Origins of Sat Bains

The Derby-born, artistically inclined chef speaks of the importance of family meals, how French gastronomy presented a lifeline while he was growing up, and why kaiseki tasting menus tick all his boxes

Punjabi family and food

Food was a big part of growing up in a Punjabi household. My dad has four brothers and at one point our families all lived together. Eating was always very sociable – the physical act of sitting down at a table, chatting and having fun, is something I’ll never tire of. But the only time I’ve drawn on my food heritage was in lockdown, when I launched my vegan delivery service Momma Bains with my mum. What was missing during the pandemic was a sense of community and being able to see family – and food is what brings people together.

French gastronomy

The expectation was that I would take over my dad’s business and run a corner shop, but I felt suffocated by that. Falling in love with French gastronomy was a lifeline for me. I bought all the classic cookbooks by Escoffier, Carême and Brillat-Savarin and became obsessed with reading menus in French and imagining what things like woodcock would taste like.

Rick Murphy

In my early 20s I worked in Nottingham with a chef called Rick Murphy, who’s very rock and roll but he has a background in classical French cuisine. We’d stay up until five in the morning talking about food history and he’d fill my head with images of beautiful sauces. I still think sauce-making is culinary alchemy – if you can make a good sauce you’ll always be OK.

The Roux family

Winning the Roux Scholarship at 28 gave me access to the Roux family. If I need some advice I can pick up the phone to Alain Roux or Michel Jr and say, chef, I’ve got an issue. There’s still mentorship there.

René Redzepi

My Roux Scholarship prize was three months at Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, which at that time had three stars. I became friends with René Redzepi, who was also working there. We drank Guinness in the pub on our nights off but also went to eat at El Bulli in Spain. When I was back home he asked me on a pilgrimage to investigate Nordic ingredients but I couldn’t go as I was working at the Hotel des Clos with no sous chef. I’m still gutted – that trip led René to open Noma.

Art appreciation

I’m a visual learner. I might see a shape from one of my favourite artists, like Mark Rothko or Anish Kapoor, which I’ll turn into a dish. Through an appreciation of abstract art I can create something delicious that doesn’t look like the work of any other chef. I’ve always thought food should look good – but taste better.

Japan

The beauty of Japanese cuisine is that while it’s subtle it takes years to learn how to prepare it. Japanese simplicity has been a big influence on me, from the lacquerware used to serve food to the celebration of a seasonal ingredient at the peak of ripeness. When you try a kaiseki tasting menu in Japan, you get to understand beautiful nuances in flavour, texture and temperature. That ticks all my boxes.

Chef awaydays

I go to Paris a lot with Claude Bosi, Bibendum’s chef patron. We get the Eurostar and have lunch at a Michelin three-star like L’Arpège or L’Ambroisie. I try to switch off so I can be a customer, but I always see something I can learn from. Clare Smyth came with us recently and brought a bottle of Dom Pérignon and some caviar with blinis she’d made at midnight the night before. That’s how a three-star chef travels.

Home cooking

I didn’t know how to cook at home until I was 40. My mental state was immersed in the restaurant – I felt like I was at work and needed to have everything nice and neat. It took a long time to learn to make simple dishes that were also delicious. Now I use Ottolenghi’s books and I love him as a person too. Mediterranean is my kind of food and I could eat it all day.