After mastering the culinary world, Saransh Goila has ventured into writing. He tells Riya Sharma that his debut book documents his journey to 100 Indian cities in 100 days
For most of us the paan is a mouth freshener, usually taken at the end of a meal. But what celebrity chef Saransh Goila discovered was so off the ordinary that he still does not believe it. He tells us that when he was in lucknow he learnt the story of how two nawabs used to follow an opposite tradition of having paan before they sat down for their king sized meal. Another incident he recounts for us. “Did you know that women in Kullu still follow the age old tradition of entering the kitchen barefoot and only after taking a shower,” he asks with amazement. These were two of the several culinary facts and anecdotes that he came across during the course of a journey which took him to 100 cities in 100 days.
To the world, Goila is a successful chef, a popular host of cooking shows and the proud winner of Food Food Maha Challenge. But now he has turned a new leaf. “I am a writer,” he exclaims like a kid. Holding up his book India On My Platter, he tells us that the book is a documentation of the many facts that he gathered during his adventure.
We are familiar with his love for food and his attraction to ingredients and creative nature. But he insists on telling us more. “I have been a food enthusiast since 12. So, for someone like me, who loves to travel, just the idea of visiting 25 states and covering more than 20,000 km was a massive challenge,” he says. What kept him going was the thought of trying local cuisines and delicacies instead of regular hotel food. “It worked out well, I guess,” he laughs and adds that the book is about stories of travel, recipes and unique tales of the places that he has been to.
When we ask him about his “unique” experience of cooking on a moving boat in Varanasi,he exclaims it as a crazy idea that “just happened to strike” and calls the act of going ahead with it “even crazier.” He adds, “It was me who came up with this idea, because when everything on this show was new and different, I wanted to try this as well. To execute it, we had to shoot at the crack of dawn at 4 am. You might think of it as crazy but it was actually lovely with the sun rising and the boat dwindling while I was making chaat in the middle of all this. It was incredible.”
The book, says the debut author, is quite personal. “I have tried to give my insight on the events that took place. It is not preachy but is very informative,” he mentions. His journey, however, was not a smooth one. “It is not very easy to travel by road as the condition of highways is not always in accordance with your comfort,” he elaborates.
The chef turned writer also shares that he faced a lot of difficulties while documenting his journey. He explains, “It was my first time in jotting down something which was going to be published. It was undoubtedly tough.” He recalls all the guidance that he received from people who helped him recollect his experience. “People will relate to my journey through the book. The narrative has been kept simple so that readers can embark on the journey through the book to the places which are less travelled,” adds Goila.
Now that he has a book in his list of accomplishments,how does he plan to juggle the ladle and the pen, we askIJ “I want to travel the world now and would like to write about it,” comes the pat reply. This 28-year-old chef must be very good at reading minds, too because even before we ask about the title of that book, he dramatically says, “And I am going to name it Duniya On My Platter,” bringing our conversation to an end.