“Although my passport says I’m a British citi­zen, at heart I’m still a Nepali,” says 39-year-old Binod Baral. Baral is a restaurateur, social entrepreneur and consultant chef who runs a restaurant called ‘Mo:mo and Roti’ in Wembley, London. He also operates a catering and consultancy business there called “Spice Pundit.” But “Mo:mo and Roti is my main business,” Baral says.

“I sell authentic Nepali dishes. You won’t get naan or tikka masala or tandoori here, unlike most restaurants that sell ‘roti’,” Baral says. “You rather get only authentic Nepali food and around 100 varieties of momos.”

He was only 18 when Baral, who originally hails from Pokhara, first set foot on English soil as a kitchen assistant. In just over two decades, his passion for cook­ing and hard-work has turned him into a successful hospital­ity businessman in England, and a proud member of the Nepali diaspora.

After serving Nepali cui­sine in London for all these years, Baral now wants to globalize Nepali food. Along with his Nepali peers from all over the world, Baral is campaigning for better promotion of Nepali food. He is also writing a Nepali cookbook, which he hopes will be a simple guide to Nepali-style cooking for everyone interested.

“Nepali cooking is no rocket science,” he says. “Our cuisine is just about the right heat, the right amount of spices and a lot of love and simplicity.” Given Nepal’s rich and diverse culture, Baral believes Nepali cuisine has the poten­tial to be as famous as Chinese and Indian food. He thinks lack of research and poor promotion have denied Nepali cuisine its due popularity.

"Gastronomic tourism is when the food and drink become the reason to visit a particular place. Nepal has that possibility"

Binod Baral, restaurateur, social entrepreneur and consultant chef

 

With almost a dozen invest­ments and involvements in Nepali hospitality business, Baral says “food tourism” could be a wonderful addi­tion to the list of promotional products for the Nepal Tour­ism Year 2020 campaign. “My maternal family are from Burma and their main occu­pation is hospitality business. I can proudly say cooking is in my blood,” he says.

In Nepal, Baral is involved in hospitality projects in Kath­mandu, Galchhi, Malekhu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Bandi­pur, Trishuli and Nuwakot. International exposure and thorough understand­ing of the food of ethnic communities around the country has convinced Baral of the country’s “gastronomic tourism” potential.

“Gastronomic tourism is when the food and drink become the reason to visit a particular place. Nepal has that possibility,” he says. “Our varied geography yield a variety of produces and each ethnic community has its own way of cook­ing. We have cooking styles dating back thousands of years, from the time of Bud­dha or Ramayana.”

Giving tourists a chance to eat at and experience tradi­tional Nepali kitchens can be a central feature of tourism promotion, Baral adds. Indig­enous communities like the Tharu, Gurung, Rai, Limbu and Newar have their own unique style of cooking with their own set of recipes and organic ingredients. “This may be of great curiosity to tourists who will want to know how they are prepared and how they taste,” he says.

Also involved in culinary education, Baral emphasizes the need for Nepali chefs to “learn, educate, train, pro­mote, inspire and celebrate” Nepali cuisine to give it global recognition. Baral has registered the Asian Culi­nary Academy in London, which he hopes will create a bridge between culinary arts of Nepal and the UK. The academy will create courses in partnership with Nepali cook­ing schools and train aspir­ing students from the two countries on Nepali and other Asian cuisines.