Meet Chef Pratik Kuckreja, The Man Who’s Blending Imagination Into His World Of Patisserie.

Love at first bite

Mumbai-based Chef-Entrepreneur, Pratik’s brand Fat is Flavour pays homage to his undying love for desserts that whet your appetite. It’s his little gift to his dessert-obsessed friends and followers to dish out exotica and help you discover your sweet tooth. His Instagram handle @chefkucks is a labour of love of his baking journey, his kickass dessert masterclasses and a concoction of cake flavours for every palette.

Life’s better in the kitchen

Chef Pratik’s tryst with food started out rather early. From witnessing his mother’s passion for experimentation and love for feeding others, he imbibed those qualities in an attempt to set out and create a niche. The idea of starting a food brand came to him rather instinctively when he realised he can’t think of anything but waking up and cooking a storm in the kitchen. By the time he graduated in Hotel Management & Catering Operations, Chef Pratik nestled his dream of launching a food brand, he can call his own. This dream was given wings when he enrolled into a post-graduation course at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu, London.

Dessert Revolution

Fat is Flavour was born out of the idea of Dessert Revolution. The brand name rang an instant bell and Chef Pratik desired to put a part of himself out there. He opined that a fixed menu restricts creativity and experimentation. The advantage of working for yourself would involve a paradigm shift from the typical industry pattern. Thus came into play – Cake Interviews! Relying on innovation and a whacky sense of combination, Chef Pratik painted his pastry brand with new colours. Since Fat is Flavour never followed a conventional menu, they adopted this amazing path of a new flavour creation modelled around the client’s preferences. Pratik’s cake interviews are full-blown interviews where his team gets into their customer’s minds, what they expect in terms of taste, and get a hold of their dessert likes. This is truly the most intriguing part of Chef Pratik’s Fat is Flavour.

Cozy places & perfect views

With the pop-up scene being a gateway to showcase your artisan products gaining fast momentum in Mumbai, Chef Pratik adopted a rather interesting route to give the world a feeler of how he perceives patisserie. Hold your heart – An earthen pot, crumble of silky soil with interesting chocolate pairings and a spoonful of delectable Belgian Chocolate made way for a huge fan following for Chef Pratik’s Chocolate Soil. With a range of flavours like Davidoff Coffee, Toasted S’mores, Rocher Praline, Nutella Crunch, Cookie Dough, Gianduja Berry, Chef Pratik has brought world-class patisserie to an Indian palette by paying a beautiful ode to Indian craftsmen with earthen pots. Chef Pratik’s sister plays a huge roll in the packaging concept for the brand and her expertise in adding novelty to the Chocolate Soil was manufacturing a food grade quality pot exclusively for their dessert

Two wheels move the soul

Chef Pratik works vigorously on the kind of content he wants to put on his handle. He opines that money is a by-product of what they do and though numbers are important for any business, it is not the single driving force behind the running of Fat is Flavour. Chef Pratik unabashedly puts forward what he believes in. His warm and whacky captions have an instant connect with the audience and the story behind every cake is unravelled with Chef Pratik’s new ideas that keeps his clientele hooked and asking for more. He states that research is extremely important and western concepts do have a direct influence on Indian markets but what’s more important is you maintain brand identity. Ask Chef Pratik about how he manages to keep the existing audience engaged with new creations and he tells us two words that blew our mind.

Hedonistic Escalation

Chef Pratik goes on to explain, “Do you know why Salted Caramel is so addictive? It is the combination of sweet, salty and fatty – more rewarding than any one flavour note alone. It’s this “just right” balance of these flavours favoured by the brain which releases an endorphin as a “reward” every time you taste this flavour. And what do you do to get this “reward”? You keep coming back for another bite!” This delectable process followed by Chef Pratik in his dessert pairings, baking workshops and new flavour launches has earned him a sweet spot in the industry and fetched him with praise worthy accolades, brand collaborations and business opportunities. We’re brimming from ear to ear just thinking about all the astounding pairings Chef Pratik posts on his page and are amazed by his level of creativity and passion to dive into his consumer’s mind.

The more you give, the more you receive

Chef Pratik also conducts several baking workshops for budding bakers and chefs in the industry. Revolving around exciting themes such as Nutella, Smoked Caramel, Naked Cakes, French Macarons and so on, his baking classes are known to be insightful, fun-loving and adaptable throughout. The lockdown was a blessing in disguise for Chef Pratik as he got to spend time with consumer insights and catered to a bunch of home bakers with delectable menus in online baking workshops. Chef Pratik credits Le Cordon Bleu London to have changed his perspective towards patisserie. “LCB shaped me as a professional. I went in knowing nothing about the technique of patisserie but started from scratch in the process of unlearning and relearning what the baking industry followed in India. Le Cordon Bleu aligned my basics and I began growing to love patisserie in a gradual manner. Today all I can think and dream of is what cake do we bake tomorrow, patisserie has left an indelible mark on me.”, says Chef Pratik.

Tummy & Heart are full

By now, it’s almost clear that Chef Pratik is someone who doesn’t believe in following trends. He believes, “It is imperative to understand the difference between a fad and a trend. Working with patience is the true mark of a pastry chef and if you’re confident about the quality you put out there, numbers will follow”. He urges every creator out there to start small and think big! When asked about where he gets the confidence to swim against the tide, Chef Pratik is quick to reply “Passion – it’s the only thing that will keep you going. He urges creative people to take that one leap of faith and put your labour of love out there. Believe in yourself even if no one else does, stay crazy and be original –  everybody else is taken”. 

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Chef Pratik quotes that his cakes are a piece of him and every little gesture of appreciation coming his way is a testimony of his job done well. Chef Pratik sums up his amazing journey so far by paying special gratitude to his mother, who lives her dream of being a culinary entrepreneur through him. We ask him his plans for the evening and he is delighted to share that he has an Italian meal to cook for his family. Our mouth is watering at the sound of buratta, truffle and arrabiata when we wish Chef Pratik the best for his future endeavours with Fat is Flavour, when he is quick to quip his parting shot, “Never trust a skinny chef” ☺