From the Courtroom to the Kitchen

My route to the kitchen is perhaps an unusual one. I didn’t start off with a desire to work with food, although maybe on some deeper level I did. Like any good Indian daughter, I worked hard at school and passed all my exams. I then went on to become the first female Indian barrister in Liverpool. The law, especially at that time, was a very male-dominated industry and I recall on my first day of mini pupillage being sent a note by the head of chambers that said: ‘Tell her not to return tomorrow as she is female and Asian and the bar is no place for such a person.’ I surprised myself by returning to chambers the next day. I was more afraid of my mother than of the man at the top of the stagnant ivory tower.