Entertainment
Diversity in food good for development, says British chef
By Natalia Ningthoujam
New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) Chinese, Indian and Spanish dishes are welcomed with open arms in the UK, says British chef Adam Simmonds, who also believes that having a diverse cuisine is good for the development of a country.
Asked which cuisine is most popular in London, Simmonds told IANS here: “It has become so diverse now. In London, it is so multicultural. There are so many amazing Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Spanish cuisines available. They are just growing massively. The UK as a whole, and not just London, has some of the best cooking in the world for sure.”
“It is only enhancing the UK as a Mecca for food. Every country needs to develop and to have different cuisines… the whole thing is brilliant,” he added.
The owner of The Test Kitchen, which is a pop-up located in Soho, London, was here for the launch of Gurugram-based delivery-cum-dine-in kitchen concept — The Trial. It is a blend of chefs, entrepreneurs and innovative food concepts.
“What I am trying to do back home is to try to bring interaction from the restaurant into the kitchen. There are no barriers. It’s about engaging the customer more within the cooking,” he said.
And that’s what he is trying to do at The Trial.
“There are three types of chefs here. If the concept fits, one of us will work on it,” said the chef, who enjoys cooking Scandinavian food.
“It is a concept that I believe in. So, I thought it was a great project to be involved with. Indians are travelling more. They go abroad a lot. They like the style of food; so why can’t something like that work in this country?”
After his maiden visit to India earlier this month, he hopes to return to the country soon and learn more about the indigenous spices.
“I would like to learn how to work with spices properly and to understand it. In my next trip, I would like to see some grassroot stuff to help me understand more about the culture and food,” said the chef, who has been to The Maldives, Denmark, France, Spain and Netherlands.
Simmonds believes there is a “skill-set” in cooking .
And there’s a “great skill level in cooking fish” which is why he likes to prepare dishes with fish as the star ingredient.
He is also a fan of food that is very light and not too robust.
“With the lightness, you get to know all the flavours. If there are just two to three items on the plate, you can showcase your skill set. You can’t hide behind the flavours. It’s about making it clean and vibrant,” said the former head chef of Ynyshir Hall, which won a Michelin Star in 2006.
But it’s not easy being a chef.
“There are long working hours, it’s stressful and you are criticised. You are constantly judged on each and every dish. People think they know more. It is quite difficult sometimes, but you have to accept it,” said Simmonds.
“If you do crack it and enjoy it, it’s the best industry to be in,” he added.
(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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