What’s cooking? Star couples in the kitchen

How does downtime in a busy star couple look like? We find out what’s simmering in their culinary lives.

Sanya Richards-Ross & Aaron Ross

Sanya Richards-Ross preparing Chilla for Aaron Ross

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Sanya Richards-Ross is an Olympian, having won the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics for the 400 metre dash. If one is to look for a human specimen capable of great speed and agility, Sanya is the woman to look out for. Her husband, Aaron Ross, is an American football legend, having won the Super Bowl twice. For him, in addition to agility, having a bulky body is important, rather than speed.

When it comes to their dietary preferences, one might think they are as different as chalk and cheese. But, it’s not the case. “We try to adhere to same diet when we were playing,” says Sanya adding, “therefore most of the times, our diet would mostly consist of a high protein diet, and we would often juice up fruits and vegetables to go with it. Later during Aaron’s career, he gave up eating meat and became a pescatarian.”

Giving up meat must have been difficult for Sanya, given that she grew up in Austin, Texas, famous for its brisket and barbeque. “Oh, she hasn’t given up chicken, that would be impossible,” says Aaron, laughingly. Sanya chimes in, saying, “I don’t need to. Aaron cooks some of the best barbecue I have ever had. I believe he can go toe-to-toe with the best barbeque restaurants in Austin. Even our friends like his barbeque chicken and fish a lot.”

These two certainly enjoy food. But, calling them foodies, they say, wouldn’t do justice to the term. “As a point of reference, I have my sister and brother-in-law who I would consider true foodies,” says Sanya. Continuing, she says, “They will try everything and love to go out for a meal very often, whereas we prefer eating in, at our home. We cook a lot.”

When asked what dishes do they enjoy together, Aaron says, “She does a sweet and sour salmon that her grandmother taught her. It is really good.”

Visiting India, they surely must have fallen in love with the country’s heritage of spices. But Jamaica is the one place that always draws them when it comes to food. “We both just love Jamaican food. It has a soul and certain kind of spiciness that we both love,” Aaron says. “We also enjoy authentic Italian food a lot, so Italy’s on the list as well,” says Sanya.

Lianne Texeira and Robin Singh

Robin Singh and Lianne Texeria enjoying a plate of sushi

She is an actress and a writer, he is the star forward for FC Pune City. Lianne and Robin, on the surface seem as different as night and day. However, they are united by their love for food.

“Like any Delhiite, I grew up loving chole bhature,” says Robin. “But I left them quite at an early age. As an athlete, anything that tastes great is not for us,” he continues. For athletes like Robin, who demand a lot from their bodies for each game, monitoring what goes inside the body is extremely important. “It is a machine after all. The output is bound to be affected by input.”

However, as someone who loves food through and through, Robin believes that he is lucky to have met someone like Lianne. “She is an amazing cook. Indian, continental, oriental, she can cook anything,” continues Robin. “I like surprising him. When we met for the first time, I had realised that he had a liking for home cooked meals,” says Lianne. “I love the way she cooks spicy chicken curry,” Robin claims. “Once, he carried the pot in which the chicken was cooked, straight from the kitchen to the dining table, and finished it,” says Lianne, both of them laughing.

Does Robin cook? “Just to survive!” says Lianne, jokingly. She continues, although not very often, he does cook. He prefers cooking breakfasts more than anything.” Lianne loves Robin’s pancakes and cold coffee, believes Robin. “I don’t have much patience. I can’t look at a frying pan and wait for results. Cooking demands just that. Between the two of us, she cooks, I clean.”

Between the two of us, she cooks, I clean. - Robin, on sharing duties in the kitchen.

Robin Singh and Lianne Texeria, like to dine out regularly

Both Robin and Lianne believe they are big time foodies. “We love food. We really can eat a lot,” says Lianne. Upon asking what cuisines do they enjoy the most, Robin says, “She is a fan of oriental cuisine. I myself enjoy sushi a lot. We both do actually.” Lianne adds, “Whenever we visit a new city, the first thing we do is inquire about the best sushi restaurant. It will always be on our to do list.” What else is on their culinary to do list? “Visiting as many Asian countries as we can, and San Francisco, for sure,” say Lianne and Robin.

From the December 2018 issue of FHM India.