I love everything about Puneeta Varma. She is a foodie, blogger, world traveler, activist, and a game changer. Puneeta left her high powered marketing job to become a stay at home mom. That changed soon and today she blogs about food, family and brings a global vision and palate to cuisine which I love and admire about her. Puneeta talks about food like a purist with different layers of taste which I admire. When you get two foodies talking about food, umami happens.

Puneeta,  a pleasure, and honor to have a food blogger on my blog. Please tell my readers about yourself and your blog? What is your story?

I am a writer and mom of two based in Toronto. My blog MapleandMarigold.com is my love letter to India and Canada. Maple represents Canada and our life here, while marigold with its color and significance in Indian traditions represents my roots and heritage in India. I grew up in India and as a result of my dad’s career in the Indian army, we moved homes and cities frequently. That life of a nomad continued even after marriage. Shortly after my husband and I got together, we decided to move to Dubai. What started off as an adventure to explore living life outside of India saw us moving across the world from Delhi to the Middle East to Toronto then Calgary, and finally a few years ago back to Toronto. It’s been a lifetime of moving and Canada finally feels like home. We just may be here to stay.

On the way, we have had two kids, both of whom had their first plane rides when they were just a few weeks old. Today, at 13 and 8, they’ve accumulated more flying miles than many adults I know. People who knew me before the kids came along are shocked that I traded in my beloved and totally high-stress marketing career to be a stay-at-home mom. That didn’t last long when I started blogging and it opened the door to a brand new journey. Blogging helped me have flexibility and be around more for my kids. Through my writing and connecting with readers around the world, MapleandMarigold.com has opened my eyes and provided me with immense creative energy and entrepreneurial challenges.

Did blogging change you? How?

When I started writing my focus was on family, food, and wellness all with a multicultural flair. My life was about sharing ways to make life healthy, happy and delicious and that was reflected in my writing and on social media. Over the years through research and food writing I have become more invested in raising awareness of how important good food and nourishment was for us, our communities and the planet. My blogging journey has evolved the way I think and talk about food, and it has helped me understand how important it is to our very existence.

What is your opinion on good food? What is it?

Good food is about what tastes good and is good for us. But Jerry, food is about more than just flavor and nutrition, right?! It has to be.

Good food tastes good, yes, but it has to also be good for us and our community. It has to always be about more than just us.  Somewhere along the line, in this time of misinformation and overconsumption, we are making choices that are harmful to us and the planet. This became my motivation to start a new initiative, NourishbyNumbers.com. This is a social movement where people come together to demand change in the way we grow, raise, talk about and consume our food. Check out the hashtag #1000waystoNourish to follow along.

How important is homecooked food and eating meals together as a family to you?

On a scale of 1to 10, maybe a 24? I believe the heart of the family beats in the kitchen and making a homecooked meal for your family while it may be an old-fashioned concept, is so important. At the same time, I am not a fan of spending long hours in front of the stove– if there’s a shortcut I’ll find it and since I’m a blogger, I’ll even share it! Sunday evening meal prep, meal planning, grocery shopping with the meal plan in mind, those are all tips that work for my family and help us spend time together at the dinner table.

What is your favorite weeknight meal?

DIY Food. Sounds crazy I know but it’s the one way I know my kids feel some control over what they are eating, and at the same time are making choices that I am happy with. Let me explain!

DIY food is assembling your own dinner, choosing the condiments, how much, what flavor, soup or rice, etc. Think tacos or rice bowls (pho is popular with us). My kitchen is a little bit complicated and runs between food sensitivities, general pickiness and my need to have a side of green chilies with EVERYTHING, DIY works perfectly even on a crazy weeknight. Vietnamese style pho with tofu, rice noodles, bokchoy and crunchy peanuts is a good example, where I cook and cut up everything and the kids take it out to the table and pick and choose.  For tacos I make chicken and red beans, the kids chop the vegetables and lay it out.

Help me understand three ingredients you consciously avoid or eliminate even when the recipe calls for it?

I avoid wheat, dairy, and soy in my cooking as much as possible. I avoid the wheat for my own wellbeing, and I have found good-enough replacements for dairy and soy in most dishes to manage my kids’ allergies. Having said that, I do believe that the nutrition in a bowl of yogurt and the comfort I find a cup of milk at the end of a long day – those are just irreplaceable.

What three ingredients you love using in your recipes?

My cooking is real-world food. Even though I am a blogger, my food isn’t always Instagram-worthy or even pretty. In fact, if brown food was a category, I would probably ace it. I use real ingredients with herbs and spices that render big flavor. You’ll often find me chopping ginger, working with turmeric and coconut milk in my kitchen.

You do not like a particular dish at your favorite restaurant, what will you do?

I will micro-analyze it to death. My husband is quite used to seeing me chew slowly and work my way around trying to guess what exactly it is that I don’t like about the dish. If there is something actually wrong with the dish – burnt milk in the curry base, too much salt, undercooked, etc, I will mention it to the waiter. Staff at restaurants though have a hard enough job as it is and I don’t want to make it harder for them but if that cream in butter chicken is burnt, it has been left on the stove far too long and it deserves to be sent back!

What’s the one superpower wish you had?

Remove all the plastic in the world. When I was little, I used to dream about waving my hand and magically removing all the garbage on the planet. Sadly, magic doesn’t work, we have to actually work together to make it happen.

How important is food faith finance and family in your life?

My family is the most important to me and along with faith. Faith that we can all do better and be better in our lives. We have only a few years to have an impact and influence change and wouldn’t it be amazing if we just worked together for the good for all people?

The post Puneeta Varma: Maple & Marigold appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Shagun Mehra was named as one of the top 5 craftspeople in India in the luxury edition of Fortune Magazine. Shagun is a fifth-generation hotelier, a game-changer female chef, and a trailblazer.  A graduate of Switzerland’s renowned Ecole Les Roches, she fine-tuned her culinary skills at Paris’ Le Cordon Bleu.

Shagun recently cooked with Xavier Pellicer in Spain at his Restaurant Xavier Pellicer, which was named the Best Vegetable Restaurant in the World.

Shagun is presently a full-time director at Surya Palace Hotel Vadodara – the flagship property of the Jindal Group of Hotels – having taken the baton from her father. She is also Director of Cuisine at the luxury award-winning resort Coco Shambhala.

Shagun, I consider it an honor and privilege to have you on my blog.  Help me understand your love for food, wine and joie de vivre. How did it all start?

I’m a hotelier’s daughter. I’m a 5th generation in the business of food. So, I guess it runs in my veins. I’m naturally drawn to it and I feel like ingredients and wine speak to me. The complexity intrigues me in the most natural ways. So, I studied Hotel Management at Ecole Les Roches, Switzerland, and then polished my culinary skills at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.

I have traveled to more than 30 countries and people always link Indian food to a Balti curry or Butter Chicken. Please elaborate that Indian food is a lot more than that?

Indian food is one of the most diverse cuisines on this planet. Every 100 kilometers is a new cuisine. Hence its complexity lies in the many regional dishes that span across India. So, I think it’s greatly unfair to just narrow it down to a few dishes like Butter Chicken & Balti Curry.

Let’s talk about organic food. What is your take on it and do you use it in your kitchen?

India is a land of villages and agriculture. We grow our own grains, vegetables, and fruits. It is only the bulk supermarket-sourced stuff that is full of fertilizers and pesticides. I serve and eat what the farmer grows for himself and his family. I do my best to source my produce from the farms. I know it may not be certified organic, but India is still heading slowly towards this trend, whereas it is easiest to source fresh produce in villages of Goa and Maharashtra where I live and work.

In Indian culture, becoming a chef is not the first choice. Is that attitude changing?

What you say is true. Especially for a woman. We are expected to be domestic cooks, but the idea of a woman heading a kitchen is still rare. This is changing but still quite slow. Not many well-educated people opt for cooking as a professional chef, because in the past it was a job associated with menial labor. Today you will find a good few chefs going towards a culinary career because it is an exciting space, but there is so much more room for many more.

I want to know three ingredients you do not like to use in your kitchen and three that you love?

Ingredients I don’t like:

Broiler Chicken

Canned or Processed Foods

Free Flowing Processed Bleached Salt & Sugar

Ingredients I love:

Homegrown micro-greens

Seasonal Vegetables & Fruits, indigenous to the area

Fresh Fish & Seafood that come alive into the kitchen

What does women empowerment mean to you?

When a woman can make decisions for herself that are true to herself. When she is not obliged to cultural and social barriers. Women empowerment is when a woman can stand equal to a man in having ambition and seeing it through. When she can decide exactly what is right for her.

How have marriage and motherhood changed you?

It has made me more sensitive towards the immense inner strength I carry. I have learned to prioritize family and work simultaneously, juggling with them both while living my dream. It is quite a feat. Most men miss this opportunity because pregnancy and motherhood are great lessons on sacrifice but also stealth. This is a big gift that we women are bestowed with.

What advantage does a female chef bring into a commercial kitchen?

Women are natural cooks. We are instinctive by nature. We naturally multi-task hence we can manage better. We are better organized and systematic and because of the years of struggle before us, we are deeply self-driven and motivated to prove a point most to ourselves and then to the others. This makes women great chefs.

You were in Spain recently, cooking. Walk me through that experience what did you learn, what did they learn from you?

I realized how evolved Spanish Gastronomy and philosophy truly is. I learned the importance of respecting the simplest of ingredients and allowing their flavor to shine. I learned to not chase exotic expensive ingredients and take pride in the rich bounty of my own surroundings. I learned about respecting most the people that work for me, and how important they are to my success. I understood that social media is a platform of the future and that it will be crucial for chefs like myself to get the word out through this medium. I learned the art of using restraint in cooking when I want to overpower my food with flavor and multi ingredients. I learned the art of finesse in plating. I learned a world of important food language.

The Spanish learned the beauty of Indian Spices and ancient cooking techniques. They realized the diversity of plates we offer in one meal. They found Indian food a kaleidoscope of robust and delicate flavors marrying together. Most of all they learned how exciting vegetarian food can be!

How important is eating meals together as a family to you?

I love it when my family and friends sit around the table and share food and stories. As a child, I learned most about food by listening to my parents discuss the nuances of a perfect ‘phulka roti’ and how the cumin seeds in the ‘Jeera Aloo’ shouldn’t have been burnt. Its a time of learning, enjoyment, and bonding. It must be done, even if not daily.

Rapid Fire:

Favorite city – Barcelona

Favorite food -Indian Regional

Favorite dish- Khichdi, kadhi, homemade pickle, eggplant potato bhaji, Rajasthani papad & home-made curds

Best wine pairing with chicken curry – Palo Cortado Sherry

Best wine pairing with Indian veg food – German Riesling

Given a choice to cook for four favorite people who would you pick and why?

Chef Alain Passard – He loves Indian Regional Food and gained 3 Michelin stars mastering vegetables

Leonardo di Caprio – He is a passionate wildlife activist and through my food, I can tell him my story of my Foundation – Ear to the Wild Foundation www.eartothewild.in

Chef Andoni Luiz Aduriz – He is sensitive to serving food that is eaten with fingers. He has an innovative approach to food

Matt Preston – I love his passion for food, his eloquence, and most of all his wardrobe!

You are chosen to go to Mars and can take only 5 things what would those be?

Incense sticks to always keep things smelling good

Meditation Beads because I guess I won’t be having much company there

Binoculars to look for company!

Thepla because I love them any given day and I’m almost Gujarati!

Magic bottle of water that keeps refilling itself

The post Shagun Mehra: Trailblazer in the Kitchen appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.