CPHlunchbox 2.19

CPHlunchbox is a dream of wanting to create a space to share my life-long love and experiences with Indian cooking and world cuisine.

Food and cooking have been my great love for as long as I can remember. Some of my first childhood memories are from our kitchen in Southern India, where my two sisters and I would help my mom.Living in a small town we had the luxury of a big kitchen, as well as an outdoor kitchen where traditional stone grinders stood ready for the food preparations.There were no shortcuts; everything was prepared from scratch, whether it was grinding oil or flour from a local mill, or sourcing local vegetables and milk. Sharing recipes and dishes among neighbors was the traditional way then, but no teacher or recipe could compare with the village elders. Stirring the pots with nostalgic memories and tales, they taught us as much about life as they did about cooking.
As my life and studies took me farther away from my hometown, I was introduced to the much-loved Indian street food and other styles of Indian cuisine that deepened my ever-growing love affair with food.
I spent the past decade traveling and living around the world, all the while expanding my love and experience of world cuisine, before settling here in wonderful Copenhagen.
What continues to amaze me is how much my childhood memories travel with me. I still recall my parents’ genuine and seemingly effortless way of making our guests feel comfortable. To them, it was about creating an experience as much as it was about the food. They inspire me, and as a cook and a host myself I see it as one of my greatest lessons.
I feel fortunate to have traveled the world and grateful to have spent my childhood in a countryside kitchen. It has shaped me, and my cooking, in a way that would never be the same today. Even in my small town, globalization, processed food, and fast-paced lifestyles are encroaching on the uniqueness and nuances of local cuisine and culture.

CPHlunchbox is my attempt to take you with me as far as I can into my childhood kitchen, and along on my life-long food journey around the world.