COOK CONSCIOUSLY WITH
VAISHALI
V
aishali Chandrashekar
of Short Hills calls
herself “a compul-
sive feeder.” So it’s a
good thing that she
hosts cooking classes
every Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. at
her home. “I thereby satisfy my need
to feed people every week,” she jokes.
Her business is called Cook
Consciously with Vaishali. She also
offers private group classes with
custom menus that can be held at
clients’ homes.
Before she started Cook
Consciously, Chandrashekar, a
dedicated home chef, was asked by
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HOLIDAY 2019 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
friends to share her recipes online
through videos. But that didn’t
jive with Chandrashekar, a former
architect and holistic health coun-
selor who emphasizes the tactile
experience of cooking — hearing the
sizzle, noticing the aromas, feeling
the textures.
“There are so many things you
have to experience when you’re learn-
ing to cook,” she says. “How can you
communicate smell and taste through
YouTube?”
The solution: holding “conscious”
cooking classes. Chandrashekar
describes “conscious cooking” as
a holistic interaction with food.
Noticing little things adds up to a
more wholesome cooking and eat-
ing experience, in Chandrashekar’s
view.
These classes also serve as mini
culture lessons. Chandrashekar is
from India, and her students hale
from places like South Africa and
Russia. She takes recipe requests
from her students and incorporates
her own traditions into her class-
es — for example, teaching dishes
associated with Diwali, the Hindu
festival of lights, in late October.
“I like to draw inspiration from
different cultures in every day cook-
ing,” says Chandrashekar. “I have
a lot of curiosity for how certain
foods and techniques are prevalent
in certain countries. When you learn
about those things, it makes it easier
for you to understand food. Talking
about culture comes up very naturally
in my classes.”
Chandrashekar gained a curiosity
for food while growing up in India.
Her town was populated mostly by
people who worked for a research
company that attracted employees
from all over India. Chandrashekar
was privy to a bounty of local
delicacies from different corners
of India. “All my friends had very
different foods in their houses,”
Chandrashekar says. “I was amazed
there were so many different things
people were eating in India alone.”
But it was when she moved to
the U.S. in her early 30s and tasted
the many different cuisines available
from different countries that she
became truly enamored with cooking.
“I was a kid in a candy store,” she
says. “There were so many foods I
had never seen before. Then I started
experimenting with other global
ingredients. Learning about those
foods allowed me to understand my
own culture’s foods better.”
In her classes, Chandrashekar
hopes to pass on that understanding
to other eager home cooks
Those interested in taking one of
Chandrashekar’s classes can email
her at vaishali.chandrashekar
@gmail.com.
VAISHALI
CHANDRASHEKAR