Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

- Ali Merchant

ACT 1

Those were the halcyon days of the Royalty. My maternal grandfather, a proud Maratha Kshatriya was the deputy to His Royal Highness of Gwalior, while my maternal grandmother was an Iraqi. It was at the age of eight that I arrived in this opulent palace in Gwalior, clutching tightly to my mother and grandmother’s hands. That was the beginning of my romance with the wonders of the culinary world.

Visiting the Gwalior palace often amidst the heady, distinctive flavours of Iraqi, Arabic, Indian and Continental cuisine, I was fascinated by the infinite range and versatility of gourmet cooking. Perched on a Queen Anne stool in the cavernous halls of the royal kitchen, I became an avid pupil, learning from the best of the best – 8 cooks; nine of whom were from various states in India, four from the Middle East and yet another five from other parts of the world.