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| Selen Cambazoğlu Taşbası, Zeynip Casalini and Pelin Dumanlı |
My journey as a cook started on an archaeological dig. Once I found out that you got paid a lot more for dexterity with a sharp knife than a blunt trowel, my career path as an archaeologist wavered and within 2 years I had swapped muddy knee pads and waterproof trousers for a sarong and sun hat, and was head cook and washer-up on a sleek charter yacht in the Med. I would have probably gone straight into cooking after school, but grammars in the 1970's were all about going to university and girls were only allowed to carry on in home economics if their grades in "proper subjects" had slipped. It's refreshing that a career in food is now an accepted career path, and is one that you can join at any time of your life.
I met three ladies last week who were all about enjoying good food. Selen, an archaeology and history of art graduate, runs Culinary Bodrum, an agency that organises foody trips and workshops. Read all about it below. Zeynip Casalini is a well known singer and also runs Begonvil restaurant in Oasis, Bodrum. She is a raw food convert, and it was to watch her make nut milk, avocado "cheese" cake and hummus from raw chick peas that we gathered at the Kumquat Restaurant, opposite the entrance to Bodrum Marina. Pelin is a "super chef" with an impressive cv and a book coming out about cooking offal. She is also part of the Culinary Bodrum team and consultant chef at Kumquat.
A Mediterranean diet is already heavy on raw food, but an afternoon with these three has spurred me on to include more raw ingredients in my diet. I am eating an apple as I write!
If you are in the Bodrum area, there is a pasta class tomorrow. Details on the website.
Hello:
ReplyDeleteThe start of this post is greatly amusing with your description of the swaps made to convert you to a cook, and one who graduated from an archaeological dig to a charter yacht. There is no doubt which we should prefer.
And whilst we have no interest, sorry to say, in the actual preparation of food, we do love to eat it and all of this sounds to be exceedingly goodly. What interesting, talented and excellent women with whom to have met.
I often wonder what parallel lives I've missed.
DeleteB to B, I was wondering when you began your cooking career and where the boat came in. Yes, I remember those days when a career in food was something that Mom did for free at home, not the 'new' woman who needed to study more serious things. Thank heavens that has changed! I was glad when I could freely admit to my interest in cooking rather than more 'serious' pursuits. BTW, happy Mother's Day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's day to you too. My daughter is obviously celebrating the UK Mother's day as I haven't heard from her.
Delete. . almost (I did say 'almost') makes me regret living out here in the sticks. Can certainly empathise about the job-change - for me, five years at any job/occupation felt like a life sentence.
ReplyDeleteWhy waste opportunities doing just one thing all your working life.
DeleteThis post couldn't have come at a better time as I'm just do the pre-edits for the book and I was in need of a little back story!
ReplyDeleteNow what am I to be called ?
DeleteEve
DeleteHow neat is that, Bodrum gains more and more appeal for me; would love to check all these out when I in Bodrum this summer : ) and I always sensed you're a brilliant cook : )
ReplyDeleteYou will have to spend a month - there are so many foodies.
DeleteBack in my grammar school days domestic science was only taken for the first three years if you were thought to be at all academic. I'm glad you saw the light and switched to what you really wanted to do. Life's too short to carry on doing what you're not meant to do.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a very good archaeologist, so it was better that I found something else.
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