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Briefly a Mumbaikar, Colombian chef Pablo Naranjo Agular talks about eating around the continent for a newly launched web series
Pablo Naranjo Agular uses a selfie stick to shoot in Kuala Lumpur
A Mumbai flavour
So in a world that's rife with perceived negativity, Agular tells us that everyone's been unexpectedly helpful at every turn on his travels. But the seeds of the show were sowed right here in the city. This is where the chef spent three years practising his trade in a Colaba café. His last days in Mumbai, in fact, are the subject of the first three episodes that released just days ago. In them, the Colombian national gives viewers a foreigner's perspective on the butter overload at Tardeo's iconic Sardar Pav Bhaji, the oasis of peace that Banganga Tank in Walkeshwar is right in the middle of a hectic city, and how honking is more a way of life than a necessity. He tells us, "India will always remain a wonderful, chaotic dream for me. It's structured in a way I don't understand. But it works. And that makes you question yourself. If you look at a foreign country only through the lens of the structure you understand, then your worldview is myopic. I remember telling my father that landing in India was like landing on Mars. But three years of growth here have made me more accepting and less judgmental."
He also says, however, that while he was in the country, he didn't pay too much attention to the rest of the continent. Asian food is one of his obsessions. But his knowledge about it was limited. So he decided to take a year off to travel before returning home to Colombia ("My home right now is a suitcase," he says) and that's when the idea for this web show came about. Agular thus did the necessary homework. He got a small team together. Finances were also sorted out. And the chef finally took off a month and a half ago with Swaraj Srivastav, a young filmmaker who's helping him shoot the series.
Muddy waters
Now, he's looking to add to the adventures he's already had. These include the aforementioned trip to the beach. What happened is that Agular was on his way to one near Kuala Lumpur, recommended on the Internet. But when he reached there, he found out that it was, in his own words, "sh*t". He says, "So we made our way to another beach that was filled with rocks. I climbed one of them and when I landed on the other side, I found myself stuck in two feet of mud and clay. I had to be dragged out to escape. But my slippers got stuck in the mud. I then had to sink my hands deep in to retrieve them. And I'll never forget the sense of achievement I felt when I finally managed to do it."
The point is, travel is such an enriching experience that you don't really have to reach the stars for it to be fulfilling. There's a feeling of satisfaction even if you wind up with a handful of mud, quite literally.
The chef with a 20-kg tuna at Sassoon Dock in Mumbai
Snap judgment
In the three episodes that are already out, Agular comes across as someone who's clearly a bit of a newbie when it comes to hosting food-themed travel shows. But that's not a bad thing. It gives him an endearing quality since he stays true to who he is. Such that he seems like an amiable person even when he's being sarcastic. The videos are short (possibly because those no longer than 10 minutes get more traction on YouTube). But he still manages to cover subjects that are sometimes straightforward — such as what goes into a vada pav — and sometimes revealing, like how the fishermen in Sassoon Dock harbour certain superstitions. A word needs to also be said here about Swaraj Srivastav's camera work. The visuals are beautiful and the editing is slick despite its DIY aesthetic (there is a point when the subtitles include an apology when there is a slight microphone malfunction). So while there is still room for improvement, the entire series seems to be heading in a positive direction.
Rating: 3/5
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