since 1994, opening the highly successful Raj Spice in Rowley Regis in 1997. Also from Sylhet (as the majority of Bangladeshi chefs are) he worked his way up the hard way from the role of kitchen porter in the famous Taste of India restaurant to top-class executive chef.

An entrepreneur and property developer, Shahidur is also an astute ambitious businessman and a family man with four children. Having won several major awards at the Raj Spice including the British Curry Awards 2006-7 and a place in the UK’s Top 100 Restaurants, Shahidur has now spread his talents further afield by opening an up-market 60-seater venue, The Blue Spice restaurant on Stourbridge Road, Halesowen launched earlier this month.

In the meantime lucky diners of Dhaka will be able to sample his famous Fusion and Balti dishes such as Chicken Suka in a tamarind sauce, Chicken Erotica and Mint lamb Bhuna English style: “They’re unusual dishes, but then I’m an unusual chef,” he laughs.