Sakuntala has the sun stuck onto her face. It seems like she can’t stop
smiling ! Born in the south east of Nepal, in the village of Biratnagar,
Sakuntala is one of 6 daugthers. What a gang ! They all meet when it is
any kind of celebration. Sakuntala is the only one not being married. Among the
six, they are two, including her, having a professional life. Active and
hard-working, Sakun’ has grown up in a family where making good food is
essential. It’s in the family kitchen that she became such a great cook !
It was a chance to be taken there. So, eight years ago, Sakun’ came to
Kathmandu in order to find a job. And that’s how she began at
Socialtours : she was at first in charge of maintaining the offices and of
making the lunch for the team.
But today, Sakuntala is much more than that : she is the
ambassador of the Nepali cooking style towards foreigners. How come ? In
2011, Socialtours decided to try organizing a cooking class for curious
tourists. The « Cook like a local » experience started being quite
known, and since then, almost each day, foreigners are knocking at the door to
give it a try.
Sakuntala welcomes them all with her usual big smile, and takes them to
the market for sourcing the necessary ingredients. Then back to socialtours
kitchen, she offers technical information and show her pupils how to deal with
a momos, a dal bhat, or an aloo paratha. « My favourite is actually the dal bhat, but well, I like pretty much
everything ! ». And then she adds, laughing : « You know, I was slim when I started, but
now, with everything I cook, I gained a bit ! ». The part she
prefers in her job ? « Hard to
say. I like being with the people, and of course, I like to cook ».
When she has some free time, Sakuntala likes to travel, to shop, to
watch movies… and to experiment some new tastes in her food !
No comments:
Post a Comment