Even as a small child, I always liked to eat plenty of everything.

But nevertheless, it all started with a large porcini mushroom I found myself. I was five years old and hiking in the Altmühltal with my family and friends. Of course I was allowed to take the mushroom home with me and already on the car ride back it was clear to me - I wanted to cook a cream soup from the mushroom.

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I have always loved cream soups and still do.

I remember that first cooking evening, with my mother in our kitchen, very clearly to this day. Of course, mum assisted me, but I had a very precise idea of how the soup should taste and how creamy it had to be.

It only turned out to be a small pot of soup - even though the porcini mushroom was really big - but I can still reconstruct its taste today.

 

Funnily enough, both my children like porcini cream soup very much, even though my daughter doesn't like mushrooms at all. It is now a permanent fixture in our Christmas Eve appetisers.

My passion took off and every chance I got, I wanted to either go out to eat or prepare food myself. It was said that I would not have gone anywhere unless stopping at an inn was also planned. Well, that may be. But that's the best thing about trips, isn't it?

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By the time I was nine, I was already cooking quite passably and trying my hand at recipes from chefs like Johann Lafer, whose TV cooking appearances I always followed, with the greatest perseverance.

And so the challenges and the interest grew - all the way to Johanna Maier and Alain Ducasse.

 My culinary interest was shared by my Franconian grandfather. He was the cook of the family and from him I learned so much about meat and its preparation. About sauces, aspics and soups. That geese that eat fallen fruit taste better and that a few "blue tips" can be a delight. That the fat on the plate of aspic is not scraped off but smeared on the bread and how good a goose lard sandwich with salt can taste. Just as if you had another roast in front of you.

He taught me the whole range of Franconian culinary art, simply by telling and watching and eating together on Sunday.

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 And then there was the other side, my father's cooking. The incredible variety of Sri Lankan island cuisine. With its countless spices, fruits and vegetables. With herbs as bitter as the worst medicine and mangoes whose flavour will steal your mind. When I think of my grandparents' house in the heart of Sri Lanka, I can't help but smell curry leaves. How they were rolled into a paste in large quantities by my grandmother sitting on the floor using a heavy stone. This scent filled the whole courtyard and the appetite for a curry was now baseless.

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 Since then, I have cooked my way through life and also partly for its sustenance.

When I was in my mid-20s, I held my first cooking class - 10 Asian country cuisines - with moderate success: the participants were looking for quickly prepared dishes rather than exploring new culinary worlds.

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But I kept at it and over the years I gained more and more experience. I also increasingly catered for larger parties and events.

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In 2021, I realised my dream of having my own vegan café & restaurant in Nuremberg's city centre.
Deli Desires was launched with a lot of effort and has been delighting our guests with vegan delicacies since spring 2022.

 

Unfortunately, unexpected things often happen and so I have to give up my beautiful restaurant again at the end of the year 22 for health reasons.

Instead, I have all the more time for Aspik Curry - my blog and for other exciting projects. I will keep you up to date...

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xx Dipika