I got it from my 'Mom' & 'Grandmom'

It has always been in my veins! I did not have to go and look for it because I was born with it. I was born with this immense passion for food and all credit goes to my Mom and my Grandmom.

A Unique Bond

My mother and I share a bond where she is much more than just a parent. She is my best friend, my closest confidant and always up for "new recipe trial".

And it's the same with my Grandmom , we both share our stories to each other like friends. Be it our fears or our accomplishments.

They both have a huge impact on me, I admire their simplicity as well as their strength.

Even if it's difficult for them to see the next step or even when things are hazy, they both have trusted me like none another and that has what made me do what I do.

Their love towards Food

My mother has always been quite experimental with food, trying new recipes and never hesitating from hosting a party. And her zone of experimenting was majorly North-Indian cuisine, with those blend of spices, flavourful curries, fluffiest flatbreads and mouth-watering sweets. (Oh! how I am salivating right now), she has given me delicious kitchen memories.

She has created magic by bringing our traditional family recipes to life and new delicacies with modern twists (all credit to grandmother and grandfather, both of them never stopped her from experimenting when she was a kid). And that is how my growing up years were like (and they are pretty much the same even now).

I remember, when I was a kid, I used to sit on kitchen slab to see the colour of cooked food, understand the aromas, that sound of sizzling oil and that unforgettable smell of sensational cardamoms. When I was not allowed to cook without the guidance of an elder person, I used to wait for my parents to go for grocery shopping, which would give me "MY TIME" to be a little experimental ;). I also remember my first dish that I cooked without any help was "Roasted Spiced Potatoes with seasme seeds", they were highly praised by my Aunt and Mom, and were loved by my brother. I WAS ON CLOUD NINE. And my journey began from there.

Why Baker, you ask?

Not that I love any other food less, but entering into a BAKERY SHOP as a child was always magical for me. "Baking" was not much experimented at home and hence the craft behind it always remained a mystery to me till I was grown up.

Those perfectly sliced pastries, luscious creams, fresh breads and other mouth-watering treats always made me wonder of the science behind it. Then I started reading a lot about baking and pastry arts, ended up watching innumerable food channels, started baking easy recipes at home to get the hang of it. And there have been so so many failed attempts. It was a little disappointing to put heart and soul to bake a delicious treat and seeing the not so happy results.

Slowly and with time, I started understanding the rhythm of it. How temperature of ingredients, oven, etc plays huge impact on the final product. I baked many treats, failed with few but never gave up. And my MUM always, always supported me.

Even when I was enrolled in "Law University", I used to bake often and carry treats for my friends. Little did I know that later in life, MY HOBBY WILL TRANSFORM INTO A PASSION THAT WILL BECOME MY PROFESSION.

After a year of my Masters in Law, I planned on taking this journey with hell lot of support from my sister (big hug and thanks to her), my brother in law, my parents, my brother, my grandmother and my partner (now my husband).

2 years of working in pastry kitchen, to understand the basics, the science, the french way of making pastries helped me a lot into what I know today.

My first step into a professional kitchen transferred me to a whole new world and I couldn't be happier for the steps that I took!

P.S.- Many more kitchen stories lined up.

Love,

Priyansha Singh