#176 The Secret to Delicious Plant Based Cooking with Georgina Hayden

7th Dec 2022

Food writer Georgina Hayden, is on the podcast today, she is author of ‘Taverna’ and more recently ‘Nistisima’ which translates as lenten or fasting foods.

And the secret to eating delicious plant based foods is … it’s no secret! For over 200 days of the year, orthodox christians would essentially eat plant based! Sometimes it was a form of self discipline and religious practice, sometimes out of frugality and generally tradition! And the dishes were always meant to be vegan, rather than a plant based version of a meat dish. Drawing on history and culture from around the Levantine region, Mediterranean and Eastern Europe Nistisima is glorious.

The cakes made with olive oil, the light slow cooked peppers, the sour leeks, the spicy harissa potatoes all look and taste amazing without the feeling that you’re missing a central element of the food. No wonder these Mediterranean countries have such healthy older generations!

Georgina is a foodie through and through. Growing up in North London in a Greek Cypriot household, she was constantly surrounded by food from a young age.

We dive into her career from laying the tables at her family’s restaurant, to the 12 years at Jamie Oliver’s and her more recent experience as a judge for Channel 4’s latest cooking show the ‘Great Cookbook Challenge’.

You can watch our conversation on youtube as well! It’s great no cost way of supporting the podcast and make sure you subscribe too!