His first tryst with the apron, knife and spatula came came at the age of 12. Inspired by his mother and grandfather’s cooking styles, chef Saransh Goila was drawn towards the culinary field as his passion for food grew. The simple dishes every Sunday with the help of his mother, with which he started off, soon became full-fledged meals for family dinners and functions. And slowly his parathas became an instant hit among his family members.
The chef became famous in 2012 with his TV show “Roti Rasta aur India” on Food Food channel.The chef traveled 20,000 km of India by road in 100 days. His tour started from Delhi, up north to Leh, Ladakh, Manali, moved west to Rajasthan and covered the whole belt there, then to Mumbai, Nasik, Lucknow, Goa, down south to Karnataka, Kerala, Hyderabad, later on, the North East -- Sikkim, Assam and others.
All set to launch his first book “India On My Platter” this week -- the book is all about the chef’s travel stories, recipes, food tales and adventures around the country that changed his life and outlook as a chef. Saransh packs in a wonderful list of dishes to eat in each of the places that he visits and at times their recipes too.
Though an avid traveller, Saransh did have his share of troubles too. “It was an amazing experience and also back breaking at the same time. I had blisters on my feet due to excess travelling, lost lot of hair and had to face several unpleasant situations but at the end they constitute the best time of my life. It was the kind of freedom that I never before experienced in my life”, says the 28-year-old chef. One of the best experiences, he recalls, was in Kullu Manali where the food was exceptionally good and everything was locally made--be it the clay vessels or firewood on which food was cooked.
Surat was also a surprise for him as he found several non-vegetarian dishes on menus there. “There is a place called ‘Bhai bhai Omelet’ there which is located between Hindu and Muslim neighbourhoods where they serve 100 egg dishes starting from starters to deserts all made from eggs,” says an IHM Aurangabad graduate.
And his favourite? “I loved Munnar for its scenic beauty and Lucknow and Banaras for their mouth watering delicacies,” he shares.
Saransh’s culinary road trip has also been entered into the The Limca Book of Records for ‘The longest road journey by a chef’. “I never thought I would get this far. I never actually aimed for it. One of my teachers applied for it and they accepted it,” he says modestly and adds, “It feels great that I have made my family proud.”
Talking about his upcoming book, he says, “I am very excited for my first book which taught me a lot. It took one and a half years for me to make this happen and I hope I get a good response from it” says Saransh Goila.