Life and Work with Renu Ansh Dhar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renu Ansh Dhar.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Food is my connection to the land I can no longer go back to! My story as a personal chef and culinary educator started even before I knew it could be a story. It started on a dark and extremely cold winter night when my grandfather very softly woke me from my sleep and told me it was time.

The time was for me to grab a small bag with clothes and hop into the back of a goods truck along with a few of my female cousins. Terrorists in Kashmir valley had begun an ethnic cleansing of the Hindus that lived there. State owned newspapers published messages for Hindus to leave or face consequences.

I spent hours crying, silently, in the back of that truck. The rest of my family was still back in Kashmir and I had no idea when and if I will see them again. I was a teenage girl. I was a Hindu minority. Girls & women were easy targets. So I had to flee.

I didn’t get to see my family for a number of years after that night. We lived on the opposite ends of the same state with an invisible border that we couldn’t cross. And when I finally did meet them, I was grown up and ready to fly.

I lived in my own country as a refugee, with no place to call home. That deep rooted hollow feeling would only go away when I cooked food from my hometown. And so, a desire to know my land through its food was born. Food evoked the emotions of home, of tranquility, of conviction and of security. It was all I had left of the home I left behind.

What started as a way to connect to my roots, soon became a quest for learning about the history of food, use of herbs and spices for healing and understanding nutrition. Which ultimately led me to get formally trained in Culinary Arts.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being in the food industry in India was not as common or as fashionable as it is now. So I took the corporate road ( the road much traveled) and worked in enterprise training & development. I was successful. I enjoyed it. But the real joy I got was always from cooking for people and teaching Kashmiri cuisine.

After I moved to the US, I had to get over a lot of inhibitions. Rules that I had subconsciously adapted to were keeping me from following my own passion. What will people think? Am I too old to change my career?

What I have learnt in my journey is that it is important to trust yourself, believe in yourself and as long as what you are doing is not unethical or illegal – don’t listen to any voices that are not your own.

Please tell us about Spiceroots.
Food helps a feeling of well-being. It has the power to comfort and nourish. Not only the body but also the soul.
As a personal chef, I work with people who fight health challenges. I am on their team so we can win, together.

I especially love to come up with nutritious yet tasty food. Fast meals can be healthy, nutrient-dense and full of flavor. I prepare meals based on individual nutrition plans when people have to fight bigger battles like chemotherapy. And I teach meal prep and cooking for when they are on a healing path. I work with people who have just been told that they can’t eat gluten or dairy anymore because of an autoimmune disease or allergies and don’t know how to get started on this new life long journey. It makes my work more meaningful when my clients explore nourishing food from around the globe.

I work with teens during summers and teach meal prep, planning and cooking for the years in college. I started that with my daughter and then her friends. And from there it took off to be this summer program where teens come and explore cooking, baking, knife skills and meal planning.

We just expect that kids in college will eat pre packaged food. They don’t have to. They shouldn’t. They are still growing and developing. And with the rate of food allergies at an all-time high, for some kids cooking becomes a necessary skill.

My work enables me to cook food without borders. From all over the world, taking in teachings from ancient cultures and modern techniques. Now, for me, home is where the knife roll is!

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I almost always refer to the book, Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. It is something everyone should have if they are interested in cooking. Once you understand ratios, your dependence on “recipes” diminishes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.renudcuisine.com
• Phone: 7202332015
• Email: ansh@spiceroots.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiceroots/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spiceroots/
• Other: www.spiceroots.com

Image Credit:
Ansh Dhar

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.