Getting a Seince of gourmet

He’s from the gorgeous city of Angers, in the West of France. A lover of nature, he’d often cook with his grandfather. These experiences instilled a passion for cooking in him and he decided to embark on a culinary journey. Meet Chef Alexandre Seince, who’s currently dishing up delectable fare as the executive chef of Café Noir. Sharing his gastronomical tale, Alexandre says, “I studied the kitchen for four years and worked in different kinds of restaurants in France. I then headed to Denmark for two years and returned to my home country and worked on a luxury boat for a while.”

Having moved to Bengaluru last year, the zealous chef is enjoying his new adventure in India. “Indian food is full of flavour and the products used in cooking here are hardly known in France. Unfortunately, the food here is too spicy for me, but you have to make sacrifices if you want to taste good food. Some of my favourite dishes are the Galouti Indian kebab which I discovered in a restaurant and the kulfi which I relished in Goa,” he says.

Ask him to throw more light on French cuisine and he replies, “The cheese! The French cheese is very unique. The foiegras (fat liver) is another French specialty which is often savoured during Chritsmas. It’s a dish I enjoy making.”

Pumpkin ginger soup

Pumpkin ginger soup
Ingredients
1 kg pumpkin
2 onion
75 gm ginger
Fresh herbs, such as chives, mint
Olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock
125 ml coconut milk, plus extra to serve
½ tbsp chilli powder
1 lime

Method
Deseed and roughly chop pumpkin, peel and chop shallots, then peel and finely grate ginger. Pick and finely chop herbs.
Place the pumpkin, shallots, ginger and some oil in a large saucepan and sauté until soft.
Add stock, coconut milk and chilli powder. Season, bring to boil and simmer for 40 minutes.
Blitz in a food processor and serve with fresh herbs, lime juice and a splash of coconut milk.

Recipe courtesy Chef Alexandre Seince