Former Gurkha chef cooks up the spice of life with The Ultimate Taste of Nepal at Woods Restaurant
Signed by the Dalai Lama and endorsed by Joanna Lumley, it’s rare for a debut cookery book by an unknown chef to receive such attention, but then The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book written by former Gurkha soldier Pemba Lama is no ordinary recipe book.
Now Kent’s foodies will have a chance to taste the fabulous cuisine during The Ultimate Taste of Nepal charity evening, which comes to Woods Restaurant in The Pantiles on Friday 16 November from 7.30pm onwards. The book’s author and Nepalese chef extraordinaire, Pemba Lama, will prepare a delicious Nepalese buffet with every guest receiving a free signed copy of the new recipe book (which normally retails for £14.99). The exotic Nepalese feast (for just £30 per person) will feature some of Pemba’s most exciting dishes from the book, whilst Kent’s own Nicci Gurr of Home Gurr’own (who has provided the delicious puddings for the recipe book) will create a tasty Nepalese pudding with a British twist.
The charity evening in aid of the Gurkha Welfare Trust will see the book’s publishers making a donation to the trust, for every cook book presented to diners, whilst guests will be transported from Tunbridge Wells to the Nepali hill tribe home of the Gurkhas with their traditional music playing throughout the evening. To guarantee your seats at what is expected to be an extremely popular event, pre-booking and pre-payment is strongly recommended – so call Woods Restaurant on 01892 614411 or email your reservation/contact details to info@woodsrestaurant.co.uk.
The birth of The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book evolved out of an extraordinary twist of events driven by Cranbrook-based Annie Watsham. The writer, journalist and ardent supporter of the Gurkhas was the widely reported ‘mystery woman’ who boldly suggested in 2008 that the award-winning actress Joanna Lumley (whose father served with the Gurkhas) become involved in the Gurkha Justice Campaign.
The tenacious actress came to Cranbrook in Kent in June 2009 to meet the equally tenacious Annie Watsham and, inspired by the idea, Lumley went on to achieve the now infamous and widely reported victory to secure resettlement rights for Gurkhas in the UK.
Annie, who is described by Lumley as “my dear discoverer”, could have left it at that – her job done for the common sense and compassionate Gurkha Justice Campaign, but having worked so closely with this unique group of soldiers in the British Army she decided instead to set up an online community in 2009 www.gurkhabusinesscommunity.com.
Almost immediately Annie heard from ex-Gurkha chef Pemba Lama who, clutching a fascinating pile of recipes that he had collected and developed during his career, muted the idea of bringing them together into The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book.
Annie Watsham said: “When I heard about Pemba’s amazing story, and saw his obvious talent and experience of cooking around the world for a quarter of a century as a civilian and for the army, I instinctively felt that this was a culinary story that needed to be told and The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book is the result of that three year journey.”
Given its landlocked location, Nepalese cuisine is a fascinating fusion of Chinese, Tibetan and Indian cuisine that has resulted in a unique Himalayan cuisine, whilst Gurkha-style food has its own exclusive character and influences. The cook book immediately engages the reader with a fascinating taster of Nepalese culture and cuisine whilst the ‘basic spices and a bit of science’ doesn’t patronise but quickly familiarises the reader with the key spices. Then the novice in Nepalese cuisine can quickly gain confidence with ‘the four essential requirements for Nepalese and Gurkha cooking’ which gives simple recipes to create garam masala, ta-za masala, ginger and garlic paste and Gurkha curry sauce – the four ‘stock’ items that feature throughout the vegetable, fish and meat dishes that follow.
Every recipe is clearly written, succinct and easy to follow and punctuated by the most stunning full-colour photography. These are not the staged and static photos we are used to seeing in many recipe books, rather they capture Pemba Lama animatedly rolling, stirring and chopping the ingredients so that you feel as though you have a very experienced chef’s hand taking you on this wonderful culinary expedition.
Always open to the cultures he immerses himself in, Pemba invited Nicci Gurr of Home Gurr’own(an award-winning chef from Cranbrook) to create the Nepalese desserts for the cook book with a ‘British twist’. Nicci runs a smallholding with her husband producing fine local produce and the recipes she developed for the book were seasoned with her own chilli plants, edible flowers, herbs and spices grown in the ‘Garden of England’, as well as Nepalese tea.
Pemba Lama served in the British Army for 23 years as a senior Gurkha catering officer, cooking in a multitude of different countries, surrounded by a rich variety of cuisines. He has personally cooked for some very high profile guests including the Dalai Lama, Her Majesty the Queen and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. More recently he and his daughter Kessang cooked alongside Madhur Jaffrey in their home in Basingstoke, for a television programme that is due to be aired this winter featuring the cuisine of the Nepalese.
Pemba has spent much of his career sharing the skills and knowledge he has acquired. In 1993 Pemba became a catering instructor in Hong Kong after completing the Advance Chef Training in Higher Culinary Skills at the Army School of Catering in the UK. Never one to rest on his laurels, after officially ‘retiring’ from the army, he joined the Civil Service as a specialist instructional officer at the Defence Food Services School in Aldershot. He now shares his wealth of experience by teaching catering and ethnic cookery to Armed Forces chefs and civilians in Winchester.
The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book retails for £14.99 and is available from Grierson Publications for £16.99 (inc P&P) at www.theultimatenepalesecookbook.com orwww.griersonpublications.com.
Pre-book your seats for The Ultimate Taste of Nepal
To guarantee your places at The Ultimate Taste of Nepal (£30pp including free signed copy of the recipe book, normal RRP £14.99) advance booking and pre-payment is strongly recommended for what is expected to be an extremely popular evening.
Please call Woods Restaurant on 01892 614411 or email your reservation/contact details toinfo@woodsrestaurant.co.uk or visit www.woodsrestaurant.co.uk .
