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Bal Arneson: sugar, spice and everything right
Spice goddess: Chef Bal Arneson (center) is surrounded by other chefs during her visit in Jakarta
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Spice goddess:: Chef Bal Arneson (center) is surrounded by other chefs during her visit in Jakarta. (Courtesy of AFC) (center) is surrounded by other chefs during her visit in Jakarta. (Courtesy of AFC)
Spice goddess: Chef Bal Arneson (center) is surrounded by other chefs during her visit in Jakarta. (Courtesy of AFC)
Spice Goddess Bal Arneson is always ready for whatever life throws her way.
The Indian-born Canadian celebrity chef has gone through many things in life: from earning a living by cleaning homes to walking on the red carpet with Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.
In addition to being a fabulous cook who has authored three best-sellers and hosted two shows without the help of an agency or entertainment lawyer, Bal is also a well-known elementary school teacher and an outspoken advocate for women and men who want to start anew.
But above all, she is a proud, hands-on mother, whose two children ' despite their celebrity status ' have responsibilities around the house.
Anoop, 20, and Aaron, 10, co-host Spice of Life with their mother. The show is unscripted and takes viewers along as they go about their daily activities, which always begin with them making breakfast. The three do fun things such as bungee jumping and climbing atop their Vancouver home. 'The show was my daughter's idea and the network just loves it. And she's been nagging me about copyrights. I told her that her payment is the roof over her head,' Bal told a media event to promote the TV show aired in the region by the Asian Food Channel.
The easy banter among them was shown throughout the event where Bal served Indian delicacies such as samosas and spiced yogurt paired with Glenfiddich single-malt whiskey.
The event was a reunion for the family members, who have been apart for the last few months because of work. The chef and Aaron were in Singapore to film her upcoming series Bal Arneson's Spice Adventure to be aired soon on the Asian Food Channel ' she spent her time in Jakarta looking for local spices at the wet market ' while Anoop, a law undergraduate and CEO of her own company, recently returned from a three-month trip to Zambia where she opened a girls school for orphans.
Sitting down with The Jakarta Post, Bal said that she started it all because of her daughter.
She left her arranged marriage with a daughter in her custody, no education and little English in her first couple of years in Canada when she was barely 20 years old.
'I don't know how old I am,' she said.
Born in a traditional village in Punjab where no one cares about recording the birth date of a baby girl, Bal has limited education and was taught to cook and clean at 6 years old, although she preferred climbing rooftops and playing cricket.
Ironically, she chose the kitchen to find her freedom where she learned about all kind of spices used in Indian cuisine and made her own recipes.
'I knew I needed to go back to school and get my high school diploma so I could be a role model for my daughter. I wanted her to see that education was important,' said Bal, adding that education was the key to her success.
She cleaned people's houses to pay for her night classes.
'I didn't know at that time that people go to the moon, I had never heard of the Great Wall of China. I learned more and more. I was fascinated by World War I and World War II. I had no idea that there were so many countries in the world!'
She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and human behavior and, after taking many more courses, she became a teacher for its time convenience, as she preferred staying with her daughter in the evenings and during weekends.
She continued school and got her Master degree in education, while holding cooking classes for her friends.
'They suggested that to write a cookbook so I called publishers. They hanged up on me as soon as they learned that I wasn't a trained chef.'
'If someone says no to me, I get excited. If one recipe doesn't work, I stay up thinking about how to fix it,' she said.
Her passion for healthy home cooked meals and the use of seasonal spices and ingredients as well as her lifetime of training convinced local publisher Whitecap Books, with whom she published all three cookbooks: Everyday Indian, Bal's Quick & Healthy Indian, which won the Gourmand World Book Award in the Asian category for Canada and Bal's Spice Kitchen.
The camera loved her extremely photogenic face during the publication of her first cookbook, helping her land her on her own show with the Food Network Canada, Spice Goddess.
Bal says that what she has done is 'demystify' spices (curry and mint ice cream or mango cardamom crème brulee, anyone?).
Her well-versed knowledge of spices landed her a gig as food and beverage consultant for Hollywood movie The Hundred-Foot Journey, co-produced by Spielberg and Winfrey, with whom she walked alongside the red carpet with at its world premiere.
Now that Bal works closely with her children, their achievements were the star topics of the conversation.
Bal is amazed by Aaron's cooking skills ' he makes better no-butter chicken, his mother's signature dish ' and he is now into baking.
She shared her feelings when Anoop called her in sobs to tell her that the hand-pumped well she had been working on in Zambia let out water. She said the elders in that area in Zambia cried along with her.
'I guess my job as a mother is done. I have always told my children to help others who can't help themselves.'
With a show set to premiere, Bal is currently writing a cookbook with her children. 'My children will have their recipes, which will be combined with family recipes.'
Bal shared family values and gave hope to those facing hardships. She offered free cooking classes and told her students, 'If you can't go straight, just go side-to-side. Just believe in yourself.'
