A blog about healthy eating without compromising on flavour. Our aim is to inspire and encourage you to make good food choices.
The Genesis of Roots, Seeds and Leaves
The genesis of this blog has its roots in our life long interest in food, the love of cooking and of course eating. The seed of the idea for this page came from a discussion at the kitchen table...where else....?
We want to share what we have learned and what we are still learning in our journey in food and cooking. First a little about us:
My name is Faye.
My mum taught me to cook from a very early age. I was initially given chores in the kitchen like peeling potatoes, washing salad leaves, stirring sauces. What I loved was the warmth and busyness of the kitchen. I marvelled at the production of meals from a series of actions, it was like an orchestrated symphony conducted by the cook. As time progressed I learnt to make bread, cakes, and West Indian recipes with the use of spices, herbs and unusual ingredients like cassava and ackee and breadfruit.
At school my palate was taken in different directions, and I was introduced to European recipes like lasagne, Lancashire hot pot and the humble omelette. I knew what I liked and didn’t like, what cooking techniques piqued my interests and what didn’t. I like strong flavours, colourful plates of food. I am all for quick, simple recipes, easy to make but tasty dishes and I can’t abide food wastage so I incorporate leftovers as an ingredient in some recipes.
All in all I learnt to become a cook and a baker and for the past thirty years I have been feeding my family and friends.
I'm Alexandra, Mother to two young children who have more energy than a tornado. We live in a small village in the South of France where the air is clear and life is good.
Faye and I met early last year at a cheese fair in our small Provençal village.
Having little opportunity to speak English other than "en Famille" my ears pricked up as soon as I heard her speaking English with her husband and friend. We got talking and as we hit it off immediately we invited them for coffee. Three hours later a friendship was forged.
I've always loved cooking. For me it's a way to express my creativity.
Inspired by my Mother who would rustle up delicious meals with whatever she had to hand to feed her family of 7, I love the challenge of creating new dishes or adding my own twist to traditional recipes.
When I was about 9, I would go every weekend to a family friend's house for cookery lessons.
In my teens, when I was not at school and my Father was working from home I loved rustling up noodle soups for us, influenced by one of my best friend's who is Chinese. Occasionally I would be invited to her house for lunch. It was such a treat considering her Father was a Chef!
On summer holidays with my parents and siblings we would sail across the English Channel as far as the Southwest coast of France. My Father and I would often be on watch together and cook up the tastiest meals. God help those on watch after us with the sink load of dirty dishes! Thankfully now my husband is used to the mess I usually leave behind me when I cook.
Having been lucky enough to have spent many a childhood holiday in Cornwall I became an avid forager from an early age. I have been known to make soup with nettles collected from our garden, sea beet from our beach, samphire from the creek near my Grandma's house and cook many a mushroom (Cauliflower fungus, Beefsteak fungus, Field mushrooms, Puffballs and Jews Ears) in the countryside around our house.
It's such a satisfying feeling to be able to find such amazing treats all around us.
This year I introduced my children to the art of blackberry picking but given that they ate most of them as they picked I never had enough to make into jam.
I also love travelling across the globe and am inspired by the variety of spices and flavours used in different cultures.
I particularly like a bit of spice and joke that it's in my blood. I am adopted and my Birth Father is Bangladeshi. In 2012 I was fortunate enough to go to Bangladesh to meet him for the first time. As a retired Chef who owned a restaurant in Marble Arch, London for many years, I enjoyed learning how to make a few Bangladeshi dishes using basic kitchen utensils whilst I was there.
Where possible I try to keep my cooking as healthy as I can, influenced in part again by my parents who raised us as vegetarian, not only because meat was so expensive in the 80's, but because for a time they followed Nathan Pritikin's low fat diet, which meant using no oil or margarine, eggs were considered high in cholesterol and instead of salt we used tamari.
We would love to pass on what we have learnt and share our passion for good food!
Alexandra at home in the kitchen with her two boys