Natasha Barnes’ culinary adventures
Author tells of her journey to publish first cookbook.
When you page through The Culinary Adventures of a Travelling Cook, you literally page through the chaotic yet colourful and creative life of Natasha Barnes.
Publishing her first book, this Ballito resident crossed off another accomplishment from her bucket list.
Filled with humorous anecdotes, mouth-watering recipes and unbelievable photos, it is amazing to think that Barnes did all the cooking, styling and photography in her own kitchen with the help of food photographer Patrick Royal.
“I combined all my passions in this book from cooking and travelling to photography and my art. It is a memoir of my life,” she said.
The recipes in the book are dishes that Barnes enjoyed during her travels and ones she collected over time.
“Cooking was my profession and art my hobby, but somewhere along the way they swapped and now I travel for my art. So while being away on business or holiday I have the habit of collecting all the recipes of the food I enjoy. My friends kept on nagging me to write it down and one day I just woke up and decided this was something that I needed to do now.”
The book includes a few stories from her childhood when she was growing up on a farm in the Free State.
But it was the egg curry from Sri Lanka that gave life to the idea of publishing a book.
“That dish is so fantastic. I love Sri Lanka. It has a very special place in my heart.”
This is not your normal cookbook and you can expect to see recipes like Witblits Marmalade, Beetroot Curry, Peking Duck Natasha style and Black Mamba cake, a deadly yet delicious chocolate cake.
“It is like stories with recipes! It will not be the food that you will necessarily eat in that country, but it is more of the memories that I have from that destination.”
Barnes has reworked all the recipes so that they are perfectly suited to the South African market.
“It was very important for me that you can get the ingredients at your local grocery store.”
“This book is everything that I am, so I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together,” said Barnes.
Get yourself a copy of The Culinary Adventures of a Travelling Cook at Bargain Books at the Lifestyle Centre in Ballito for R350.
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