PEAKLIFE

Chocolatier Latha Jayanth of “Kukie’s Nest” is blessed with a talent that leaves your mouth watering and asking for more. She has a talent for molding chocolates into delectable fare that is DELICIOUS beyond belief. This festive season, “The Pataka Collection” from Kukie’s Nest is visually just as exciting as it is brilliant for the taste buds. Read on to know more about this chocolate magician – Latha Jayanth.

“If I come to think of it, my life journey can be chalked down to a few pearls of wisdom, or keeping in sync with present-day trends, “innovations” in age-old idioms.” With these words of wisdom, the brilliant chocolatier Latha Jayanth shares with PEAKLIFE her story of passion and excellence that translates into delectable chocolates and bakes – the story of the talent behind ‘Kukie’s Nest’, LathaJayanth.

Why Cooking?

My family is old school. However, they were modern enough to provide me with as much education as they did for my elder brother or younger sister, but we girls were reminded in a timely manner that learning to cook was as important part of my life’s curriculum as math and science were an important part of school curriculum.

 

It definitely helped that my dad and brother are self-confessed food connoisseurs, and my mother often said, “the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!”Soon, small chores in the kitchen turned to longer stints helping with the cooking during the summer vacations, and before I knew it, my mother had passed the symbolic apron from one generation to another.

 

Why Baking?

For one, I thought it was healthier than fried savories, and secondly, I was interested in amalgamating western cooking methods and Indian cuisine. While Indian cooking has “tandoor” as its own baking variant, it has not been applied to dishes beyond rotis, naans, tikkas kebabs etc. While the present-day focus at Kukie’s Nest’ is on classical cakes, pastries, biscuits, and breads, I have undertaken some original and challenging assignments like a baked gulab jamun cake, or infusing Indian flavors like Kesar, cinnamon etc. to cakes.

 

Why Sweets?

This one was easy. There is a mithai associated with every festival in India, and we have plenty of them. I want to add that special touch to a client’s special day. A bespoke offering for anniversaries and birthdays drives home the point for your special someone. It certainly disappears in the stomach but my aim is for the taste and the presentation to linger in the mouth, in the mind, and in the heart, forever.

 

Cooking as a Social Endeavor

“Give a man a fish, and you would have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you would have fed him for a lifetime.”

While I am no feminist, and certainly do not eat fish; this adage got me thinking. In a traditional Indian household, it is the woman who spends her time in the kitchen feeding the family. She even plays a critical role in farming. So why not empower women to feed and celebrate with her family, her extended society etc.?

Towards that, I am welcoming underprivileged women with an interest in cooking, and interest in baking to join me in learning this art. From my experience, cooking is a lot like entrepreneurship… can be learnt but not be taught. With every batch of the student who joins me, I facilitate and help them learn. There are scores of students that I am immensely proud of, who have gone on to use their talent and creativity to bake some memorable stuff.

Another aspect of learning how to cook that has a very positive impact on the person is to learn the virtue of being patient, meticulous and organized. To that extent, I would say cooking is more science than art. The art aspects come in during the presentation. However, the basic art of cooking or baking his highly technical, and scientific. In this respect, it is a lot like programming. Specific, sequential and very algorithmic. In fact, I have found it a wonderful way to even teach kids how to measure and mix in a very fun way.

 

Bringing it Home

“You are what you eat”

How we cook and what we eat is intricately tied to our health and both our mental and physical wellbeing. I hope to contribute to a better world around me by encouraging people to adopt healthy ways to cook and ingredients. Hopefully, Kukie’s Nest leaves behind immensely happy, healthy and sweet clients, waiting to come back for more for different occasions.

 

The Pataka Collection from Kukie’s Nest

This Diwali let’s do our bit for the environment! Kukie’s Nest welcomes you to an audio-visual-gastronomical treat to indulge your senses, all while your stomach feels nourished, heart feels healthy, and your soul feels content (and less guilty).

 

The audible crunch of caramel cookies… to wake you up on a Diwali morning

Feel the burst of chemical-free breads in your mouth…

Grains of jaggery bouncing off granola setting off sounds in your ears like 1000 garland crackers going off in the distance

Feel the velvety tango of cinnamon and chocolate cake on your taste buds,

A palette tingling extravaganza of fennel and coconut amalgamated cookies

Wholesome nuts coated in traditional flavors, crisped to a sun-kissed golden brown to make this Diwali, truly healthy, truly special.

 

Kukie’s Nest presents…“The Pataka Collection”.

 

 

Kukie’s Nest believes in only meeting skyrocketing expectations, for prices as sweet as our offerings, please get in touch with Latha Jayanth @9811926701/ 8810373980