A Spark of Madness cookbook author Simran Savlani on culture shock, creating ‘crack sauce’ and hosting dinners on sampans
- The F&B consultant talks about her peripatetic childhood, how Covid fired up a culinary career switch and why she is betting big on business-savvy Hong Kong
My parents are college sweethearts from Bombay, India. They moved to Taiwan for business opportunities and both speak Mandarin. I’m a “Made in Taiwan” baby, born in 1988. My younger sister and I had the typical American life in Taiwan: we went to the American School and the American Club; had a front yard and a backyard; and celebrated Halloween and St Patrick’s Day.
In 1995, my dad decided to move his import-export business to Hong Kong, as a window into China. My mum was nervous about the upcoming 1997 handover and wanted us children – she was pregnant with her third – to know more of our Indian culture, so she moved us to Bombay. Dad flew back and forth between Hong Kong and India twice a month.
No Swing Time
Moving to India was the first time I experienced culture shock. We went to the Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School, a Parsee school, and learned about Parsee culture. We were used to air-conditioning in school and suddenly there was only a fan.
For lunch we were given a tiffin box with a dal, a chapatti and a vegetable. We were used to having a quick sandwich and then going to the playground and playing on the swings. There was a ground to play on, but there were no swings or see-saws.
We adjusted. My mum took it as a full-on immersion programme. Any festival that the city celebrated, Muslim, Hindu or Parsee, she took us three kids to experience it.
The worst thing ever
When I was 14, my dad turned 40 and grew tired of flying back and forth, so he moved the family to Hong Kong. It was another culture shock. I went to West Island School and was immersed in the British education system. I wasn’t used to the British accent and a lot was lost in translation. I felt I needed subtitles to understand the teacher.
