“I don't worry about keeping things exactly the way my mother used to make them - recipes are so volatile from one person to another, everyone adds their own creative touch.” Gurdeep Loyal's opinion.
Chef's photo by Matt Russell
The chef
Recipes change, as do palates and the way ingredients are portrayed. Traditions follow generations. Gurdeep Loyal, noted food writer, is convinced of this, and wished to share it as he celebrates Punjabi heritage with an innovative twist in his new cookbook, “Mother Tongue.” Through a bold combination of ingredients and flavors from different cultures, Loyal manages to blend the culinary traditions of his childhood with global influences, creating dishes that are as nostalgic as they are modern.
Growing up in Leicester in a Punjabi family of great foodies, Loyal has always lived in an environment where food was at the center of everything. “We have a culture based on food: mine is a family that lives and honors food in everything they do,“ he explains to The Independent. What was cooked at home included dishes like keema, tandoori chicken, and various kinds of curries. The result? A diet that never skimped on salt, fat and sugar, plus the contribution of alcoholic beverages such as whiskey (a common tradition among many Punjabi families). In creating his cookbook, therefore, Loyal chose not to strictly follow his family's traditional recipes.
“I think you can preserve your heritage by putting a personal touch on your preparations,” he reflects. “That's why I don't worry about preserving things exactly the way my mother used to make them: she made them differently from her mother, and her mother made them differently from her mother: each one brought variations.” An eye-opening reflection on the meaning of “tradition”: not static, but fluid. Dishes do change, from one generation to the next!
After all, the chef notes, if he sometimes asked his mother for a recipe, he received imprecise answers about the dosage, such as “a handful”; he then learned to interpret and adapt these directions in his own way, as happens in all families. Loyal also emphasizes the importance of respecting and understanding the culinary cultures from which one draws, without being afraid to explore and incorporate new flavors. "Appropriation for its own sake is fundamentally about power. One must appreciate and understand the dishes of other countries, not appropriate them."
One of the finger foods that elicits the most nostalgia in Loyal are samosas. These small Indian snacks are present in every family celebration, from birthdays to school achievements to the saddest moments. However, in the book, Loyal reinterprets the traditional recipe by adding ingredients such as harissa, paneer, fennel seeds and pistachios, mixing Middle Eastern flavors with typical elements of Indian cuisine.
But the chef goes further: in this volume, the classic British roast chicken is reinvented with curry leaves, lemongrass and Aleppo pepper. Another example is his fish cakes, which combine Punjabi spices with crushed Chinese cucumber infused with amchoor, a typically Indian ingredient. “I blended all these elements because I am British and Punjabi, but very open to the world in terms of my approach to flavors." Despite his passion for food, Loyal initially pursued a career as a management consultant, only to soon realize it was not his calling. He left his job to join Innocent Drinks, then a little-known startup. From there, he went on to work as chief marketing officer for food, restaurants, and wine at Harrods, and served as creative director at M&S, before becoming a food writer. Now, he has a monthly column in Olive Magazine , where he explores ingredients from around the world through storytelling.
Loyal acknowledges that food can be a very emotional component of identity, but still encourages experimentation. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't be adventurous and curious. It's important to have genuine curiosity and an interest in the community from which you take inspiration."
