W
hat we eat shapes who we are. From our first taste of food as a baby, to the meals of our childhood through to adulthood, it is central to our daily lives and identity. It is this that interests Mina Holland – not just what we eat, but why. ‘I’m forever fascinated by our emotional connection to food. Whoever we are and wherever we live, we’re all so informed by our upbringing, and nowhere is this more apparent than in our relationship to food.’ Since jumping ship into the world of food six years ago after an unfulfilling stint in advertising, Mina has dedicated her professional life to commissioning and writing about the stories behind food. ‘I knew straight away that I had no interest in just printing recipes – there are so many of those about. I wanted to get to the heart of people’s cooking.’
Food stories
FOOD HERO
As editor of Guardian Cook and author of two books, Mina spends her days writing and thinking about food. She talks to Emma Winterschladen about comfort eating, cooking ad-lib and how food can be a force for good.
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Portrait: Issy Croker (issycroker.com)
Mina Holand
It was this deep interest in the history and culture surrounding food that led to her first book The Edible Atlas which is, she says, ‘a whistle-stop tour around 39 cuisines of the world’. Keen to create an accessible entry point for different cooking traditions, Mina also wanted to showcase the intricacies of these cuisines. ‘We so often talk about Middle Eastern cuisine as if it’s all the same, and it can be all be a bit fluffy – but actually, each country has its own wonderful distinction. For example, Syrian cooking is all about the balance of sweet and sour.’ And with more ‘exotic’ ingredients, such as harissa and preserved lemons, available than ever before, Mina believes there’s no reason we can’t, and shouldn’t, be a little adventurous with our home cooking: ‘We can travel from our kitchen through the food we eat.’ But it’s not just about experimenting in the kitchen: Mina is also a huge fan of comfort food. ‘The likes of pasta – my ultimate comfort food – have received bad press recently, but what could be better than food that cheers us up from within?’ For her newest book, Mamma, Mina’s candid interviews with famous foodies, such as Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi, explore so well the importance of our own personal food histories. ‘I didn’t want this to be just a book about my own experiences, which is why it was so interesting to hear about the childhood eating habits of great names in the world of food – and to see how diverse they all were. Food really can be a great leveller: no matter who we are, we all need to eat!’
Mina’s ‘non-recipes’
Delicious meals in a few sentences
Tuna, bean and onion salad
Finely chop half a small onion and mix with a tin of white beans of your choice (e.g. cannelini, butter or chickpeas), a tin of good tuna, a glug of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of a lemon, a big pinch of flaky salt, black pepper and a handful of soft green herbs (parsley, dill and tarragon all offer something).
Mum’s French onion soup The secret here is low and slow. Take a generous knob of butter and an equally generous glug of extra virgin olive oil and place over a very low heat. Add six finely sliced onions, two cloves of finely sliced garlic and a couple of sprigs of thyme and leave to fry very, very gently for about an hour, so they start to brown and caramelise. Add a litre of vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for ten minutes before adding cheese (something like Gruyère) on toast, to serve, crowning the bowl and going deliciously soggy.
Anna Del Conte’s Marmite pasta Cook your pasta (to serve 1-2) in generously salted water and, in a separate pan, melt a generous knob of butter (50g) with a spoonful of Marmite (I go for one heaped tsp or even two, but you know best). Take a cup and put a generous splash of the salty, starchy pasta water into your butter and Marmite concoction, then when the pasta is ready, drain and toss through your ‘sauce’. Serve with lots of grated Parmesan and black pepper.
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‘There’s huge potential to do good through food – to cook for someone is an act of love and kindness in itself’ Mina’s new book Mamma celebrates the way food shapes who we become
Cooking for a cause
In fact, it’s the ability of food to help tell a story and bring us together that inspired Mina to first launch a supper club back in 2012 called ‘The Novel Diner’ – with evenings themed around certain books. More recently, she co-organised a literary dinner in aid of Worldreader – a charity that works to promote global literacy by providing digital books to children and families in developing countries. Themed around Elena Ferrante’s popular Neapolitan novels, the sell-out event transported guests to a traditional Southern Italian trattoria from the heart of London. ‘It’s something I’d like to do more of. Food can be such a powerful medium for positive change – whether you’re giving to a food bank, being conscious about where you shop or bringing people together for a good cause.’ As a trustee of the charity Interim, which is dedicated to making psychotherapy accessible for all, she has plans to organise a similar event for them. ‘Therapy is something so many of us could benefit from, but in reality it’s a luxury few can access or afford.’ It is by bringing neglected – often taboo – subjects into an intimate dining space, where conversation can flow easily over good food, 70
that Mina believes real change can happen. ‘There’s huge potential to do good through food – to cook for someone is an act of love and kindness in itself – but I think there’s still a lot of work to be done around charity and food in order to galvanise people.’
Art of improvisation
For Mina, the way to help make good food achievable for all is a fuss-free approach. ‘You don’t have to be a foodie to eat well. Not everyone will love cooking but you can help make it easier by sharing recipes that are straightforward and with interchangeable ingredients.’ In fact, despite commissioning many recipes, Mina herself barely ever follows a recipe word for word. ‘When I was a kid, my favourite meal was “bits and pieces”. It was scraps and leftovers from whatever we had in the fridge. I still cook like that now, improvising as I go with whatever I have handy – it’s much more efficient and cost-effective that way!’ Follow Mina on Twitter and Instagram @minaholland. Mamma: Reflections on the Food that Makes Us by Mina Holland (Orion, hardback & eBook, £20/£10.99) is available on amazon.co.uk