Though I have a strong foundation in Keralan cooking, my cooking is a mix of many cultures.
I was born in Kerala , India and lived there for one year before my family moved to the United States . Both my parents were born and raised in Kerala and they were very sad to leave thier friends and family for a place they knew little about. But my father and mother knew they had to go to pursue the opportunity my father was given in the USA.
Once we landed in the States life was drastically different from what my parents were used to in Kerala. There they had a lot of help around the house, to do the cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. In the States, my mom was just learning how to cook and shop. The first time she went shopping she bought what she thought was milk, served the milk to my dad in his coffee. My dad spit it out immediately. It turns out the milk was actually buttermilk - just a little too sour for his taste. As the years went on my mother became an excellent cook. She was a great inventor of food when we were kids. I remember sitting on the school bus on the way home from school with my mouth watering wondering what new creation we would have for dinner that night. Food was exciting to me from a very early age. When we would go to India to visit my grandparents, I would spend most of my summer vacation with the cooks in the kitchen. I would sit on a wooden stool that stood about a foot from the ground and just take in the smells, noises, and sights of my familys very earthy kitchen. The cooks would try to shoo me away telling me to play with my cousins and my siblings but there was no other place I wanted to be but among the cooks. They would not let me cook anything but sometimes I got to help peel a vegetable or the red pearl onions that were used in almost all foods prepared in a Keralite kitchen. It was nice for them to have a little girl help with the pearl onions, with my tiny fingers it made peeling a lot faster and their work done quicker. My only thought was that I got to stay in the kitchen and learn through osmosis, I hoped.
When we would go back to the States my love for food and cooking was completely different. It was not rooted in centuries of history, tradition and family heritage, as Keralan cuisine is to me. The cuisine in the United States during my childhood was my mom's very creative fusion of American, Italian and Indian. When we went to a restaurant and she liked something she would go back home and make it with a Keralan twist, it was magical to all my siblings and my self. She taught me to play with my food, not to be afraid to change a recipe, to follow my heart in cooking. When we would go out to eat I would order something new every time. I wanted to experience a new cuisine, a new taste; it was the most exciting adventure for me as a child. My parents were not too pleased with my exotic taste because most of the time my child-like palate was not ready to eat what my culinary soul yearned for. Needless to say those wonderful dishes were left on my plate barely touched. seemed wasteful at the time but now I think of how those dishes still linger in my mind and how that experience increased my That yearning and love for food. To give a young girl such inspiration can never be a waste. My parents still have another perspective on it though.
I love Keralan food. I love the intensity of the flavors; I love that when I eat it there is so much history and culture behind each bite. I love the stories that people share about their favorite Keralan dishes, the things that happened while enjoying a meal. Keralan food nurtures my soul as well as my body. I was raised in the mid-west States in the US . Here the food is very earthy and very basic. Corn, potatoes, beef, hardy vegetables are the staples. I feel very drawn to that type of food as well. When I am sick with the flu I want a good hearty mid-western stew or chicken noodle soup. When I cook, these different aspects of my background come to the surface.
When I talk about food in this series you will see a focus on food heritage and food origins. It is very important to me. I think your background speaks volumes of the type of chef you are. Your background is very rooted in your cooking, no matter what you make you are taking your guests with you on the journey of cooking heritage and that is the most magical journey. That is what I want to share with you in my cooking. You can teach anyone to cook or to learn a recipe but to feel that journey - that is rare. That is what I want for all of you - to go and enjoy your food and food experiences in that way. It truly changes the way you look at food.
