JIKONI

Jikoni means kitchen in Kiswahili a word that perfectly captures Ravinder Bhogal s approach to food Ravinder was born in Kenya to Indian parents when she moved to London as a child the cooking of her new home collided with a heritage that crossed continents What materialised was a playful approach to the world s larder and Ravinder s recipes do indeed have a rebellious soul They are lawless concoctions that draw their influences from one tradition and then another Cauliflower Popcorn with Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce Spicy Aubergine Salad with Peanuts Herbs and Jaggery Fox Nuts Skate with Lime Pickle Brown Butter Tempura Samphire and Nori Lamb and Aubergine Fatteh or utterly irresistible Banana Cake accompanied by Miso Butterscotch and Ovaltine Kulfi These proudly inauthentic recipes are what you might loosely call immigrant cuisine with evocative stories from a past that illustrates the powerful relationship between food people place and identity The tastes and smells of this brazen new world are sophisticated welcoming fresh exciting and bold