Chef Rachel Allen arrived in Delhi with the list of food she wanted to try here. Bheja fry and dal ka parantha from Karim’s are her favourite. She spoke to Ananaya Banerjee
There was a certain kind of warmth about her, like she’s stepped right out of her Rachel Allen: Bake! television set. The legendary Irish chef, Rachel Allen, brought along with her the aroma of her hugely popular chocolate pudding.
Rachel is on her first trip to India, which was made possible by GOAl, an Irish charitable organisation that has the Irish ambassador, Feilim Mclaughlin, and Rachel working for it in Kolkata. Along with her 14 year old son Joshua, Rachel has been travelling with GOAl to oversee their work and participate at the ground level. We met her while she was in Delhi recently.
It was not tough for her to deal with heat here. “I am getting used to do it. It’s a lot like being in the kitchen, like you’re baking. Consistently,” she laughed.
Rachel gushed about her visit to Chandni Chowk as she pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and read out from a list, “I went to Paranthe Wali Gali and Karim’s. My friends had really insisted that I try Karim’s. I had bheja fry and daal ka parantha. I love spicy, hot food and returned with a really full belly.” She liked the food so much that she actually wrote down the dishes she wanted to try. “Indian cuisine is very diverse. I really had no idea. My favourite flavours are tamarind and ginger. They lend a very earthy feel to the food. And I would love to incorporate it in the kind of food I cook,” she said.
The chef currently lives in County Cork, Ireland where she teaches at the Ballymaloe Cookery School after having graduated from it herself. “I have an interesting story. I was 18 and unsure of what to do when my family really urged me to join this school. This is where I met my husband Isaac. He was Darina’s younger son, the one who ran the school. She’s my mother-in-law now and is the most modest woman I’ve ever met,” she said.
Situated on a 100 acre organic farm, students attending this school are individually trained in every aspect of cookery, be it gathering the produce by milking cows, picking vegetables, working as farmhands to chopping, dicing, sautéing; in short, mastering the finer aspects of cooking. At the end of the course, the students are expected to be all rounders. Rachel told us, “I pay extra attention that only fresh raw materials are used, especially eggs. We don’t even eat the chickens we breed on the farm, although that’s a part of the life cycle.”
She was all excited as we mentioned baking to her. “I love to bake. Be it my shows or cook books, I want to reach out to other busy baking enthusiasts like me, who don’t have much time on their hands and need a quick recipe to get going.” Rachel has been trying to make baking easy and fun for those who are busy with other engagements.
“The kind of cooking I promote, is something I love to do with my family. When I was younger it used to me my mum and sister, now, of course, it’s with my husband, who is also a chef. I also love taking skiing vacations; something that I’ve been looking forward to for a few years now,” she said.
She is now looking forward to the last leg of her trip to Mumbai, where one of her students from Ballymaloe School has set up her own restaurant and has invited Rachel to inaugurate the place. “I’m so glad I could make this trip. I didn’t know the kind of reach my programmes have here. I am so glad that my cook books have made their way here, too. I am happy because I will be taking back a lot of smiles and love,” she said.