The Food Stories

Burma, my Grandad and Alphonso mangos I followed food to trace my roots.  I was brought up eating the sweetest Mangos in London. Every Friday, my grandad would buy Alphonso Mangos from Wembley and bring them over to my family in North London.   They were Alphonso Mangos , originating from India. There are thousands of different types of mangos in India and there are several different varieties of Alphonso. I remember grandad cutting them open and my sisters and I would ravish them down, splattering juice everywhere without a care in the world. We’d demolished these sweet pieces of heaven and suck the skins dry. A beautiful saffron and bright yellow golden coloured coat layered the mangos but inside was a different story: The inside was the colour of the most vivid of Burmese sunsets, tender, creamy, rich…   My Grandad is an Iraqi Jew, however he was the second generation to have migrated to Burma, Yangon, which is where he was born and raised until...

Oman, nostalgi and Paratha  My ex boyfriend was from Oman, a country bordering Saudi and Yemen. With many Indians migrating to Oman to find work, his family too moved over from India. We met at an open mic in London and I was so excited to have met another fellow human who was just as passionate about food. He didn’t turn out to be a very pleasant partner, but he did introduce me to something very special... Paratha , and that is how we immediately connected.   Paratha is a flat bread, originating from the Indian subcontinent and ranges from one region to the other. There are a million different types of Paratha but my favourite is the South Indian paratha. ‘Parat’ and ‘atta’ literally means ‘layers of cooked dough’. I had my first bite of Paratha when I went to visit him in Oman. Paratha was the foundation for most of our meals. We ate it with curries, Biryanis, Daal, spiced scrambled eggs… everything. I couldn’t get enough of it. The flakiness. How the bu...

Born into a family of food lovers Born into a family of food lovers, Iraqi/Belarusian Jewish. Above is a picture of my parents at their wedding with a  profiterole cake called Croquembouche .    I was raised in London, a city rich in food from around the world. My parents are both born and raised Londoners.  It's usually when my friends meet my family do they have that 'aha!' moment. "So that's why Flo loves food so much...".  Growing up, my Friday nights consisted of staying in with my parents and two sisters where we’d do Shabbat (jewish tradition) and invite friends/family round to eat a huge meal together. This meal consisted of roast chicken, vegetables, onions and roast potatoes, topped with onion gravy. My sisters and I would ask my mum to burn the onions because they would become caramelised. Yes, we are particular. Can’t forget the Challah (traditional jewish bread), which we’d usually buy from either The happening Bagel in Finsbu...