Granting the wishes of food lovers

Published:  Sunday, July 24, 2011

Nalini Sankar-Lakhansingh wants to change the game. Since she established The Gourmet Genie last year on Sutton Street, in the Southern Supplies Limited building, cooks, food lovers, and kitchen gods have been availing themselves of a wide range of exquisite imported ingredients

No doubt about it:  Trinis like food. With the proliferation of cooking shows on cable TV and the likes of Rachel Ray and Emeril Lagasse leaving us drooling in front of our TV sets, our appetites have been whetted for something fresh and different. But many ingredients are either hard to get or so expensive that the opportunity to bubble up an exotic pot becomes a rare treat. Nalini Sankar-Lakhansingh wants to change the game. Since she established The Gourmet Genie last year on Sutton Street, in the Southern Supplies Limited building, cooks, food lovers, and kitchen gods have been availing themselves of a wide range of exquisite imported ingredients. While some of her ingredients are sourced locally, she imports most of them from the US. Her clients are particularly delighted by those small, special things that turn the cooking experience into pure pleasure, like vanilla beans, saffron threads, or truffles. Her shadon beni pesto, made by a local entrepreneur, is a big hit.

At the moment, Sankar-Lakhansingh works alone, with a part-time assistant coming in three days a week. But her goal of providing breakfast and afternoon tea, has prompted her to seek out more help. Her husband, Steve Lakhansingh, lends a hand at the store during his spare time. The Gourmet Genie represents the fruition of a dream Sankar-Lakhansingh had since she was a child. “I always wanted to have my own business. I didn’t know then what type of business, but as my love for anything food-related evolved, I knew that it would be in the food sector.” Her educational background and work experience has helped. She holds a BSC in Chemistry, MSC in Food Technology and an Executive MBA, and has worked in total quality, production, and supply chain management, all in the food sector.  “I noticed that whenever you wanted to be adventurous in the kitchen you would usually have to head up the highway to purchase ingredients.”

She shared her idea with her husband, who was immediately supportive. “He knew I’ve always had that desire, and he encouraged me.” She severed her ties with the corporate world without hesitation. “I had no doubts. It just felt like it was time. I felt a sense of peace.” As any businesswoman knows, a store can make huge demands, and her late hours do cut into her family time. But she and her husband make good use of the time they do have together by sharing their love of the outdoors. “We work hard, and we play hard—sometimes at the sacrifice of some housework. We go to the movies, cycling or jet-skiing. We just love being out enjoying each other’s company.” At The Gourmet Genie, foodies can get their hands on popular celebrity lines of products such as Emeril Lagasse and Barefoot Contessa, and Sankar-Lakhansingh is trying to widen her range.  “I carry locally made middle eastern products, like baklava, mamool, and namoora. I have a wide range of Thai, East Indian, Middle Eastern and Italian ingredients. "You can even pick up a sushi making kit to make sushi at home or to give as a gift.”

There are also lavishly packaged gift items that are so pretty they don’t even need to be wrapped, such as delightful pastel-coloured birdhouses filled with cookies. Sankar-Lakhansingh  keeps her fingers on the pulse of her clientele. “I’ve been learning so much from my customers. I carry organic products, because more and more people are interested in consuming food that is free from chemical additives.”

She also caters to specialty needs, like alcohol-free vanilla extract, requested by the Muslim Community, and products for diabetics, people with gluten allergies, and clients with specific dietary constraints. Part of her mission is to bring gourmet cooking to her customers at an affordable cost and to become a one-stop shop for food lovers in the southland.

Southern Supplies Limited would like to congratulate “The Gourmet Genie” they are a welcome addition to our facility.

Article taken from the Trinidad Gurdian News Paper; http://m.guardian.co.tt/womanwise/2011/07/24/granting-wishes-food-lovers