British-Iranian chef and food writer Sabrina Ghayour made her name back in 2011 by hosting a London-based supper club (Sabrina’s Kitchen) bringing her signature Persian and Middle Eastern flavour to the capital. Her first book, Persiana, came out in 2014 and spent nine weeks on the bestseller lists, winning The Observer Magazine, Food Monthly’s Best New Cookbook award. Further books have included Flavour, Bazaar, which focuses solely on vegetarian recipes, Simply (easy every day recipes), and Persiana Everyday, which includes a new selection of 100 crowd-pleasing dishes.
Now an award-winning and best-selling author, Sabrina travels across the country teaching Persian and Middle Eastern recipes as well as acting as a consultant for brands, airlines, caterers and supermarkets. Described as “the go-to girl for Persian and Middle Eastern recipes, history and ingredient wisdom”, Sabrina will be coming to Oxfordshire at the end of May to teach one of her popular masterclasses at the Blenheim Palace Food Festival. We wanted to know…
What makes Sabrina
Happy?
Feeding people really makes me happy. I think might be cultural, I'm a big feeder. Moments of peace make me happy – I'm constantly fighting and searching, trying to get things done
Sad?
People's lack of appreciation and missed opportunities. It makes me sad when people, including myself, who have been handed something beautiful let it go. For whatever reason – whether they were too stressed or too angry or too upset. Looking back in my life, and I've definitely been guilty of those things.
Angry?
People that dominate. People that take over and aren’t self-aware really do my head in. Once upon a time when I was younger, I would perhaps confront it. Now I'm older, I absolutely feel zero need, because why would I rationalise with somebody who's irrational?
Confident?
Experience. There's really no substitute for time and experience; not in any game, not in any field.
Reflective?
I think everything makes me reflective – I'm a chronic overthinker. I'm beginning to realise my entire life is one giant risk assessment. When a problem comes up, I hypothesise every single scenario, and my brain just does a little calculation on the potential dramas to correct myself, to better myself, to make sure I do things more effectively. It's all about protection which I guess is being reflective in a way.
Hungry?
Mood is a massive trigger for me, so if I'm stressed, it can make me want something to aggressively crunch. I am very mood driven with what I eat.
Blenheim Palace Food Festival takes place over the second May Bank Holiday (24-26 May). It’s a three-day celebration of food, fun and entertainment with gourmet stallholders cooking up fresh flavours from around the world, talented local artisans and high-quality home accessories, gifts and crafts. Expect Michelin-star masterclasses from Raymond Blanc OBE, Matt Tebbutt and Sabrina Ghayour, who told us “I'm going to come up something yummy for people and really enjoy it”.
