PROFILE EID
You wrote your first cookbook, My Cape Malay Kitchen, as a way to grieve for your father. This was followed by Spice Odyssey in 2019 and Curried in 2021. You're on a roll! Please tell us about the catalyst for your new cookbook, Modern Cape Malay Cooking.
I found myself smack in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic while writing the manuscript for this book, where travelling home to Cape Town had become vastly challenging, and the longing for family, friends and home food intensified. The only thing that could diminish the ache I felt during this time was cooking, or writing, and since I am deeply drawn to both, the manuscript for Modern Cape Malay Cooking unfolded. Soon after I started writing the manuscript, my mum passed away. The only way to preserve her legacy was going to be through this book, and you'll “feel” her domestic goddess persona emanate from the pages of this book.
What can we expect from your new cookbook?
This cookbook is a celebration of food and feasting, and provides a contemporary view of Cape Malay cuisine and the simplicity of home cooking. The recipes in this cookbook define Cape Malay home cooking and showcase a fusion of flavours that redefined the modern Cape Malay palate. Though traditional Cape Malay cuisine and recipes have stood the test of time, there have also been adaptations that have given rise to a culinary fusion. These adaptations could be anything from what the Cape Malay millennial generation craves these days, or the substitution of ingredients to accommodate health and dietary needs, to the culinary influences that richly contributed to the Cape Malay palate over time. The younger Cape Malay generation yearned for more of the popular dishes from the East and West - a comforting pasta or quick-and-easy stir-fry - but with a Cape Malay twist.
