Maria Goretti Tells Us All About Her Award Winning Cookbook: ‘From My Kitchen To Yours’

A month ago, celebrity chef Maria Goretti (who we previously met when she was curating a special menu at The White Owl) won an award for her cookbook; ‘From My Kitchen to Yours’. The award was the national award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards jury – an organisation which annually selects and honours the best and food wine books from around the world.

Ahead of the international arm of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, we caught up with Goretti to talk about her journey since winning as well as about the cookbook itself. Here’s what she had to say.

Can you recall your earliest cooking memory? What developed your interest in cooking?

My mother’s Christmas lunch is my earliest cooking memory. I was her little Sous Chef and she was the one who got me excited about cooking. Somewhere down the line I had forgotten about this and was only reminded of my love for cooking when I had my own baby boy to feed.

Why did you decide to write ‘From My Kitchen To Yours’?

It was not only my decision, I got an offer from Om Books and they were most comfortable with me wanting to do the book my way. Frankly speaking, it all worked out quietly organically for me.

Can you recall any anecdotes about writing the book?

There were days when I knew exactly what I wanted to write about and then there were days where my mind just shut, I reached a place where I would wake up really early in the morning to write and had not a thought to put on paper, so I would go for a run. While I ran for words that I wanted to say, food that I wanted to make would just fill the pages of my mind. So the more I ran, the more I wrote, the more I wrote the more I cooked, the more I cooked the more I ate and the more I ate the more I had to run.

 What kind of recipes does ‘My Kitchen To Yours’ Include? How did you go about selecting the recipes?

‘From My Kitchen To Yours’ has recipes of food that I grew up eating, food that I met with while I traveled, food that I really wanted to eat. My book is an expression of me, while the recipes might range from simple to difficult, I’ve managed to keep it relatable with ingredients available in our local market.

 What are you looking forward to at the Gourmand International Awards?

I’m going in with zero expectations, as for me its an honour to just be nominated.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Why not delve into From My Kitchen To Yours yourself? Head here to get a copy.