HM’s Food & Wine

Ms. Jyoti Pandey Pathak- Award - Winner of the 2008 “Best Foreign Cuisine Book” in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for the book “Taste of Nepal” was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. Taste of Nepal also got Special Award of the Jury at award ceremony (April 13, 2008-London). She has a degree in Home Economics from the MS University of Baroda, India and taught at the National Vocation College in Sano Thimi, Nepal before coming to the United States. A resident of Corning-Painted Post area (Western New York), she is an active member of The Association of Nepalese in the Americas, The World Pluralism Group, and The Southern Tier Cultural Association. A founding member of the Association of Nepalese in America, she headed the cookbook committee and spearheaded the production of the first Nepali cookbook self-published in Americas in 1986, now available from Snow Lion Publication under the name “Nepal Cookbook.”

Currently Ms. Pathak is doing what she enjoys most:  volunteering at the local non-profit organizations, traveling, gardening, needle point, pressed flower art, and Aqua Aerobics. She lives in western New York with her husband Kamal.
Food & Wine is very delighted to present the Point of View of Ms. Pathak.
How did you think of getting involved in writing book in Nepalese cuisine? When did you arrive in US and why?
I have always been fascinated and interested in food and cooking from my early childhood.  My real culinary interests, however, began when I arrived in the USA, in the spring of 1970.  I came here as a young bride, beginning a new life in a new world, to join my husband.  He was having nostalgic longing for the Nepalese food that he had eaten all his life.  I started to cook Nepalese food for family, friends and experimented with different recipes, and explored with ingredients and spices depending on their availability. I wanted to further my education on cooking and began to sharpen my skills while busy raising children.  After my children left for college, I had more time, so my journey to write a comprehensive book of Nepalese cooking started. >>Read More