This rich duck curry comes from Shaila, who was Bhagath’s mother. We could only communicate with smiles and head shakes, but over the four days we stayed with Bhagath, Shaila cooked us all sorts of delicious Keralan meals. This curry is an ‘Alleppey special’ and traditionally eaten on Sundays, much like the Sunday roast. The…
Author: chloemackean
Hi, I'm Chloe and I absolutely love food and cooking. Some of my closest friends have been made through cooking and eating together and very often I find myself breaking the ice with strangers by talking about the food they love. For some years now, whenever I’ve gone on holiday I’ve written down recipes from people I meet along the way. Food is both universal and personal, one of the reasons I love it so much.
I also love to travel and am very interested in different cultures and people. For me, talking to the tuk tuk driver on the way to a famous tourist site is more interesting than the site itself.
Since January 2018 my husband Cassian and I have been living our dream of exploring parts of the world. I quit my job in London where I was managing an environmental network and flew to Ethiopia. Cass and I are dividing our time up between travelling and volunteering on a range of sustainability projects. So far we've visited Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, and will spend the rest of 2018 exploring East Africa. In 2019, who know where our curiosity will take us?!
Follow me on Instagram: peopleimeet_foodtheyeat
Or send me an email: chloemackean@gmail.com
Jaffna Crab Curry
Vasanthy greets me with a smile and a light embrace on the steps of her bungalow. She wears a bright pink spotty dress and her dark blue eyes sparkle – apart from the greying hair tied back in a small bun, you wouldn’t believe she’s 55. It’s been an exciting journey to get here, sitting…
Milk rice with fish curry and sambol
This recipe is for milk rice (kiri bath), traditionally a special occasion Sri Lankan dish eaten by itself like cake, or along with curries and sambols. This dish was prepared by Sylvie who I met during my first few days in Sri Lanka. First impressions of Sri Lanka I spend my first few days in…
My top 5 African bloggers and websites
As I leave Africa, I am still in a reflective mood – the smell of grilled maize; a freshly lit charcoal stove; the pungent smell of fish drying in the baking sun; meat skewers from a roadside stall; the sticky skins of a perfectly ripe mango or the salty and the spicy perfection of berbere…
An African welcome
If I went up to someone in England and asked if I could go to their home and they showed me how to cook shepherd’s pie, what would their reaction be? Would they laugh in my face and tell me to piss off? or would they welcome me into their kitchen? My friends and I were having…
Husna’s Biryani
Husna Azzan is a great cook. I know this because I was lucky enough to stumble past her house one night and try her urojo, or Zanzibar mix, which her son Ahmed was selling to passers-by from a stall outside their house. After trying the urojo and talking to Ahmed about his mother’s cooking, I…
People I Meet and Food They Eat 