It was a packed house at The Daily near Deshapriya Park as the macaron queen, Chef Pooja Dhingra of Le15 India was in the city for a book signing, meet-and-great as well as a recipe demonstration. The next morning, she along with chef Urvika Kanoi of The Daily also took a bake walk tour around the city exploring gems such as Nahoum’s, Saldanha Bakery and Kanchan’s. Baking enthusiasts from all over the city and even beyond came by to meet chef Dhingra.
The Telegraph was there for it all and here’s getting you the deets.
“I’m such a fan. I couldn’t have had anyone else better than Pooja Dhingra for a bakery masterclass. She is so well known, I was doubting if she would even come, but I’m so glad that she made it. She has no airs about her and is such a humble person. She’s one of the few who like to uplift others with her,” said chef Urvika Kanoi (left) of The Daily, who got Pooja to the city.
“My latest book Coming Home is super special because I wrote it in the lockdown when I was asking myself very difficult questions. It gets slightly deep at times. The answer was to bake and make the world a sweeter place. It’s a very personal book and it has a lot of stories. I grew up with baking books as story books. My mom used to pull out recipes from magazines. I wanted to make baking accessible to the Indian kitchen. I turned everything I go through into a book, and here’s hoping the audience enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it,” said an excited Pooja after a full-packed book signing.
“I’m a small home baker and business owner. I’m self-taught and never received any formal training. Pooja is my inspiration and I love everything about her,” smiled Aarchi Poddar (seen rolling out the dough in the image), from Barakar, West Bengal, who drove for over five hours to reach the book signing.
While some bought the copies of her latest book, others got their own copies from home of their favourite Pooja Dhingra book for a signing by the chef-author. Pooja was happy to oblige with a smile, chit-chat and selfies.
First stop of the bake walk was the iconic New Market bakery, Nahoum’s. From tarts to brownies, and chicken puffs, Pooja loved digging into the variety of baked goodies all around.
Next up, the caravan went to the family-owned fave Saldanha Bakery, where after a little chit-chat on baking, and how the history of the bakery unfolded from the days of the boxmen that traversed residential areas and schools with cakes. They tried the famous walnut cake and coconut macaroon biscuits.
The final destination was Kanchan Bakery in Taltala known for its variety of crisp, buttery and melt-in-the-mouth biscuits.
Pictures: Rashbehari Das and B. Halder
