Meet Chef Doma Wang, a pioneering Tibetan chef who is taking the culinary world by storm with her authentic and innovative Tibetan dishes. In an exclusive conversation with Deccan Chronicle, Chef Doma shared her thoughts on Tibetan cuisine, innovation, and empowering women in the culinary industry.
Chef Doma, how has your Tibetan heritage influenced your culinary style?
As a chef whose roots are in Tibet, I have always been influenced by my heritage. Tibetan food has had a signature feature of always letting the ingredients shine. We implement simple techniques such as steaming, boiling, stir-frying, or pan roasting; and I continue to leverage these techniques for my dishes.
You are a strong advocate for empowering women in the culinary industry. Can you share some of your experiences and challenges as a female chef, and how you are working to create opportunities for other women in the field?
When I started off my culinary journey 32 years ago, there weren’t many women chefs in the industry. It wasn’t easy, and I felt I needed to prove myself. And in a few years, I did. When you know you are the master of your cuisine and that no one does it like you then, there is no looking back. Sachiko and Manisha are a part of my core team, and we employ as many women as possible and try to get them to be financially independent. Many ladies who started in the housekeeping department are now cooking in the kitchen. It makes me so happy to see them turn into confident cooks and bakers.
Your restaurant, Blue Poppy Thakali is known for its authentic Tibetan cuisine. What are some of the most innovative regional flavours and techniques that you are excited to share with your guests?
Our restaurant, Blue Poppy Thakali is indeed well known for its authentic Tibetan food, and we take pride in saying that no one makes it better than us. I am excited to showcase my heritage through my food. Momos are being served everywhere. But how many know what a real momo is? That’s what I want to share with our guests. At the Power Play event at the Ritz-Carlton Pune and Bengaluru, I served up steamed momos in variations of mutton with mutton soup and squash momos with veggie soup. Our signature hot sauce was a hit side pairing. Other Tibetan dishes we serve at Blue Poppy Thakali are Ting Momo (fluffy steamed buns) Shapta (stir-fried meat) Thukpa ( noodle soup) Phakthuk (conch-shaped hand-made pasta in soup) Thenthuk (hand-pulled noodles) and of course the famous momos.
Steamed Momos (Photo by arrangement)
The ‘Power Play’ concept is a unique aspect of your culinary approach. Can you explain the significance of this concept and how it influences your menu creations and cooking techniques?
Masters of Marriott Bonvoy for the longest time, has been curating unforgettable culinary moments with maestros from across the globe. The Power Play is yet another very exciting concept that they have brought to the fore by uniting India’s leading women chefs to serve one course each, like a music symphony. I am very grateful to Culinary Culture and Masters of Marriott Bonvoy for including me in this initiative in both Pune and Bengaluru. Through this, I have a chance to bring my Momos with signature fiery sauce to a new audience.
As a recipient of the Best Regional Cuisine award and Best Chef award, what do you believe sets your cuisine apart?
We serve Himalayan food in its true form only, adding to it a small twist here and there to ensure better taste or texture if and when required. As mentioned, we only serve what we eat. If we can’t eat it, we cannot serve our customers. That’s the mantra coined by my firstborn and business partner, Chef Sachiko Seth and that’s what sets our food apart.
What’s your approach to staying true to your culinary roots while innovating and evolving your menu?
I try to cook food like it’s always been in Tibetan homes, it helps that my father, who has been my inspiration and mentor, was an excellent cook and made sure he made his own innovations to enhance the taste of the food. I keep doing what he did and have been successful so far.
How do you see Tibetan cuisine evolving in the global culinary landscape, and what role do you hope to play in promoting and preserving the traditional flavours and techniques of your heritage?
When one talks about Tibetan food, one’s knowledge is only limited to momos or thukpa, as I feel they are popular in various other forms like xiaoxi in China, Mandu in Korea, gyoza in Japan or pierogies in Russia and noodles soup of various kinds. To be honest, we Tibetans are less than 1% of the total global population now and if it’s left to us to promote it in a global setting then it’s going to take a while. By collaborating with Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture, I have been able to plate and serve Tibetan cuisine to a much larger stage! It is my endeavour to preserve my culture and heritage through its food and present the food as it is and how we have it at home because the OG momos now are losing their identity, what with the wild innovations people are coming up with for example afghani momo, tandoori momo, etc. Though innovation is good and appreciated all around the world, I also want people to know what a real momo is and so for the last 32 years I have been doing my bit and will continue to do so.