This is my journey. It started in rural Provence and continues to this day in rural England.
I adore food – Eating it, cooking it, photographing it, reading and writing about it. Most of all I love the look on my friends’ faces when I’ve served up a deliciously nutritious meal.
You’re probably going to yawn when I say this but I pretty much ate organic all my life. I was very fortunate to be born in the South of France in the seventies. My parents were originally from Paris and followed their bohemian hearts by moving south where artists roamed the streets in their kaftans, walking barefoot and eating with their fingers.
In our home we ate everything, and Provence was still very much filled with goat farmers, fisherman and small producers. Our house was a child’s skip from the Mediterranean sea, and surrounded by a vineyard and a melon field, so organic was never a choice, it was what it was… Our Life .
My dad was the BBQ master, a whole lamb would go on the fire, or the most delicious Gambas, but the kitchen was maman’s territory. Our main oven was a wood-burner range and even with the southern heat I pretty much spent my childhood in there – the kitchen that is, not the oven – watching over a pot or even washing it up.
We made everything from Melon jam in the summer (I swear we never pinched any from the field next to us), Cassoulet in the autumn, or even a Croque En Bouche – or as the French call it: Pièce Montée – for a special birthday. I actually still bear the scar on my thumb from burning caramel!
Maman always loved North African food, and this has had a huge impact on me which led me to an enormous obsession for Persian spices and cuisine – All the women in my family where incredible cooks so I feel really lucky and very appreciative as cooking became second nature and I do it completely intuitively. But I am eternally grateful to my maman who taught me so much without even ever trying.
My world came crashing down when my parents passed away so I decided to travel – after a few years I found myself in London and I fell in love with the city instantly.
I was extremely surprised the first time I walked into the supermarkets here… the raw ingredients were awesome and I used to go to Shepherds Bush market and later Brixton… that was even wilder with exotic ingredients and an amazing array of colours and cultures.
Since then things have got really exciting as Britain’s openness and approach to food has advanced so much. Amazing!!!
I actually feel really privileged to have witnessed it and even, maybe contributed to it a little (I hope so anyway).
Our love for diversity is fabulous but I am a great advocate of sustainable and seasonal food and I love homegrown. For me using ethical and seasonal ingredients is an important part of my cooking adventure, plus I believe that if we do eat seasonal, Mother Nature has provided us with all that we need. I fell in love with the charm of the British countryside where I love to forage in the plant-rich hedgerows.
I have enthusiastically adapted the way I cook since coming to England – using only unrefined whole foods and revelling in the abundance of fine produce that Britain has to offer.
This is the journey I would like to share with you.
