K Damodaran, popularly known as Chef Damu, passed away on Sunday after a long illness. He was 72. He is best known for serving as a judge on the TV show ‘Cooku with Comali’, where he was fondly called ‘Damu Appa’ by participants.“He was one of my mentors, and one of the reasons for what I’ve become today,” recalls chef Koushik Shankar, widely known as Koushik, the mad chef. “Though he was a tough teacher in his younger days, he grew up to be an incredibly kind and helpful mentor for the younger generation. He also had a great sense of humour.”Chef Damu began his culinary career at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, later working with Taj Chennai, ITDC and Sangam Hotels in Trichy and Madurai. Starting at the dishwashing station, his dedicationto the culinary arts earned him the Padma Shri in 2025. A cooking marathon where he prepared 617 dishes in 24 hours and 30 minutes, won him a place in the Guinness World Records.“He was a wonderful person; respectful, cheerful and full of life,” said celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. “I remember we were shooting for an advertisement once. Every time a shot was repeated, the crew would add more stains to our jackets to make it look authentic. Chef Damu and I would burst out laughing every single time.”While Chef Damu specialised in Chettinad dishes, seafood specialities and traditional vegetarian cuisine, he mastered several cuisines in his 50-year-long career, besides authoring nearly 30 books, says Koushik.However, his legacy lies not in culinary wisdom, but in the number of people he inspired to discover the joy of cooking, feels Rakesh Ragunathan, food historian. “Chef Damu was one of the pioneers who took the art of cooking beyond professional kitchens and into the living rooms of ordinary people. His work helped build a deeper connection between people and food, and he became a familiar and much-loved face in Tamil households.”He made an immense contribution to bringing recognition and respect to the profession of chefs in India, says Sanjeev. “Chefs were not always given the respect they deserved. Even today, there is a need for more discussion about the profession and the people who work in it.”
