Probability of someone who is gregarious and bubbly turning out to be a food lover is high. Actor, anchor and RJ Mithun Ramesh loves to talk about his weakness for all things edible. Not one to shy away from confessing to his food fetishes, Mithun traces the history of this “love” which perhaps had the most defining influence on him.
Mithun began as an actor, then took over as RJ in Dubai. His presence as the anchor of a popular television comedy show is what Mithun is best remembered for today.
No exaggeration this – Mithun can smell food a mile away. At times he takes off to unknown lands, in pursuit of undiscovered cuisine and brings them into the open. Peep into the man’s social media account. It’s a jam-pack of dishes and recipes. The globe-trotting foodie was only too happy to allow Onmanorama a peek into his culinary preferences and how they influence his life.
Seasonal loves
Mithun learnt the nuances of taste from his mother who was a great cook. She loved to treat the family to all sorts of goodies. And to whatever she made, she added a dash of love, like all mums. That’s the first memory of food which is still fresh in his memory.
An entry into movies ensured him of a lot of chances to go out in search for unseen and unheard of recipes. And once he landed in Dubai as RJ, his life as an out-and-out foodie came a full circle. As for Dubai, it’s a foodies’ paradise. That was the genesis of his quest for different cuisines. That quest took him to the biggest and smallest hotels in Dubai, earning him a lot of friends in the bargain.
There used to be days when he would get stuck to one particular taste. Once it was towards baked goodies. During those days, he had stuffed himself with baked food, pies, pastries and cakes. Then came stuffed parottas with barbecue later thrown in for good measure.
Successful food try
Those were the days, says Mithun, talking about his life as an NCC cadet. Ask him what he remembers the most. Why, food, of course. The camps used to be great fun, but not the food, because they were rationed out. Cadets were not allowed to gorge on food. They had to line up for their food packets. And the packets consisted of two parottas with a wee bit of beef stuffed in between. Mithun to this day remembers that food packet wrapped in austerity and also, ah! the whiff of parotta and masala from that tiny pack!
The memory of that food packet is what got him to narrate the story to his friends who were running the food joint called Gafoorkka’s Thattukada. That triggered off an idea. The thattukada came out with a super dish – parotta irachi pothi, modelled on Mithun’s NCC menu which turned out to be a super hit. The dish was a three-layered sandwich. The base was a parotta with a layer of beef atop it, then one more layer of parotta-beef over it and finally a parotta on top. What looked like shawarma was then wrapped in plantain leaf. People just had to unwrap the plantain leaf to swoon over the aroma of meat and flour mixed in masalas.
Food philosophy
Mithun comes out with his trademark laugh recalling how folks once asked whether he cook his own food or was just into eating. A cook in his own right, Mithun does know to knock off a few recipes. “They can’t strictly be called ‘recipes’ “, he says. It’s more of a mish-mash, an avial of sorts. He grabs the leftovers from the fridge and treats them to a dish of his own. A remix. That’s what he calls it.
Talk about dieting and Mithun says “no”. There were times when he used to shed a few pounds for particular movie roles. Over the years he has evolved his philosophy. Eat while you can, or else there’s no meaning to this rat race of existence, he says.
“I’m lucky I got a wife who loves to cook and enjoys food”, beams Mithun. Wife, Lakshmi Menon is a vlogger and the couple has a daughter. Mithun’s wife who knows how much her husband loves food, is always keen to try out new dishes. Biryani happens to be her favourite dish.
Favourite food
All food is good food for Mithun. But he has a soft corner for mutton biryani of the native kind and fish curry. Have you tasted biryani and fish fry, he asks vouching for the super-duper combination. Dubai sells the best 'kuzhimanthi'. And Mithun’s current favourite is the manthi with mutton ribs, a dish that’s way too much for one person. If he had a choice, he would have had the meat alone without the rice.
A trip to Korea saw him trying out Korean barbecue. Diners can choose the spices and sauces for their barbecue servings, offering a tailored-to-taste version. Koreans just love all things sweet and dessert is a spread in all hotels.
Mithun lives in Dubai, but flies down to Kerala frequently when shooting sessions are on. If there’s anything to hold him back it’s the quest for new flavours and the desire to experiment with them once back in Dubai.
