HAVING always been passionate about food, it’s impossible to classify any one meal as my best ever! There is an abundance of attributes that make up a great meal: Great meals are about comfort, they strike a chord and — even if only for a fleeting moment — make you forget about everything else.
Ever since I was a child, and over my career as a chef, I’ve been lucky and privileged enough to have had many such experiences. What I’ve always loved about food is that it connects people… so many of my best memories have been made over food. Coming from a Punjabi family obsessed with food, it’s been such an important part of my life growing up and I’ve had my fair share of incredible meals.
Chocolate mousse. PEXELS
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I remember sitting at the dining table with my father and my brother — even before we finished one meal we would already be thinking about what we’d eat for the next! When we travelled on holidays, a lot of our experiences revolved around food. While most people spent hours in the local museums, we spent our time exploring the local food.
I realised early on that there are several characteristics, in addition to the food, of course, that make up a great meal for me: who you’re sharing the meal with, the time and place, or even your mental state. I close my eyes and I’m immediately taken back to a lunch break on a particularly stressful day at school, and the meal I devoured with my friends at the Bombay Scottish canteen — fried rice, noodles and Schezwan sauce.
Carette, Paris
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Coming home and having my mom make my favourite chilli cheese toast for a snack… the joy in my brother’s eye and mine when she surprised us with her classic chocolate mousse. I’m reminded of my time as a student in a new country, away from home. After a hard day of my internship, having been on my feet for 15-16 hours, comfort came in the form of a humble preparation of sticky rice, fried eggs and soy sauce that I managed to put together with the remnants of the previous week’s grocery run.
The unbridled joy and satisfaction that comes from a great meal knows no bounds, and can come in any form: from having my first-ever meal in a Michelin star restaurant, in Oslo in 2008 — and being able to share that experience with six of my closest friends, sipping on fine wines from around the world — to something as simple as devouring Ashok Vada Pav in Mumbai’s torrential, often unforgiving rain.
I’ve always believed that a significant part of eating a wholesome, satisfying meal comes from the energy of the person who prepares it. At Le15, the humble phrase ‘The Secret Ingredient is Always Love’ is something we imbibe into our daily production.
At Central Restaurante, in Lima, Peru
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During the chaos and uncertainty that was the COVID-19 pandemic, comfort came in the form of my father’s wholesome, delicious, home-cooked meals… each one made with so much love as he delved deeper into his passion for cooking, making new recipes every day that just hit the spot. The world had come to a standstill, but I never missed eating anywhere else as I devoured everything that was being made at home.
Recently, I was in Jammu and as I took a bite of an aloo paratha, I felt my Nani’s presence with me, the love and warmth with which she used to make my favourite foods. Within a fraction of a second, I was taken back to sunny winter afternoons spent eating gajar ka halwa.
La Creme de Paris
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As an avid traveller and a pastry chef, I’ve had the opportunity to experience some of my best meals from all parts of the world. I’ve had an unforgettable meal at the Central restaurant in Peru. Then the light and puffy eclairs, balanced out perfectly with decadent hot chocolate at Carette in Paris. A freshly baked croissant and a savoury waffle at La Creme de Paris, an Instagrammable cafe that had long lines every day. To sum it up, I’d say that my best meal ever is an amalgamation of all the food experiences I’ve had thus far — each one unique and delicious in its own right.
Pooja Dhingra is a renowned pastry chef and founder-CEO of Le15 Patisserie.
— AS TOLD TO NIVEDITA