Rachel Goenka completed the Ballymaloe 12 Week Certificate Cookery Course in 2011. She then went on to open her own Restuarant "The Sassy Spoon" in Mumbai, India. Rachel tells us her story below.
I decided to the Ballymaloe Cookery Course as I really wanted to get a good hold of the basics and really decide what I wanted to specialise in, so I wanted an overall view of cooking.
After graduating from Ballymaloe I studied at Le Cordon Bleu London where I specialised in pastry and did the Patisserie Diploma. After that, I moved back home in Mumbai, India and set up my restaurant The Sassy Spoon. In my free time I also write about food. Here is a link to one of the articles that i had written about restaurants in Australia
http://hiblitz.liveinstyle.com/food-wine/detail/down-under-on-a-platter
The Sassy Spoon is a expression of who I am as a person. I really wanted people to embrace food that still had a playful element to it. You won't find dishes on our menu anywhere else since a lot of thought and precision goes into each dish. We don't just try and be sassy for the sake of it. The pairing of ingredients, flavours and textures have to work to create something quite explosive, yet at the same time not over complicated. We just strive to serve delicious food with our own twist to it. We have been open a little over a year now and have already won the Time Out award for the Best Independent Restaurant in India which is a massive achievement. People have really appreciated our food, and we are constantly innovating and coming up with new dishes. Some are western, or sometimes we take an indian dish and turn it into something very different. It's a lot of fun because no day is the same. Everyday presents itself with new opportunities. I am currently now working on setting up my second restaurant, although this time I have a very different concept in place. I was delighted to organise a charity event recently for the GOAL Foundation with none other than Rachel Allen herself. It was great fun being on the same platform as one of my mentors.
The fact that the Ballymaloe Cookery Course was so holistic, has given me extensive knowledge on everything a chef needs to know, be it jams, cheese or breads. The course really helped with my cooking techniques as well.
