The tiny red pepper tattooed behind my left ear murmurs this truth every day – That I will never know everything in my life. I will keep learning, growing over time but never know all. Multiple times in my life I thought I was an expert in chillies, but life in India has taught me a lesson otherwise.
I was born and brought up in Bogota in Columbia, in a close-knit family. Every decision that I took I would discuss with my parents and sister. I wanted to be a chef (though at 16, I thought of studying medicine but gave up the weighty plan soon enough) and left for France, arriving in Paris with a backpack.
I studied at Le Cordon Bleu (that’s where I met patisserie chef Pooja Dhingra), putting long hours in high end gastronomy in Paris for years, worked at Michelin-starred restaurants including Guy Savoy and Alain Senderensi. I was all set to set up my own restaurant in Paris, having turned down Pooja’s offer to come to India to start the café Le 15, eight times. I was obstinate that India would only figure in my scheme of things if everything nosedived. It did. arrived in Mumbai in 2015. At 25, I was stubborn, high handed (having lost every shred of humanity in the razor sharp work environment abroad) and insisted on being issued a return ticket for two months down the line.
After setting up Le 15, I took off for Japan on a holiday to test whether the business would work on auto pilot mode. I returned to see my dream wilting, the footfalls doddering, the staff busy on phones. I was devastated, slipped into smoky depression, and finally realized that to make it work I would need to stay on. India was giving me everything I wanted, but was not looking for. I was getting recognition. India received me with open arms, generously and for that I am deeply grateful
I constantly overthink everything in life, but strangely enough this big decision to take roots in India, and stay away from family was one I took swiftly in minutes, informing my shocked folks on phone. Work was sky rocketing till 2019 as my television shows were popular. I sojourned through Northeast India, living, meeting and eating with indigenous tribes. I would leave each location using local ingredients and techniques to create a unique dish. There were consultation projects, pop ups…and then suddenly the pandemic set in. I was forced to move to my country. Le 15 folded. I had been away from my family for over a decade, studying, working, travelling. My mother got cancer, and I grabbed this chance to be with my family. By now we had relocated from Bogota to Medellin and I hardly knew anyone there. Social media was a big boon as I was able to connect with people across the globe, put up content, work with brands during this time.
I returned to India last year during Ganapati pooja for a fortnight, and was shooting for a show round the clock. I’m back again. I want to divide my time between Colombia and India, though the frequency of my trips to India has gone up radically. Initially,I had pre set notions about perfection. When things didn’t conform I was upset. Paris taught me that there was only one way. India broke that shell for me. In India there is always another way. There are multiple ways of seeing things, cooking, meeting people…it makes your life more peaceful, beautiful. My life was black and white, the colors rushed in when I came here. Sounds like a cliché, but is true
Perfection is not always what you think it to be. For me, the way of working in India was an eyeopener. Mumbai works like a Swiss watch. You take it apart, put in some garbage, fishy smell and ingredients in hard work and ingenuity, swirl and the watch works! For me, that’s perfection. A definition very different from what I came with to India with. Like every other place, India has its own different way of understanding perfection, and beauty. India has taught me that beauty lies in perception. All you have to do is change your perspective.
India has changed my life, made me a better human being. Earlier an atheist, I am now more spiritual. I believe in universal energy and have a Ganapati back home in Colombia. Being Latin American, I was dubbed brown in Europe. Now I am a gora firang in India!
If I could, I wish I could change the element of consistency in the work scene here. You put a salad on the menu, monsoon arrives, forget about your salad. Consistency in availability is an issue but then you need to re create the menu ingeniously. Talk to suppliers, build relationships to know beforehand. Second, attrition in the team. You spend months training someone, they get poached and leave for a small hike in the salary elsewhere. My solution is to hire more, rotate the staff so that everyone knows a bit of everything. India has definitely made me more humane and compassionate. I only wish I could change the mindset of young cooks and explain to them that they need to understand the structure and basics of a cuisine. Nothing happens without hard work and sincerity. I have learnt that I will keep learning throughout my life
Right now, I am on an ‘eat’ mission sojourning through Varanasi and then Kerala, having done Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Udaipur. I can never get enough of India. For me, pani puri explains India in one bite. It doesn’t make any sense as a chef, but it’s perfect. Culinary schools teach us to fry and dry. We put the puri in cold water, after filling with warm matar, dal, aloo or sprouts. There are all textures and flavors: Hot, cold, sweet, savoury, tangy, spicy, bitter.
About Pablo
Colombian chef Pablo Agular was raised in the vibrant city of Bogota, moved to Paris at 18 and arrived in Mumbai to make India his second home by the time he was 25. He pours in a kaleidoscope of cultural influences into his culinary creations, shaping an atlas of flavors with effortless ease
Shilpi Madan for The Leela