15 June,2021 08:11 PM IST | Mumbai | BrandMedia
Chef Lata Tondon
Chef Lata Tondon is the first woman in the world to have set a world record that had previously only been achieved by men, and that too by a margin of 20 hours from the previous record. Chef Lata holds the record of Longest Cooking Marathon for 87 hours and 45 minutes of continuous cooking. Along with Guinness book of world records, chef Lata holds record in six other record books - namely Asia Book of Records, India Book of Records, Nepal Book of Records, Indo-China Book of Records, Laos Book of Records, and Vietnam Book of Records.
She belong to a business class humble family and Lata is a small town girl from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, which is well renowned as the Land of white tigers, and this white tigress was born there on April 15, 1980, with a creative mind and her love for food. Her grandfather, who taught her all about ingredients, how to buy them, and how to evaluate them, sparked her interest in cooking since childhood. She belongs to Sindhi Community. Her mother is a great cook, and she inherited a lot from her. Then she married into a Punjabi household, and her mother-in-law was also an excellent teacher. Soon after becoming a mother, her responsibilities grew, but above all, she proved herself to be the ideal mother, wife, and daughter-in-law.
Eventually, she thought of making something out of her skills as a cook and when the time came, she started pursuing her passion for food as a career with the support of her lovely family. She went all over India to learn the cuisines of different cultures and regions. Then she went to Chef Academy of London to pursue Culinary Education and Experience in 2017.
To hone her culinary skills she educated herself with courses like Professional chef course And Michelin Chef Course.
There she worked under the guidance of Celebrity chefs like Chef Claude Bosi, Chef Jun Tunaka, Chef Pips, Chef Dale, Chef Maxx, Chef Paris and many fellow chefs.
She worked in Michelin Restaurants like Bibendum in South Kensington, Aqua Shard in Shard Building, The Ninth, in central London.
She has taken Masterclasses of Chef Gordan Ramsey and Jamie Oliver and many more.
She was honoured with a Doctorate Degree for her achievement- From World Record University London.
She was the winner of the International Award in London and International Indian Chef Of the year 2018 at London.
After that she came back to India determined make her country proud, She decided to attempt one of the most difficult task of Longest Cooking Marathon and make a world record out of it. Her family was reluctant because of health difficulties and challenges she might face, but after a year of regular exercise, yoga, and gym trainings, she persuaded her family that she is strong enough to stand for 50 hours or more.
However, by the time Guinness World Records was approved, the hours of the record had increased to 68 hours and 30 minutes. Despite her family's opposition, she remained adamant about carrying out her plan. So the record attempt started on 3rd September 2020 and lasted till 7th September 2020, 12.45 am.
It was her determination which made her capable of setting a world record and to show the world how passionate she is for food.
Often people do not pursue their passion because of their health. But she proved everyone wrong and gave this message that nothing is impossible.
Her passion made her do something that no one would think of doing. She truly is a gem of our nation. She is a Chef Influencer working hard to come up with hidden Cuisine like Sindhi Cuisine which is dying and Giving a push to Madhya Pradesh Cuisine for building its identity in World like north Indian and Rajasthan cuisine.
