Food Memories: A Culinary Journey

Born in Jabalpur, Central India, Chetna Makan worked in Mumbai as a fashion designer before moving to the UK in 2004. Ten years later, Chetna’s food journey began when she joined 'The Great British Bake Off' as a contestant and she has since gone on to write three cook books and host her popular cooking and baking YouTube channel, Food With Chetna.

Chetna is passionate about celebrating Indian flavours, particularly in baked dishes, and she enjoys sharing the personal recipes she cooks for her nearest and dearest. Her food memory, Ras Malai, is a superb union of the two. The light, fluffy Indian pudding brings back memories of the many family gatherings in Chetna’s hometown of Jabalpur, Central India. Her aunt had a dairy store and would bring the dessert to special celebrations, reminding her of the loving times shared with cousins, uncles and aunts whilst enjoying Ras malai together.

John Quilter, aka Food Busker, is an entrepreneur, broadcaster, podcaster and chef. A culinary veteran in the UK, John has operated his own Michelin-listed, award winning brasserie and starred in the primetime television series Food Junkies. Today, he is a co-founder of an award- winning coffee company, cruelty-free & vegan skincare brand, hosts the podcast Cult Food Stories with Global Radio and has his own YouTube channel, The Food Busker, which showcases his passion for telling cult food stories and cooking up delicious cuisine.

John takes us back to his favourite dish on the menu of his past restaurant – lobster chips and salad cream. He used to order the lobsters fresh from Wales and serve them with chunky, crunchy twice cooked chips alongside Salad Cream, a specifically English seasoning that reminds him of his childhood.

Sonia Peronaci is an established Italian cook, writer, presenter and blogger. Slowly transitioning from full-time accountant to full-time cook since 2006, Sonia has published several cook books, leads a successful culinary website, has starred in multiple television cooking shows, runs a culinary school and hosts a range of events and educational experiences at her multi-purpose space Sonia Factory. She is also a recurring food columnist and shares cooking tips and tricks daily through her social media channels.

Despite being born in Lombardy, Sonia has strong ties to Calabria; the place of her father’s birth and where she had her three daughters. A region with a unique culinary history and a passion for its distinct local produce, her food memory is one well rooted in shared familial culinary tradition. Sonia’s nostalgic recipe features two ingredients from Calabria: ‘nduja, a type of spicy cured meat and fileja, a tube-like type of pasta which is handmade with a thin iron rod. When she prepares the dish, the first person she thinks of is her father. For Sonia, fileja with ‘nduja is very reminiscent of Calabria, as it evokes memories of the people, the flavours, the landscapes, the sea and the sun of the land.

Athens native Dimitris is a food blogger, chef and culinary consultant. An advertiser by trade, he founded Cucina Caruso, a food blog focused on contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and the scientific explanation of various cooking techniques. Today, Cucina Caruso is one of the country’s most prominent gastronomy brands, as Greece’s leading cookery website and host of two successful pop-up restaurants to date.

Dimitris adores great home-cooked Greek and Mediterranean food and has fond recollections of his grandmother, who filled his childhood with Eastern Mediterranean flavours, colours and stories. From her, he inherited an innate appreciation for Greek and French cooking and finely balanced tastes with intensity and character. One of his favourite childhood memories is centred around soutzoukakia, a well-known recipe originating from his grandmother’s hometown of Smyrna, now Izmir in Turkey. As his grandmother prepared the cylindrical-shaped meatballs, an intense cumin aroma would fill the house. Today, Dimitris has developed his own version of Smyrnian soutzoukakia, a recipe he cooks often for his daughters who enjoy it as the ultimate comfort food.