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Reza Mahammad (Born 17th August 1961) is a British Chef and TV personality. He has often been referred to as the Spice Prince. He was the owner of The Star Of India restaurant located in London’s Old Brompton Road. Mahammad, a self taught chef, has appeared regularly on TV. He is widely remembered for his participation in the Channel 4 series A Place In France. He has also presented or co presented his own TV series and made guest appearances on shows such as ITV’s This Morning. In addition to his TV work and being a restaurateur, Mahammad has written a number of cookbooks. He has been running his own catering business since 2000 and in 2011 also established a cookery school in France, called Chez Cartier, located in the South West Department Charente. Most recently he started a home delivery service within mainland France.

Early Life

Reza Mahammad was born in London to parents Sheikh and Kulsoom (nee Mehdi) Mahammad. He is the eldest of 5 children. His father arrived in London from India during 1937. His father was employed as a chef at London’s first Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy. His mother moved to London some time later to art his father in the late 1950s. After leaving Veeraswamy, Sheikh Mahammad became owner and proprietor of The Star Of India in 1954.

After initial schooling in London, Reza Mahammad’s parents wanted him to appreciate and understand the family roots in India. He was sent off to be educated at St. Peter’s Boys School in Panchganni (where Freddie Mercury the vocalist of Queen was also educated). Not enjoying the food served up at school, he looked forward to the holidays which he spent with his grandparents and other relatives. He helped with the preparation of meals and thus began his culinary journey. It was in the family kitchens he started to understand how food is enhanced by spicing and other methods of flavouring.

Due to the untimely death of his father at the age of 69, Mahammad’s academic career was cut short and he returned to London. Under the guidance of The Star’s then manager Cyril D’Souza, he set about learning the trade of a restaurateur at the age of 16. After the time he had spent in the family kitchens in India, Mahammad spent time in the kitchen of The Star understanding how the chefs created their dishes. He read and researched extensively the history of spices and how they influenced the food served along the spice trail from China to the Middle East. By 1987 he was ready assume day to day responsibilities of running The Star.

The Star Of India

On taking control of The Star Of India in 1987, his first tasks were to totally revamp the restaurant décor and menu. The style of decoration was referred to as “Flock To Baroque” with a tented ceiling that featured a central chandelier. The furniture was upholstered in soft chintz fabric and the walls were painted in striking black and white murals. He had the restaurant freshly painted in bright colours with lots of chintz fabric hanging from the ceiling. With a totally new and radically different menu from that of his father's era, the restaurant soon attracted a new clientele. The Trendy Chelsea Set of the time mixed with well known personalities from the worlds of film, TV, music and business.

His cooking style and the menus which featured at the Star brought contemporary style Cookery featuring regional dishes from around the Indian Subcontinent. The emphasis was on providing flavoursome and aromatic dishes using less oil and fats to deliver a totally different style of Indian dining experience. With the new décor and menus in place, plus the impromptu entertainment provided by Mahammad himself for the diners, The Star soon gained gained its reputation as one on THE places to dine when in London.

In 1991 The Star underwent a further radical makeover. The style was that of a Zeffirelli production with flamboyant Sistine Chapel style artwork. It gained such a reputation that the World Of Interiors magazine did a multi page feature in their January 1992 magazine.

Mahammad’s reputation through notoriety of his restaurant and the man himself led to opportunities coming his way that were outside the world of The Star.

By 2018 the restaurant business had greatly changed from the one entered by Mahammad in 1980s. His extensive travels and the experiences gained had widened his cooking interests far beyond the borders of India. He decided to sell the restaurant and pursue his other interests as well as take on new projects. It was closed before the end 2018.

TV Career

Mahammad made his first TV appearance in an episode of Ismail Merchant's 5 program series charting the rise of Indian restaurants in Britain titled The Curry Connection. He appeared alongside actor Art Malik (a regular diner at The Star). The series was first broadcast in 1990.

5 Years later he appeared in the Madhur Jaffrey 1995 BBC series A Taste Of India. The episode he featured in was titled Kerala.

His next appearance was as co-presenter in the TV series Delhi Belly alongside comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter Sanjeev Bhaskar. The series focused on the diversity of food around different parts of the city and ran for 15 episodes. At the end of each episode, Mahammad replicates one of the dishes featured. Bhaskar closed each program with the words “Indian Food, Indian People”. It was recorded by UKTV and first aired in 2001. More television work was soon to follow.

A regular customer at The Star Of India was journalist and producer Nigel Farrell. With his friend Nippi Singh, they jointly purchased a home in the Ardeche region of France. Their exploits and adventures were featured in the Channel 4 series titled A Place In France. The series was narrated by Jenny Eclair. When Farrell expressed his desire to open an Indian restaurant as well, Mahammad was invited to join the show and provide his input to the project. Many recall the restaurant opening night where Mahammad is featured riding on the back of a bejewelled Indian elephant. It was first aired in July 2002 and ran for 8 episodes. There was a subsequent series titled A Place In France: An Indian Summer, broadcast by Channel 4 in 2004 with a final series titled Nigel's Place In France broadcast by Channel 4 in 2005.

Following on from the success of Delhi Belly, UKTV recorded a new series with Mahammad titled Coconut Coast. The series was filmed around the coast of Kerala and looked at the influences international traders, passing through from Portugal and the Gulf, had left on the food styles enjoyed around the region. Mahammad was sole presenter. During each episode he tells the history which resulted in the regions popular local dishes and gives viewers a step by step presentation on how to cook a fewer them. The series started broadcasting in May 2004 and ran for 15 episodes.

During 2004 he made guest appearances on BBCs Saturday Kitchen, which was then presented by chef Antony Worrall Thompson and the UKTV series Good Food Live, presented by actress and broadcaster Jeni Barnett.

In 2005 he was a contestant on the BBC game show The Weakest Link which was hosted by Anne Robinson. The episode he featured in was a celebrity special and included other well known chefs. Robinson caused controversy with some viewers who were upset by the homophobic quips which she made to him. Complaints were received by the BBC.

He appeared twice in the Thames TV series Cooking The Books which ran between 2007 and 2008. Each episode featured a well known chef and was hosted by Jeremy Edwards. The shows objective was to highlight popular cookery books and recipes of the day, with the guest chef of the day cooking one dish.

2010 saw Mahammad joining forces with the dedicated food content broadcaster Food Network. He made 4 different series as sole presenter. They are Spice Prince Of India (2011), Reza's African Kitchen (2013), Spice Prince Of Thailand (2014) and Spice Prince of Vietnam (2015).

In 2015 he was co-presenter alongside noted South African Chef and Restaurateur Jenny Morris on the series Jenny And Reza's Fabulous Academy. The series ran for 25 episodes. The two quickly became friends and have gone on to co-present on SABC (national broadcaster of South Africa), as well as jointly make presentations at local food festivals and exhibitions around the Gulf Region.

From 2011 he made regular guest appearances on ITV's This Morning. Some appearances were with co hosts Philips Schofield and Holly Willoughby. As the majority of his slots on This Morning were Fridays, the majority of the shows he featured in were hosted by Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langford. On each appearance he prepared a dish for the presenters to taste. His last appearance was in 2016.

In 2015 he was one of the chefs featured in the Food Network series, hosted by Jeni Barnett, titled 12 Chefs Of Christmas. His episode is number 11 of 12. During the program he prepared two dishes, Spicy Crab & Smoked Salmon Blinis followed by Marinated Spatchcocked Quails On A Bed Of Jewelled Rice. The series is regularly broadcast each year by Food Network during the run up weeks to weeks to Christmas.

On 21st January 2016 he appeared in BBC's early evening current affairs program The One Show. During the show he launched the category Best Takeaway Or Street Food as part of the BBC's 2016 Food and Farming Awards competition.

He was a contestant on the BBC's Celebrity Eggheads which first aired 11th May, 2017.

In 2018 he appeared as a guest judge on the South African Channel 4 show My Kitchen Rules. Contestants compete amongst one another as they prepare a three-course meal designed to impress their fellow contestants and esteemed judges and thereby eventually bring home the grand prize.

Chez Cartier

In 2011, Mahammad bought a home, which had once functioned as a distillery, called Chez Cartier, located in the Charente region of South West France. The property is near the town of Barbezieux and within the Cognac wine growing region. He now divides his time between the UK, France and international engagements.

After extensive renovation work, he opened a cookery school there. The school runs a range of courses throughout the year covering Indian, Far Eastern, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean styles of food. He also runs the occasional pop up restaurant from the premises as well.

In August 2017, Chez Cartier played host to an adapted version of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. There were 3 performances with Mahammad acting as narrator at each one.

In 2021 he started the Reza's Chefs Table project where he chats on a one to one basis with different chefs and other prominent figures in the restaurant industry. The chats are recorded using Zoom and then uploaded to the food and drink specialist web site www.talkingoffood.com.

In March 2021 he began a weekly home delivery service for his food within mainland France.

Exhibitions and Presentations

In 2018 Mahammad join the Speaker’s Agency. Fellow members include TV broadcasters Nicholas Owen and Nicki Chapman as well as MP Nicky Morgan. Through the agency, he has made presentations on the cruise ships of Cunard (Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria) and P&O (Arcadia) including talks about the history of spice and the Spice Trail.

He has provided presentations and cooking demonstrations at food festivals. These include:

Russian Food Festival (2015) Leicester Food Festival (2015) Kuwait Food Festival (2015) Good Food & Wine Show Durban (2015) Fantastic British Food Festival (2016) Good Food & Wine Show Johannesburg (2017) Good Food & Wine Show Cape Town (2017) The Taste Of Dubai (2018) The Taste Of Abu Dhabi (2018) Padstow Food Festival (2018) MFCC Malta Trade Fair (2019) Harare International Food Festival (2019)

Publications

His first cookbook Rice Spice And All Things Nice, was published by Simon and Schuster in April 2007.

A second cookbook, Reza's Indian Spice, was published by Quadrille in 2012.

Awards

He was awarded 2nd prize in the Gourmand World Cookbook (Indian) section by The Bookseller in 2012 for his cookbook Reza's Indian Spice.

In 2015 he was awarded a Special Recognition at the British Curry Awards for his contributions over the years to the curry industry.