Arrived at Heathrow airport at 6:30am on 27 May, 2010 with the biggest commercial challenge of my life beckoning. Yes, I’ve been in business before and I have faced many major challenges, and It’s also true to say that I believe that Alan (my co–author) and I did a pretty good job in building up a buzz about Undercover Curry in Brunei. But there’s an old saying amongst the expat. community there - if you have something special to offer you are a big fish in a very small pond.
However that’s not usually the case, and in the UK possibly the opposite is true - most of us are just minnows in a huge ocean. Here, thousands of books are published every year and all are competing for their share in a very vibrant but cut-throat market. And to build a buzz and get as many of the 60 million people as possible excited about Undercover Curry isn’t going to be the proverbial piece of cake.
On the other hand, though, we believe that the job is mainly to let the people know that it’s available, and with that done, the book will largely sell itself – we know that there’s a very large pool of curry enthusiasts out there eager to get their hands on the most closely guarded secrets of the British Indian Restaurant. And the book is unique in that it puts these in print for the first time ever. So I guess that in fact Undercover Curry still is a big fish in a small pond, and it’s just Dave Loyden that’s the small fish - but I don’t mind that.
So let’s do something about it, shall we? But where do we start? I’ve got just short of ten weeks to do as much as I can to introduce Undercover Curry to the nation and still get a wee holiday with my nearest and dearest - my lovely wife Zur and my remarkable little boy called Django are joining me in July. But before then its head down and watch out here I come! Curry lovers everywhere get ready to rattle those pans and play your favourite Indian music CD while you impress your family and friends with your BIR skill and knowledge. Join me on what will undoubtedly be an extraordinary adventure, getting the nation’s kitchens cooking up a storm. No longer are you to be kept in the dark about all those secrets, and no longer will you be a slave to your local curry house. You are about to become curry masters in your own right .
Firstly I had to head for the hills and prepare for battle, so it was off to the underground to Euston to buy a train ticket to Carlisle where my mum was waiting to drive me over the border and into Bonnie Scotland. (Ninety-one pounds secured my ticket and a seat on the train, at approximately a gigantic 30p a mile! Wow, I’ve been away too long!) But the task ahead was too important to start moaning about that - and the blow was soon softened when I realised the great improvement there’s been in the rail system in the many years since I last travelled on a train. In Scotland I planned to buy a cheap run-around to get me about and while I’m sourcing that I’ll start building the buzz from the Undercover Curry command centre, alternatively known as my Mum’s kitchen table…
…So here I am. I’ve been promised a really nice Mitsibishi Lancer, with only 53000 genuine miles on the clock, for 400 quid. That’ll do nicely. It’s due to arrive in a few days and that will give me a wee bit of time to update my blog (and here it is), and get in touch with some media people and get that buzz started. Then when I’m mobile I can start attacking from all sides in the business of making Undercover Curry the most anticipated culinary publication in recent years. If you want to join the struggle then come on folks, all are welcome. Let’s do it for the nation.