Meet Pooja Dhingra, MasterChef India Season 8 Judge Who Turned Her Love For Pastries Into Profession
Here's all you need to know about Pooja Dhingra, the new MasterChef India Season 8 judge, the woman behind Le15 Patisserie who is hailed as the macron queen.
MasterChef India Season 8 premiered last night on October 16, and this time gracing the judge's panel are Chefs Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Pooja Dhingra the new entrant who has replaced Chef Garima Arora. The 37-year-old chef was a guest judge in the last season of the show. Who is Pooja Dhingra?
Here's all you need to know about Pooja Dhingra, the new MasterChef India Season 8 judge
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A lawyer-turned-culinary expert!
If you also have a sweet tooth, you will surely relate to her journey. Born in a family interested in gastronomy, Pooja's father for the unversed is a restaurant owner and her mother ran a baking business from home.
When she was young, she learned baking from her aunt. She first enrolled herself in a law school in Mumbai. However, soon she realized her passion and switched careers. She then got admission in C¨¦sar Ritz school in Le Bouveret, Switzerland, which is known as the chocolate capital of the world.
How she turned her love for pastries into a profession!
After she completed her course, she trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she also came across the first macron in her life.
"In all my 22 years, I had eaten enough pineapple cakes and Dutch truffle pastries to last me a lifetime, but never tried a macaron. That very weekend, I went to a confectionery boutique store, and queued up for 15 minutes to get in. Inside, there were rows of macarons in exquisite colours displayed on tables and in the fridge. I ate one, and I was hooked," she was quoted as saying by Forbes.
The woman behind bakery chain Le15 Patisserie!
The first person to open a macaron store in India!
In 2010, she came back to India and opened her first store Le15 Patisserie which specialises in macarons and a host of French desserts. With a staff of two people and an investment of Rs 10 lakhs, which she borrowed from her family, her bakery became popular after she made samples of her products available for tasting at an Andheri Mall.
In the next four years, she employed 42 people. Her aim was to deliver Parisian-styled culinary experiences in India.
In the same year, she was featured in Forbes India's '30 Under 30' achievers list.
And soon, she opened many other branches of Le15 Patisserie.
Hailed as the macron queen, Pooja Dhingra is seen on MasterChef India Season 8 which airs on Sony TV and streams on Sony Liv from October 16.
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