I was born in Bombay, India to a family of migrants from Goa. My passion for food was developed early as I was surrounded by family and friends who excelled in home cooking from a wide range of cuisines.

My career has been very varied and full of excitement as I always looked for new challenges.

I love reading, music, good films and being an organiser of various events that I do within the community to create awareness of issues that I believe should be of public interest. Malawi Fundraiser, Diwali-The Festival of Lights, Arthouse Film Nights are some of the successeful events hosted in Peebles in the last few years with active support from the local community.

I also run a Personal Chef consultancy business called Aromaticuisine.

I was raised in what I like to refer to as a blip in the universe: a liberal multicultural university town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and I was the first American to be born to German parents. My mother has always been passionate about food not only nutritionally but artistically and my father despite having a huge appetite had a thin waist. I prefer to spend less time in the kitchen concentrating on simple but healthy. I have now spent almost half my life in Scotland.

While I have studied Zoology, Medical Technology, Mathematics and Occupational Therapy, my greatest passions are art, imaginative education, mystics from any tradition and people watching. I am not keen on team sports of any kind or history as it seems that people never do learn from the past! I now tutor Maths, work as an Activities Coordinator for elderly patients in our local hospital and on developing my own art.

I am pleased to support YOU CAN COOK and its community ethos.

My favourite heirlooms are a rolling pin and a tattered cookery book. One has come down from my great grandmother on my dad’s side of the family, the other from my mum’s mum. Baking’s always been a favourite: the whole idea of getting stuck in a mess of flour and ending up with a perfect looking pita or a lovely cheese pastry. My mum always used me as chief consultant in preparation for the big religious festivals in Bulgaria where I grew up, also big occasions for baking.

When I was eight she allowed me to grow my own produce on the balcony of our city flat. My friends and family, as well as my kids’ friends, know that salad is my favourite food. My first salads were made with bucket-raised tomatoes and yoghurt pot grown spring onions. When the peppers in the old basin ripened, there were more opportunities to get creative. To this day one of my favourite pastimes is strolling in open-air markets in hot places. The smell of fresh fruit and veg is intoxicating and very inspiring for whipping up some of the quickest, tastiest and healthiest meals: a real feast for the senses.

I was born in Milano, Italy and after finishing my studies in Tourism worked for a while doing various jobs until one fine day I woke up! and decided to change my life for the better and decided to leave Italy and travel the world to experience and know my inner self!

13 something years later, was I glad to take that step? Of course! My journey took me to Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, Central America and many other beautiful places along the way.

I am a Shiatsu Therapist and have also done courses/studies in Accupressure, Reflexology and Meditation. I am passionate about healthy food and grow some of my food in a allotment shared by friends. My hobbies are painting, drawing, crafts, dancing, music and exploring new eco-friendly alternatives.

When you come from a large Irish family cooking and feeding people is a high priority. I grew up in England with four brothers and two sisters so my mother who was an excellent cook taught me many wonderful things not only about how to prepare food but also how to organise meals around a busy family life. She was a particularly good baker and made wonderful scones and pastries that she had to hide in all sorts of places in the kitchen so my four brothers would not eat them all in one go!

I still love baking myself and do lots of it with my own family. Being Irish I also make lots of dishes with potatoes, but then you probably guessed that already. They are one of my favourite foods and my children love them too.

I moved to Scotland twenty years ago just after my parents moved back to Ireland as it was easier to “get home” to Donegal. There seems to be a strong connection between Scottish and Irish cooking and culture which sits well with me. I love using seasonal traditional Scottish foods in simple ways to feed my family and friends and above all love learning about food myself.

I come from a big family that loves to eat and talk about food. We are always planning the next meal! I am a mother of two and love cooking everyday at least once. We talk about food and where it comes from all the time and sit together to eat as a family at the end of each day, usually in a hurry.

I was born in Peru and so have always tasted different food. Different to the UK but normal to Peru. We all get in to a place with our food that is secure but when we step out of the norm we get a great experience. I love to try new things especially when recommended by someone. I have lived in London for 22 years and there are so many tastes to experience there.

I work at Whitmuir Organics where we promote buying locally produced, sustainably farmed food.

I find cooking the most creative household task and perhaps that is why I tend to be the family cook. In the summer we grow most of our ingredients and, all being well, some of them, like the potatoes and onions last much of the winter. Simple everyday wholesome food is what I aim to prepare on a daily basis following on the footsteps of my mother. She gave me an interest in my stomach which motivated me to learn to cook when I began to spend time away from home.

Our friends young and old alike always felt welcome in our childhood home. One way in which this welcome was expressed was in a cake in the tin for the weekend and preparedness to extend a meal with more gravy, veg and starch so that anyone who happened to be around at mealtimes did not feel they were imposing if they joined us at the table. My sister and I were always welcomed home with a favourite meal and my mother remembered what close friends of ours enjoyed most too.

I do not spend hours in the kitchen fussing; cooking is just part of the family routine. The preparation and sharing of food at a table is a very positive part of our culture and worth preserving. My mother died some years ago but she lives on in dog-eared, ingredient splattered recipes written in her lovely old fashioned handwriting.

I grew up in New Zealand in a house where the fruit bowls were constantly refilled and food bought fresh every day. Making meals was an experimental and creative adventure for me but I frustrated friends and family alike by seldom remembering quite how I had put together a meal they'd enjoyed. In my late teens I drifted into hotel work and undertook chef training for a couple of years before getting distracted by study, theatre and education work, which I still do.

The ritual of gathering around a table to share a meal is central in my life. I love to prepare and serve food that tastes good, encourages sharing but doesn't take attention away from conversation, laughter and storytelling. For me the best meals include lively conversations about past meals and plans for the next.

The discipline of preparing daily meals has taught me about simplicity, imaginative use of a few ingredients, the conviviality of the kitchen in the late afternoon, the pleasure of variety. Many years working in education has taught me that what we feed our bodies is every bit as important as what we feed our minds and spirits.

I come from the central belt of Scotland, from a large family, and learned to ‘pitch-in’ early on in life – including with the cooking! I love helping people and am involved in charity work, including a mental health charity.

Nowadays I work as a practicing behaviour therapist and help people to overcome self-limiting beliefs, develop their well-being and to perform to their full potential. I am also a trainer and change management consultant and work all over Scotland.

I learned to cook as a youngster and am passionate about food. I am also interested in the health-giving properties of food, especially herbs and spices.

I currently live in Fife with my son Mike.

People have been known to drive 200 miles for one of my curries!

I used to watch my Dad kneading dough for years before having a go myself, aged about 11, when he was on a rare trip away. The smell of the yeast, the frothy head, the sticky feel of the dough and the way it turns into a smooth, stretchy, bigger thing – terrific. Then there’s that aroma of bread in the oven and the softening of the crust as it cools. Bread is not the only thing I cook but it’s still probably the most rewarding. No two loaves are ever quite the same. I would love to encourage other people to give it a shot.

I live in the Scottish Borders and am heavily involved in the Third Sector.  My main areas of interest are helping organisations develop and be sustainable.  I am chair/director of Scottish Borders Social Enterprise Chamber, Convenor of the Community Care Forum and heavily involved with the local agencies especially around disability and equality, I chair the Joint Equality Access Team which is the group that looks at issues for the public and staff within the NHS, SBC and especially the users of services and their carers. If that is not enough I am also the Chair of Central Borders Access Panel and on the governing board of the Scottish Accessibility Information Forum.

I live in the beautiful village of St. Boswells with my husband John. We have two grown up sons and a beautiful granddaughter. I love music of all kinds and share a passion with Bosco and Hanisa's son for anything to do with “Lord of the Rings”. We can’t wait for the new Hobbit film to come out.

I support the work of You Can Cook as a means of engaging with communities and especially those who are isolated.