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| The beautiful cover |
I still remember the first time I thought about publishing a book on food. Normally, not the sort of thing I want to do, but that time I did. must've been about 10 years ago. I wanted a chef to write a book for me so i went about doing my research. Vikas Khanna had just received his first Michelin star and was working at a restaurant call Junoon in New York. For some reason I got quickly connected with him and we clicked immediately. He told me how he had been travelling across India and how he was creating a book of all the select recipes from each region in India. This is how My Great India cook book was born. We later updated the recipes and changed the title to call it Pilgrim's Flavours.
The 2nd book we did together was my passion project, My First Kitchen a book that guides novices from setting up a Kitchen to buying produce to cooking dishes and throwing parties.
Then came the pandemic. I could sense from our chats that Vikas was itching to write and collaborate but i couldn't think what. I wanted a unique subject. And even as Vikas shared what he was doing day and night, I realised there was a great story right there! It so happened that when Vikas' mother saw the plight of migrants and people in old age homes, she was so moved that she told told Vikas that there is no use him being a chef if people in his own country are starving. Vikas promised his mother he would do whatever he could and thus started one of the largest food drives from halfway across the world. It wasn't easy, if was more than diffcult and Vikas thought more than once about giving it up, but his promise kept him going.
I also shared with Vikas how he always talks about sharing food and he said it had always been a part a of his life. Its not a secret that he began cooking sitting right beside his grandmother in Amritser and the concept of langar is deeply ingrained within him.
Barkat, to grow, to prosper and to flourish captures his journey small town to becoming one of the most well known and love chefs in the world. His thoughts, his actions, his genrosity, his unconditional love for people, all bring him Barkat. Its virtually and embodiment of him.
Thinking about having published this book brings me a warmth and joy that's unparalled. I feel truly blessed that I have a professional that fulfils me in beautiful ways.
I wish more of us share food, more of us learn to give and more of us learn the joy of living a giving life.
Have a good long weekend friends! Your comments are welcome.😊
If you want to buy any of Vikas' books, I'm sharing the link: https://www.amazon.in/Books-Vikas-Khanna/s?i=stripbooks&rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AVikas+Khanna&page=2&language=hi&qid=1649999738&ref=sr_pg_2
