South Asian Comfort Cooking with Sumayya Usmani (1) (1)

Say 20th May:

Join this special cookery class to celebrate the launch of award-winning food writer and author Sumayya Usmani's third book, food memoir ANDAZA, this cookery class offers you an opportunity to get purchase a signed book as well as learn to cook some of the recipes within the book from Sumayya herself -  including:

Bitter lemon and mustard seed pulao rice

Achari picked spiced potatoes (adapted from the book)

Handmade chappatis

Aubergine borani with curry leaves, coconut yoghurt and tomatoes

About Andaza: a memoir of food, flavour and finding freedom in the Pakistani kitchen (published by Murdoch Books)

Award-winning food writer Sumayya Usmani’s stunning memoir conjures a story of what it was like growing up in Pakistan and how the women in her life inspired her to trust her instincts in the kitchen.

From a young age, food was Sumayya's portal to nurturing, love and self-expression. She spent the first eight years of her life at sea, with a father who captained merchant ships and a mother who preferred to cook for the family herself on a tiny electric stove in their cabin rather than eat in the officer's mess.

When the family moved to Karachi, Sumayya grew up torn between the social expectations of life as a young girl in Pakistan,and the inspiration she felt in the kitchen, watching her mother, and her Nani Mummy (maternal grandmother) and Dadi's (paternal grandmother) confidence, intuition and effortless ability to build complex, layered flavours in their cooking.

This evocative and moving food memoir – which includes the most meaningful recipes of Sumayya's childhood – tells the story of how Sumayya's self-belief grew throughout her young life, allowing her to trust her instincts and find her own path between the expectations of following in her father's footsteps as a lawyer and the pressures of a Pakistani woman's presumed place in the household. Gradually, through the warmth of her family life, the meaning of 'andaza' comes to her: that the flavour and meaning of a recipe is not a list of measured ingredients, but a feeling in your hands, as you let the elements of a meal come together through instinct and experience.

Quotes and early reviews:

‘I can't decide whether I want to devour Sumayya's story or her recipes first, but this has left me hungry to travel, to explore... and, of course, to eat.’ - Felicity Cloake, Guardian food columnist and author

‘A tour de force: an extraordinary combination of heritage, personal memories and recipes’ - Mishal Husain, broadcaster

“What stood out for me was the enchanting way you told your life story. I somehow cared less for the food in this book and more for you. I wanted to know more about you and what happened next. You, yourself, are such an exciting focus and you tell your story so well. Your story overpowers the food.” --Madhur Jaffrey

‘[Sumayya Usmani is] the go-to expert in Pakistani cuisine' - BBC Good Food Magazine

‘Sumayya Usmani is a brilliant storyteller. She transports us with her delicious descriptions of the smells and flavours of the kitchen.’ - Jay Rayner, award-winning writer and food critic

'The title for Sumayya Usmani's memoir, Andaza, means sensory cooking, and it delivers on so many levels. Sumayya's words awakened my senses almost synaesthetically: I could taste the sounds, visualise the flavours, and hear the colours of Pakistani cooking. Her story felt new, exciting, but also familiar in a visceral kind of way. In places, it made me smile and laugh, and at times it triggered sadness. Throughout, Sumayya's voice and spirit are strong, prompting one to read on with an overwhelming sense of awe and solidarity.' --Olia Hercules, author of Home Food, Summer Kitchens, Mamushka and Kaukasis