Anjoo Singh
Cook, Silicon Valley
Anjoo Singh has been in the business of food since she was a little girl. Growing up in Ludhiana in India’s state of Punjab, she kept a play stove in her room. When her family moved to Scotland, for years she helped out at their various restaurants, and when she moved to the Bay Area, she opened and ran her own cafés. She has been with Bon Appétit for just a year: as a mom with two girls at home, she greatly appreciates the more normal 9 to 5 schedule she has with Bon Appétit.
Anjoo rotates her time between two Bon Appétit corporate clients in Silicon Valley. On the days she is preparing her Indian dishes, guests line up like crazy to get a bite of food that is reminiscent of home. She prepares primarily traditional North Indian dishes (but also ones from other regions) that people have a hard time finding anywhere else: one guest who is from the same town in India as Singh said he hadn’t smelled these scents and tasted these flavors in years, he is so happy that she makes his favorite comfort food!
When asked about her favorite dish, Singh insisted she couldn’t pick one, but her tikka masala is by far the most popular. After her first few months on the job, Singh started experimenting with fusions — mixing some of her mom’s recipes with a little bit of her own zest and flavor. The Farm to Fork relationships have encouraged her to try new ingredients: last fall Singh incorporated many different pumpkins and squash she had never tried before into her dishes.
Singh prides herself on streamlining the recipes and dishes so that anyone on her team can prepare her beloved Indian food. She enjoys working for Bon Appétit because she doesn’t have to stick to a set menu, she can do whatever she wants, she can let her true flavors shine through in her cooking!