Meet Romy Gill; chef, food writer, author and broadcaster, hailing from West Bengal, India, before relocating to the UK. Known for her vibrant and uplifting personality, her cooking expertise in Indian cuisine, gracing our TV screens on many cooking programmes, and for being a long term fan of East.
Join us in conversation with Romy to discover her journey into the world of food, cooking inspirations, a love of storytelling and her collaboration with East.
Tell me about your journey into the world of food.
“ When I was young I was not really interested in food, I was more interested in playing cricket, and when mum would ask me to come and help her I would come up with the biggest excuses so I could run away and play. My mum was diagnosed with cancer when I was just about to go into sixth form, and that’s what changed my mind. Her life revolved around cooking for friends and three kids, cooking four meals a day every single day, and when she was undergoing treatment that was a big turning point for me. I decided that I wanted to get into hotel management, in particular how to cook. When I came to the UK I missed my friends, family and the food that I used to eat at home. When I met my husband I told him I was going to open a restaurant and I knew that was it, years later I did!”
“In order to write, you have to be a storyteller, and to have a story you have to travel. Even if you can’t afford to go abroad, there are so many local places that you can visit. You have to speak to people and ask their stories, you have to be a good listener. When you listen to people, you come back and write their story, about their food, how you ate it, and at the same time you are promoting that person because you love that person and their food. I think it is my love of storytelling that has brought me success.”
What are some of the food memories you have from your childhood?
“I was very lucky that my dad also loves cooking, he knows what's in season and will make that. His stress relief was cooking, when he had a day off. Whether it was meat, fish or a vegetarian dish. It would also give my mum a breather. I had a lot of influences from both parents, as well as friends' parents. My parents are from Punjab which is North India, but my dad went to West Bengal in East India in search of work, where he worked in the steel plant. People came from every corner of India to work there so the cuisine that I ate was very multicultural, Gujarati, Rajasthani. This is where I met my best friends, who are still my friends. We would have gathered on Sundays for the television and mum would cook for everyone. We would take train journeys of over twenty four hours, and mum would cook beautiful picnics. My mum's Parathas are still loved and talked about by everyone. She would make a hundred different varieties. The way she would make the flat breads and fry them, she knew exactly when and how to fry them, which is still a talking point with my friends. When I moved to the UK it was very expensive to phone India, so I would write letters and my mum's neighbour would translate them for her from English. She would send me recipes which are beautiful memories. The art of letter writing is a beautiful art which has been forgotten. For me it is not just my parents who influenced me, but the streetfood I would eat with friends, my family and my friends parents."
What was it that inspired your most recent book? Romy Gills India: Recipes from Home
“This book is a story of my two kitchens, where I was born and brought up in Bengal, and where I would spend my Summer holidays with my grandparents in Punjab. A little bit about my restaurant, with some recipes from there. A lot of the recipes are from food I grew up eating and my friends' house that her mum would make - Auntie Rita's Fish Curry. (Recipe below). It’s a story about friendship and family."
If you had to pick one, what is your favourite recipe from the book?
“I love eating anything seafood, so it’s got to be a fish curry, or the crab that I cooked in my restaurant. My mums Dahl and Parathas are a favourite as well, or my dads meat curry, it’s hard to choose, I can’t just pick one! It’s the story and taste and texture behind each one.”
Has your approach to cooking changed throughout the creation of your different cookbooks? If so, how?
“With my books, I wanted to prove myself as a writer, both in recipes and travel. Learning to write recipes is very different because as a chef you just put things in without measuring, whereas recipe writing made me start weighing and measuring things. For me, I am still learning. When I go to new countries or regions, I am still in awe of all of the ingredients, methods and techniques. Especially India being such a big country, everytime I visit I learn something new. I learn every single day, when I am on TV you only have six or seven minutes to cook, so you have to learn to do it very quickly, so that by the end of the time you can present something. Because I have mostly done live TV shows, I am generally very quick, so when I am not doing a live show I need to learn to slow down. I think working across radio, TV, travelling to different countries, my writing and work as a chef, my journey has shaped me to be a better person. Every single day I am learning something.”
What advice would you give to someone trying to start out in their career in food?
“The hospitality industry is a very welcoming industry. You can start from the bottom and work your way up the ladder. You should never be scared of washing dishes, this is the foundation of the industry. If the kitchen porter is ill you have to be prepared to do everything. You have to be an all- rounder, not just a chef.”
“If you are new to hospitality, you need to find a mentor who has been in the industry who can guide and help you. We all have good and bad days, so having the support of a mentor or friends and family you can rely on someone who can listen to you also.”
“It’s a lot of hard work, and your main work days are the weekends which you have to be prepared for, but you can enjoy your other days off which is important.”
You have such a vibrant and colourful personality, how has this influenced your style and fashion sense?
“Even before our collaboration, I have always loved East. It reminds me of India, both in styles, colours and the combination of prints. I have always loved East, right back from when you had shops, and I still have jewellery that I have collected from then.”
“When I started doing TV, I wanted to promote brands that reflect me and my culture and roots.”
“With my recent book, I wanted it to reflect me - my hyper personality, my love of bright colours and my culture. It needed to have two colours that would tell the tale of my childhood. Punjab is very much reds, oranges and pinks, and then we needed yellows and mustards, which is where colour inspiration comes from. When I talked to East about the dress, I wanted it to coincide with my book and for it to bring out my personality, and I think that the dress is beautiful. I hope it brings sunshine to everyone’s life.”
(Pictured left to right: East Romy Embroidered Red Dress, £129. East Romy Embroidered Green Top, £89).
If like us you can’t wait to try more of Romy’s recipes, her new book Romy Gill’s India is available to buy online and at all major retailers from 12th September 2024. You can follow Romy on Instagram or discover more amazing recipes on her website here. We’d love to hear what you think!
***All images are a curated selection from Romy’s book, Romy Gill's India: Recipes from Home by Romy Gill (Hardie Grant, £28), Photography © Sam A. Harris or @romygill on Instagram.