FOOD PHOTOGRAPH: CLARE WINFIELD. FOOD STYLING: SOPHIE AUSTEN-SMITH. STYLING: LUIS PERAL
Fathers and daughters share a bond made in heaven. My dad inspired me in many ways, and I thank him each day for my passion for work and life. His joie de vivre was hard to beat. He encouraged me to try anything once, and never to miss out on an opportunity in life.
Dad relished my mother’s culinary skills, and our large dining table in Karachi, where I grew up, was always laden with good food, accompanied by friends and family to share it all with.
Like many Parsi families, we’ve been blessed with the ‘cooking gene’. My aunt Villie, now 88, has been my guru of encouragement ever since my dad passed away 28 years ago – sadly rather young. She still teaches and bakes, which is what keeps her young. I now live in Canada but we chat every day, share our ideas, and often she’ll tell me an old family recipe; she keeps it all in her memory and doesn’t believe in writing it down.
Aunt Villie handed this coconut cake, which was her own aunt Jaijee’s creation, down to me. It’s my firm belief that families who eat together stay together.