Of food and fame

London-based Nisha Thomas talks about how from being a blogger she went on to star in a television commercial

September 01, 2013 12:28 pm | Updated June 02, 2016 08:23 am IST - CHENNAI

Nisha Thomas shoots photographs for her blog

Nisha Thomas shoots photographs for her blog

“I was under the impression that no one watched ads these days. I change the channel the moment an ad comes on,” says Nisha Thomas, an Indian food blogger - >mykitchenantics.blogspot.in - based out of London. It appears that people do watch ads! And, “comments, messages, mails and calls have been pouring in” from friends, bloggers and family members who watched an advertisement she stars in. Meet the new face of Finish dishwasher tablets in the U.K.

“I got an invite to attend a one-day blogger casting event. It was a day of cooking, tasting and meeting fellow bloggers, and while we were socialising, the auditions were going on in another room.” Nisha was asked to talk about herself, her blog, cooking, cleaning, etc, “and the next thing I know, I got a call. I was shortlisted”.

Nisha says she started a blog because she was “so careless with bookmarking recipes from the Internet. It was more for my convenience. I used to spend a lot of time researching a recipe; would mix and match two or three recipes and then completely forget about it. It used to be a chore to start from scratch when I wanted to try it again. So I decided to start a blog. In May 2009, I posted my first blog entry — a simple beans stir fry — from my tiny London apartment. The picture was horrible and the recipe was not even worth blogging, but I remember being thrilled at my first comment”.

Photo features

Nisha’s blog Look Who’s Cooking Too not only offers readers a fun account of her cooking expeditions, but is also a visual treat — food photos that have been carefully shot and beautifully styled with props and great lighting. “There are days when I hit the jackpot at the first go and there are days when even after taking 100 pictures a dish doesn’t look good. There are many nice dishes that have not made it to the blog just because of the pictures. I absolutely believe that you first eat with your eyes,” she adds.

Shopping for props for her food photography has now become a hobby, she says. “Raiding charity stores and markets for second-hand props and fabric, garden stores for wooden boards and researching new trends have become a part of my life. A part I absolutely love,” she adds. Although Nisha was a novice who couldn’t make an omelette when she started the blog, today she is proud of the fact that she can make a mean frittata in no time.

The blogger has also been asked to conduct classes and take orders for cakes. “For now I’m happy experimenting and baking for friends and family. The blog has also got me the opportunity to work in the food industry alongside a very talented chef who makes customised French macaroons,” Nisha says. She also attributes her location as a crucial ingredient for success. “I think being in London has really helped increase the popularity of my blog. It is the hub of all sorts of food events, classes, restaurants, markets... I constantly get invited to launch events (the one I’ll never forget is a breakfast session with Gordon Ramsay!), products and services to review, and also get paid for it. I also get to network a lot and meet like-minded people. There are blogger associations and blogger meets all of which I am a part of, and I don’t think I would have this sort of exposure anywhere else,” she signs off.

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