Necessity is the mother of invention—or so they say! Only, in my case, it's the father of invention. (And you'll see why, later.) Well, I didn't invent anything. Just an enormous appetite for food and an equally enormous passion for making it! I love eating and even more than that, I love cooking. This passion really didn't start until I turned 22. Being the youngest in a family of five, and from a family where my mom governed the rotisserie and the refrigerator, I had never cooked anything! Nay! Not even a cup of tea! But all that changed when all my sisters left the nest to warm their own hearths and I was the only one left behind.My dear mother made wonderful meals every day. My father and I would lick our fingers and savor every morsel on our plates. So everything was fine in the world of my stomach, until one day, my mom decided to fly to Texas to help my sister deliver her first child. She handed me her apron; apprehesively and with a look that had more sympathy (for my dad) than assurance. Dinner the first day sans mom was scrambled eggs and toast. The next day, it was scrambled eggs, toast and ketchup. The third day...! Well, you get the point! It was as if the chickens were laying their eggs just for us! Then one day my dad decided to make some real food. My scrambled eggs had motivated him enough I guess! From that day onwards; and under my father's Gordon Ramsay-like-tutelage; I began my culinary training. I became his sous-chef, chopping onions into perfect little cubes, the garlic into perfect slices, the okra into pretty flower-rounds and so on. It seemed intense then, but all this training left me addicted to the dramatics and science of cooking. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. My dear father had successfully instilled the likeness for everything culinary into me! This food fascination came with me as part of my trousseau when I got married and moved to US.
What started as a simmer in India, became a full-boiled fancy in America. While I was waiting for my work permit to arrive, (I was a Green card holder then) I would sit in front of the TV and watch the then-new Food TV Network. As was typically required of an Indian bride; I would spend my afternoons event-planning our evening dinners! First, I cooked only the things that my husband liked. Then, came the things that I craved for. Then came the experiments...The afternoons were spent perspiring in front of the stove, while the evenings were spent waiting in anticipation for my best critic, my husband, Vineet, to come home and judge them. For the most part, he liked what he ate, and if he didn't, he would simply say, "Let's not make this again, please!"! Hundred and one recipes later, I became brave enough to work with the likes of asparagus, broccoli and avocado—ingredients, I had never even seen before in my country.
If you are what you eat; then I am a foodie. A self-proclaimed foodie, and a culinary coach since past 2 years. Just as I love adding visuals and colors to the pages of a magazine as a graphic designer, I also love painting a plate with my culinary creations and teaching the finer nuances of Indian food to my students.
Now, if only my passion for both designing and cooking would culminate into a cookbook! Then, I'd say 'burp' to that!
