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.
