HTLS speaker Gaggan Anand: Chef who made the world fly to Bangkok for Indian food

Gaggan Anand is the chef who has made the world fly to Bangkok for Indian food. He’s made Indians realise that dhokla can look like snow, that kulfi can be creamy without cream, and that dal cooked in a test tube can taste better than anything your mother made. He’s shown that an Indian-born chef can get the world to eat out of the palm of his hand.

If nothing is what it seems in Anand’s world, it’s because he doesn’t play by the rules. Raised in Kolkata, he moved to Thailand in 2007, but eventually hopped on a plane to Spain to train at the Michelin star restaurant, El Bulli, under Ferran Adrià. The internship didn’t come easy; Anand called 18 times asking for an opportunity before he finally got one. In 2010, he opened ‘Gaggan’ in Bangkok, using science and modern technology to create modernist and progressive re-interpretations of traditional recipes. The restaurant has topped the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for three years. At pop-ups in India, his 12-course menus, priced at close to ₹20,000, sell out quickly. In Bangkok, his very popular Emoji Menu consists a list of 22 emojis, each representing a dish and adding an element of mystery to the meal. And on his 16-course, Best of Gaggan tasting menu, you can also try Viagra – except his version comes with freshly shucked oysters, yuzu-spiced apples, horseradish ice cream and lemon air.