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For those who believe rags-to-riches stories are the stuff of fairy tales, Sash Simpson’s life will make them wake up and dig into the caviar.
It is Slumdog Millionaire played out in real life. And it will bring back memories of Lion, the Dev Patel-Nicole Kidman starrer based on the amazing story of Saroo Brierley and his search from Melbourne for his original home in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh.
The story of Sash, an orphan found on the streets of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu who is now one of Toronto’s top chefs, is the subject of a documentary, Born Hungry, by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich.
It recently premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and was then picked up by actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ company, Purple Pebble Pictures. It will screen at Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto on April 26.
The New York Times said: “Sash Simpson made his name as a chef for Canada’s rich. It’s a magical world away from the dumpsters where he would forage for food when he was just another street kid.”
Sash was found on the streets of Coimbatore by volunteers of a Canadian charity named Families for Children. The five-year-old orphan could only remember that his mother had long hair and his father was a deaf and mute labourer.
They gave him shelter and it was there that he caught the attention of his adoptive mother and Families for Children co-founder Sandra Simpson.
In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Sash ended up from the floors of the Coimbatore cinema theatre that he cleaned for the privilege of sleeping on them at night to the upscale Toronto suburb of Forest Hill.
Not a gifted student, Sash was 14 when found his first full-time job as a dishwasher in a restaurant. He then discovered North 44, run by one of Canada’s top chefs Mark McEwan. It was to become his workplace for more than 25 years as he rose to become the executive chef.
North 44 closed in 2018 following the expiry of its rental lease, and Sash had to look out for himself all over again. He did what he was best at – he opened the high-class Sash to rave reviews in 2019.
But, if you go there looking for the welcoming whiff of Coimbatore, you’ll be disappointed.
It has just two nods to Sash’s origins: Gunpowder Lamb Chops and Sambar with Masala Rice and Masala Beef Short Ribs.
Talking to Nuvo Magazine, Sash said about how he goes about putting together his menu: “Flavours come to me constantly and whatever hits my palate and I go ‘wow, this is really good’. It could be Indian, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean – it doesn’t matter, my crew, my colleagues and I feel it – it’s hitting that menu.”
Sash was affected by Covid for two years, but it’s now doing as well as it did before the epidemic swept the world.
Married to Ms Robin Pitcher, an event manager he met in 2008, Sash is 54 years old and a father of two children.
He could have turned his back on his past and lived the good life, but in 2018 Sash opened a professional kitchen at the Coimbatore orphanage where his story began.
The kitchen is to help young women develop skills that would equip them to find jobs in the hospitality or allied industries.
In his own little way, Sash is paying back the debt he owes the orphanage that changed his life, which is about to experience yet another seismic shift, now that his story has gone global, thanks to Priyanka.
Indo-Asian News Service
