I learned to cook from around the age of seven at my grandma’s side, as her sous chef, peeling cloves of garlic and onions that she’d start off for me.
By the time I left for Australia at 19, I had been cooking most of my life. Sydney opened a whole new world of food to me and I still think it’s one of the best places to eat for quality and representation. I learned a great deal about food from migrant communities and their many restaurants and eateries. It felt like the next best thing, outside of South East Asia. I fell in love with ingredients I knew little about before travelling. Kaffir lime leaves and Vietnamese mint were among the rich bounty I found in Sydney and other state cities. I first came across Vietnamese Pho and fragrant lemongrass and chilli dishes around the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, where outstanding family restaurants were aplenty.
It was surrounded by this inspiration that I put pen to paper in Sydney and began research for my book. I had already found teaching work and put the first Caribbean cookery classes in Sydney. The classes took off and I began to extensively research the food, recipes, ingredients and histories in the Caribbean region; I travelled around and met people from all walks of life from Cuba to Curacao and later, I published The Complete Caribbean Cookbook.
I returned to the UK where I have spent many years travelling in Italy, France and Spain. In Spain, I explored what became a love of tapas in Andalucia and worked in Sevile, preparing tapas, often slipping in a Cuban lilt, for a tapas bar on the Guadaliver. Although I have taught cooking from around the world, my real expertise comes from a deep sense that food is bound up in our senses, in the same way that we experience love and life, as people, family and as a community.
Pamela Lalbachan 