My love for cooking didn’t start early. In fact, at university in Liverpool my signature dish was chilli—and my first ever “curry” was chicken korma and chips from a curry house in Toxteth.
Not exactly heritage cooking.
Which makes things even more amusing given my mum, Saroj, who ran an Indian cookery school and even appeared on TV sharing her knowledge of Indian food.
Real contrast, right?
I didn’t truly catch the cooking bug until I lived in London. That’s when food started to mean something more—bringing people together, creating something from nothing, experimenting, and finding your own style. That was when I stopped eating to live and started living to eat.
So why did it all begin with Jamaican jerk paste?
I met a fantastic guy called Winston Davis at one of the early MasterChef events at Olympia. His jerk seasoning was incredible—and I bought it in industrial quantities. Chicken, fish, vegetables… everything got “jerked”. Even a cheese sandwich got upgraded.
Then came disaster: Winston moved away.
Suddenly I was in withdrawal, searching everywhere for that perfect jerk flavour and finding nothing close. One day my wife simply said: “Instead of moping around, why don’t you just try and make it yourself?”
So I did.
What followed was a deep dive into flavour experimentation—around 100 ingredient combinations later, I finally landed on something that worked. Not a copy of Winston’s, but something entirely my own.
Since then, I’ve refined it into several distinct versions, each with its own personality. That journey became the foundation of The Spice Rak—a passion project that quickly grew into something much bigger.
Today, our jerk range comes in three distinct styles—our “traffic light” collection:
A pink blend, evoking the warmth and spirit of the Caribbean
And a fiery orange jerk we call #47
#47 is especially close to home—it uses UK-grown ingredients wherever possible and, at certain times of the year, only those from the Cotswolds. All of our pastes are vegetarian, one is vegan, and there’s also a gluten-free option available.
The spice rubs and blends bring things full circle for me.
I wanted to create something inspired by my mum—but I only ever tasted a handful of her dishes. So I went back to her recipes, studied what I could, and built something rooted in her garam masala, enhanced with the flavours I knew she loved.
That became the Saroj Curry Mix—designed to capture the aromas and depth she cherished, all in one simple spoonful. It’s set at a medium heat, true to her roots in Lucknow, though those who like more fire can always turn it up.
From there, I explored the south of India, drawing on my love of curry leaves and deep, earthy spices to create a rich Goan Curry Blend.
And finally, I returned to my Jamaican influence with the Sunshine Jerk Seasoning—a versatile all-rounder that works beautifully as a rub, a seasoning, or even a secret upgrade to a Bloody Mary.
For now, I’m happy with where this journey has taken me—but I know there’s more to come. With my fellow cricketing friends at Swinbrook, there’s always a BBQ waiting to be fired up and wings waiting to be tested.
And if that keeps the bar takings ticking over too… even better.
