Pastry chef Pooja Dhingra on Teacher’s Day: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor believes in everyone rising along with

Pastry chef Pooja Dhingra was always inclined to baking at a young age, as helped her mum in her chocolate business and developed restaurant acumen from her dad. Having grown up watching Chef Sanjeev Kapoor on shows and “being hooked onto each one of his recipes”, she has developed a close bond with the senior chef. She tells us, “I’ve known Chef Sanjeev Kapoor as a family friend since I was 13 years old and I have always been in awe of him.” The pastry chef is now known as the ‘Macaroon Queen’ in India as her main focus is the Italian pastry made with almond flour.

The 38-year-old feels a kinship toward him, looking at him as a mentor in the food industry. She says, “He has always been extremely encouraging of me, throughout my journey. He has, on several occasions, privately messaged me to tell me that he was proud of what I have achieved so far. He shared a photo of himself with he saw my billboards when I became a MasterChef India – Hindi 8 judge. Chef even shares my accomplishments publicly on his social media. He has always been someone I can turn to [when I need advice]. Chef Sanjeev believes in making everyone rise along with him.”

For the Mumbai-based pastry chef, one of the biggest takeaways that she has learnt from her mentor is “humility and grace”. “Knowing him through the years, I’ve understood what it takes to build a career in our industry — a lot of grit and determination. It’s been empowering to see him continue to work on building his career and empire, while also being such a great example and mentor to younger chefs,” she says.

She further adds, “He treats everyone with respect, [and is not in a competition] about who is bigger or better, but looks at all people as an equal.”

Dhingra says the best advice she has received from Kapoor has been — “Put your head down and keep working.”

Like most kids, her family were also Dhingra’s first intros in the gastronomical world. Her father owned his own restaurants in Mumbai, while her mum and nani continued to inspire her. “We didn’t have YouTube and the internet like today’s generation. We had to learn from people. I used to refer to Chefs Tarla Dalal & Sanjeev Kapoor’s cookbooks when I was younger. I then went to culinary school,” says the pastry chef, who learned to make the best prawn pulao from her dad, and shahi paneer with parathas from her nani.