Ravneet Gill, a 28-year-old pastry chef who appears to be taking London’s kitchens by storm and who has been applauded by The New York Times for creating “the ultimate chocolate chip cookie”, has just been introduced to readers of The Daily Telegraph in the UK as the paper’s “new baking columnist”.

This is both a culinary and a cultural breakthrough for The Daily Telegraph, perhaps the most English of newspapers, which is wary of allowing “foreigners” into the kitchens of its middle class readers.

Ravneet, who comes from a Sikh background, lives at home with father, an accountant, her mother and maternal grandmother.

Ravneet Gill Sourced by the correspondent

The Guardian said that Ravneet “didn’t learn how to cook Indian food until she worked at London restaurant Jamavar”. As a concession, she is now allowed to make samosas at home.

Ravneet, who has 51,000 Instagram followers, also brought out her first book, The Pastry Chef’s Guide: The secret to successful baking every time, in April this year.

“I’m obsessed with the beauty and skill of the lovely Ravneet Gill’s new book...

it’s stunningly beautiful,” wrote Ryan Riley in Life Kitchen.

The book was also published in the US where The New York Times tried out her chocolate chip cookie, which seems to be an American obsession.

The paper wrote about “the ‘Perfect’ Chocolate Chip Cookie, and the Chef Who Created It”, and tweeted: “After many attempts at making the ultimate chocolate chip cookie, British pastry chef Ravneet Gill has landed on the perfect formula. Her legions of fans on Instagram agree.”

The New York Times observed: “Calling your chocolate chip cookie ‘perfect’ is a bold move. But the British pastry chef Ravneet Gill had no problem doing it. So far, no one’s contested her claim.”

The piece was followed by Marissa Rothkopf Bates, an American “writer, baker, eater”, who was positively lyrical in describing Ravneet’s creation: “The cookie in front of you is the perfect one. This cookie is supremely good. And perfect if you like a cookie that gently yields its warm, soft self to you; one where the chunks of bittersweet chocolate drip onto your fingers, and where caramel is the flavour that takes charge.”

There are plenty of Asian women in London who have made a name cooking Indian food. The late Jyoti Basu’s granddaughter, Mallika Basu, is one of them. Asma Khan, at Darjeeling Express, is another. But other than Nadiya Hussain and Chetna Makan, who were the winner and runner up respectively on The Great British Bake Off on TV, few have broken through in the world of cakes, tarts and pastries. Thus, Ravneet’s appointment as The Daily Telegraph’s baking columnist is a bit like crossing a culinary Rubicon. She has been listed among the “100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality” by CODE, a hospitality quarterly.

The Daily Telegraph said that Ravneet “hopes to both inspire readers with her seasonal, ingredient-led recipes, and help them build their skill set in order to inject their own twists on her tarts, tortes and tuiles”.

For her Instagram followers, Ravneet’s “enthusiasm is evident in her video posts, demonstrating everything from gâteau Basque and ricotta cake to bombolini”.

Ravneet said: “I want to help people gain the confidence to add their own flavours. It took me such a long time to do this, to use my imagination. Don’t be afraid of failing — because even the best can mess up a cake! Just keep trying and have fun with it.”

Her background, according to her publishers, Pavilion Books, is that she has “worked as a pastry chef for seven years. After completing a psychology degree, she studied at Le Cordon Bleu before working her way up the ranks in different pastry sections all over London, most notably, St John, Llewelyn’s, Black Axe Mangal and Wild by Tart.

“In May 2018 she set up an organisation called Countertalk; a platform designed to help connect chefs, provide education and promote healthy work environments in the hospitality industry. In 2020, Ravneet was confirmed as the new judge on Channel 4’s Great British Junior Bake Off.”

Ravneet recalled that after Le Cordon Bleu, life in professional kitchens was tough. “I wanted to leave the industry,” she admitted, but it was when she began working as a pastry chef at the legendary restaurant St John that something changed. “I fell in love with the place; every day felt like a school non-uniform day!”