Iqbal Shah

TCB: How did you start your cooking career?
Chef: I started my career at Lal Qila restaurant. Then Chef Farah Jahanzeb, who is no longer in this world, took me to TV One channel. There, I got to see how you can get money and fame by working on television.

TCB: You are a radio presenter as well. How does that mesh with your career as a Chef?
Chef: I have been working in the tv industry for a long time. I worked with PTV for four years, then I did some morning shows as well. And then I did my own TV shows, but radio has its own charm. The way people love and enjoy hearing your voice is something I really love.

TCB: What kind of food inspires you?
Chef: I love Italian food a lot. I enjoy eating pasta but I love biryani and tikka in desi food.

TCB: What are your future plans?
Chef: I always did what made me happy. I cooked whenever I felt like it, and then I did radio when I felt like it. I am someone who lives in the present and hopes that everything will work out in the future.

TCB: Which song or music do you listen to when cooking?
Chef: I like all kinds of music. A. R. Rehman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are my favorites.

TCB: Among the chefs from Pakistan and all over the world, which one is your absolute favorite?
Chef: I liked Zubaida Apa a lot. The age at which she started teaching cooking is when others usually give up. And among international chefs, Gordon Ramsay is my favorite.

TCB: As an RJ, what are the things do you like to talk about the most? Chef: In every show, I mostly try to talk about things that can help people. But a lot of people are hopeless and sad which is why they like to listen to stuff about love and friendship.

TCB: Do you think it is true that taste is in the hands of who cooks or in the recipe itself?
Chef: The taste is in the hands of the one who cooks. If I cook something it would taste different than when another chef makes the same thing. But the taste that is in a mother’s hands.