COOKING UP OPPORTUNITIES
From ‘Chopped Junior’ to cookbook, Fremont teen chef is making a name for himself
Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest impact. For Natraj Vairavan, it was a Boy Scout campout.
“We had to cook for ourselves,” said Vairavan, now 16. “I was just heating up frozen garlic bread and I think that’s where it all started. I wanted to continue that passion.”
He had been stung by the cooking bug.
With help and encouragement from his mother, and televised inspiration from Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay, Vairavan’s avocation was soon radiating as much heat as had that life-altering loaf of garlic bread.
Ultimately, watching on the sideline wasn’t enough. So in 2016, Vairavan, then 12, applied to be a contestant on Food Network’s “Chopped Junior.”
It wasn’t a lark. A preliminary application was followed by what he guesses were a dozen Skype interviews “just to make sure (representatives of the show could see) that I knew what I was doing.” The “Chopped Junior” reps said they would be in touch. And then: nothing.
After three months, the Fremont teen recalls, “I was sad. I gave up. And then finally one day I got a call from New York. They said, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been selected to be a part of the second season.’ Me and my family were all celebrating. So yeah, it was cool.”
Vairavan and his mother traveled to New York City, where “Chopped Junior” is filmed on the 13th floor of the Chelsea Market.
“I was there for almost a whole week,” he said. “The first day it was filming the intro for the episode, just getting a couple shots of me cooking, me doing math and basketball, because I said those were my passions.”
When the competition began, Vairavan came on strong with an appetizer of smoked chicken salad with pickled red onion crostini,
“I was just heating up frozen garlic bread and I think that’s where it all started. I wanted to continue that passion.” — Natraj Vairavan, teen chef, about how his interest in cooking developed
juniper berries, star anise and nutmeg. For his entree, he chose goat curry, jasmine rice and fried turnips. And for dessert: caramel apple pie with cheddar cheese ice cream.
Alas, he finished second among the three contestants. He said portion sizes were his downfall.
“I didn’t put enough on the plate,” he said. “We were racing for time and everything.”
Sad, but undeterred, Vairavan ultimately dug into another culinary project. His new Kindle cookbook — “Natraj on a Plate, A
Cookbook for Beginners: Recipes for Teenagers/young Adults From A Chopped Jr. Alum” ($3) — was published in late March.
“I did all the writing myself,” he said. “The design, I had my friend Aryan Sanan help me with that.”
His recipes are as different as ratatouille and fried tofu with green beans. There also are nods to his Indian heritage.
But press him on his favorite recipes and he says, “It’s really basic, but it’s pasta. You can use it in any application, any dish ranging from easy to difficult — pasta with marinara sauce, pasta with pesto, pasta with Alfredo.”
The coronavirus pandemic and sheltering-in-place order has isolated people, including some of Vairavan’s friends. Guess how he is trying to help.
“I went on Instagram Live and I would give cooking lessons that way,” he said, “because with the ongoing quarantine here in California, it’s really boring for everybody. Normally, they go to school and see their friends. That’s not an option anymore. I just like to keep them less bored.”