Davika

Davika on the Hot Seat

1. What inspired you to be a chef?

I always loved to eat growing up, even as a baby – that’s what my mother and her stories say! One of my first words as a baby was ‘more’ referring to wanting my mom’s food every hour of the day. Since food and its flavors fascinated me, I knew I want to be a chef. But I found my true passion and appreciation of my specialty – Thai food when I moved away from my home. I missed it so much that I started recreating a few of my mom’s recipes and everyone around me knew that was my strength. 

2. What is it about Thai food that you love the most?

Thai food is very different from other cuisines around the world because of its vast use of contrasting flavors. All the layered flavors like sweet, spicy, citrus and pulpy flavors make each dish feel completely unique and it sets it apart from all the different cuisines around the world. And also, if you have noticed Thai food is healthy with a lot of veggies and herbs added to it. If you’re a health nut with a love for food, you know which one to choose. 

3. What is your signature dish? What do people love about it?

My signature dish would be Thai green curry. This is one of the most loved and ordered curries around the world.  While the red curry is hotter than green, it is more versatile, while green is unique in its flavors. The reason behind people enjoying this dish is that its rich and finger-licking taste can never be explained in words, it is that good! In short, we have a list of reasons – bold flavors, exotic Thai ingredients, cashews, and peanuts, tasty chicken or prawns, and authentic Thai preparation. 

4. You have been named Asia’s Best Female for your well-defined traditional Thai Cuisine. How do you feel about it?

Well, thank you! In these times, people will recall traditional wears is when you have a festival coming up. I mean, it’s good to celebrate it the traditional way, but why wait for the festivals? That’s why I want people to know about Thai traditions. This has been recognized and I have been awarded too, which I’ll be grateful for every day.  To stand out from the crowd, I tell others to be traditional. You need not have any money, but that special social standing, that’s all. 

5. What advice do you have for aspiring chefs?

• Work for your passion: If you love cooking and you want to try your hands on it, go for it! But work for it. It might be tiresome to work for longer hours but believe me, it’ll pay off. Once you get the hang of it, being a chef can be a real buzz and a highly rewarding career. 
• No personal time: You may miss out on a lot of things if you’re a chef. The culinary world requires a lot of attention from you. So appreciate it when you get the time. You’ll always want to catch up and see what’s going on around the world. 
• Your goals for your career will change: When I started cooking, I wanted to work on every cuisine possible. Once I knew, Thai cuisine is what I always wanted to focus on, everything changed.