On an adventurous journey

Expat zone

The story of Tori Macdonald is one that’s filled with determination and a love for flavours, well-balanced with a dash of romance and adventure. In what she calls a typical “boy meets girl” scenario, the Canadian moved to Bengaluru a little over a year ago from Toronto. “My partner, Yohan, is a Bengalurean and his work visa expired after a year in Canada. We tried being in a long distance relationship for two years but that didn’t work out. So I came here for a short three-month visit; I liked it and thoroughly enjoyed myself and thought ‘why not move here’,” she says.

After her three-month visit, she worked three jobs, saved some money, sold everything and came here. Talking about her journey so far, she says, “After I came here for three months, I went back and worked three jobs, one of them at a bar and restaurant where I was one of the two cooks who ran the whole place.” It was here that she began experimenting with the Indian cuisine. “I was asked to make a five dollar special everyday, and I came up with a dish made from chicken masala, folded into mashed potatoes, coated with bread crumbs, fried and served with a ‘raita’ style dip.” She also took her partner’s grandmother’s recipe for sorpotel and gave it a little twist.

When she came back here again, she spent her initial months hunting for jobs, until she met Nikhil Barua, who offered her a job at ‘The Humming Tree’, Indiranagar. “I was trying to find a job so that I could stay here longer. Some friends suggested I talk to Nikhil about the process of getting an employment visa since he had gone through it with a previous employee. He then asked if I wanted to do a trial here and offered me the job. Within two weeks of meeting him, I was on a plane back to Canada to file all my papers and now I’m here!”

She has been working at ‘The Humming Tree’ since November last year, where she gets to experiment with flavours. “I’ve always been interested in Indian cuisine, the spices, flavours and how it’s layered together. It only made sense that I end up here,” she laughs. Having grown up in Alberta, with a mother of Germanic roots, her cooking style takes on an interesting European flavour.

“Canada as a country doesn’t have a lot of its own speciality food. It draws a lot on the different countries that came and settled there. Since I grew up in Alberta, which has Ukrainian and Polish influences, I make and like items like Pierogi, cabbage rolls and Kielbasa. Also, I grew up with a mum who has a German background so all my comfort foods seem to be a little Germanic, liked mashed potatoes and Spätzle,” she says.

On her off days, she helps her partner, who has his own organic gardening company, in the garden and comes up with new recipes using different herbs and vegetables. “On my first visit here (which was in 2011), I got to visit my boyfriend’s entire family, which is ginormous when compared to mine. Then we did a bit of touring where we spent a couple of weeks in Goa, then visited Dandeli, Pondicherry and Kodaikanal. I was able to see all sorts of things and meet different people. I liked it enough that I came back.”

On moving to Bengaluru, she says, “When I first came here, it was a little loud in comparison. In Toronto, which isn’t a small city, you could hear a lot more bird sounds and the footsteps of people. They don’t honk so much there and by 10 pm, everything is quiet. It took a little time to get used to the noise here and the sheer number of people.” Calling the sounds in Toronto more “organic”, she adds, “I lived in an area of the city that was close to the lake, so you could go for a walk and hear the water on the shore.”

About her life in Canada, she adds, “After I graduated from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, I moved to Edmundston for a culinary course. I wanted to try something new, and my dad was in Toronto, so I moved into a lovely beach community there. I worked in three to four places there, from a crepe cafe to bar and high-end catering place.” Now, she’s on another exciting journey, which she loves.