Consider me a self proclaimed foodie. I have a genuine passion for people, places and food. I believe that food is one thing brings us together. When we humans meet, we eat. By travelling around the world, exploring different cuisines and writing about my experiences, I want to enrich myself and my readers. Even if you don’t get to travel or try different things often, I hope I am able to open up the world to you in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Growing up in a small town of India, I had the opportunity of meeting people from all over the world. My grandmother was a Servas host (a travel exchange program) and we would entertain tourists to stay with us for days. Back then, I travelled through their stories and pictures. I was making a mental list of all the places I would visit someday when I grown up.
Meanwhile, I lived some of my passion through my childhood years. When we stayed at any 5 star hotels, I would request the F&B manager for a personal tour of their kitchens and often found my 10-year-old-self sitting at the bar enjoying maraschino cherries out of a martini glass. My high school librarian was also baffled by my attraction toward cookbooks rather than Nancy Drew’s and Hardy Boys (which the rest of my class was reading). Since I didn’t particularly enjoy the old fashioned gas-and-match stove in our extremely warm kitchen in India, I would translate recipes from English to Hindi and dictate them to our help at home. (Pretty much every household has a maid in India). I taught her how to make cheese blintzes, chocolate mousse and bird’s nest noodle bowls, amongst other totally foreign concepts in India at the time. Boy was she a marketable chef already!
Fast forward to 1997, I moved to the United States and found myself going to college and working in an Italian restaurant part time. I wasn’t exposed to any cuisines other than Indian, Chinese, Fast Food and Continental (loosely used term in high end Indian coffee shops in 80’s) until this point, so I decided I would try a new dish from the menu each day. It was work related research as I needed to describe the food to my patrons in my own words. Needless to say, I gained 30 pounds in 3 months. It felt like heaven!
Dating took the culinary scene to a whole new level. It gave me the perfect excuse to try new restaurants and experiment with different cuisines. I would suggest a Thai, Korean, French or Malaysian restaurant and most guys would oblige. Thankfully, my boyfriend at the time (husband now) also shared the passion for eating out every night.
In the beginning, I started cooking out of necessity (as I had to feed myself and my hubby). But with cookbooks, cooking hows and the Internet, I began to experiment on my own. I would recreate recipes I tried in fancy restaurants and would keep improving upon existing ones. I particularly enjoyed blending flavors and creating a variety of palates on my dinner menu, such as an artist would. Soon I was critiquing restaurants for local magazines, teaching international cooking classes and throwing themed dinner parties!
Now I want to share this knowledge with the world. Therefore, I have put together this web site which would allow me to share my travel stories, favorite things, personal recipes and other adventures. I imagine it to be educational, inspirational and fun.
Your comments and questions are encouraged.
Bon appetite! Bon voyage!
Sucheta
