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How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, Big Bird Delights’ Jovanka takes our  Q&A! Home catering business Big Bird Delights has, true to its name, been delighting its customers since 2017. While having pursued a career in banking initially, her passion for cooking saw her going into business full time as a home-based cook. In this week’s Dish It Out – Jovanka grapples between choosing a lifetime supply of chocolate or cheese and whips up a mammoth feast aimed to impress.

What is the most useless and useful item in your kitchen right now?
Alright, useless would be a toaster because for some reason I only toast my bread in the oven. And useful would definitely be my Victorinox chef knife which I use at least 4 times a day. 

Do you have a habit when you are cooking?
I try to clean up my working area after every dish and I always refer my order book while cooking because I’m paranoid about missing an order! 

What was your favourite childhood meal? 
Egg rice. My grandmother would whip it up as soon as I got home from school and we would both have our lunch while watching an episode of Remington Steele.

You have Rs. 500 in your hand, what are you making?
White rice, parippu with spinach, fried sprats and passion fruit kola mallum.

What’s something would you eat but never cook? 
Surprisingly, a cake! Because I’m can never get it moist enough.

What would your last meal be and where?
String hoppers, kiri hodi with a boiled egg, beef curry, coconut sambol, bacon and a piece of jaggery. Followed by Mrs G’s chocolate meringue (which I can easily eat by myself and justify it too because hey! it’s my last meal). Definitely at home. 

Whip up a meal to impress someone? 
Baked crab, roast pork, prawns wrapped in bacon, cauliflower and cheese bake, garlic bread. Followed by Irish cream biscuit pudding for dessert.

You are entering a cooking competition - which one would it be?
Hell’s Kitchen. I am fascinated with the energy that Gordon Ramsey brings into any kitchen he is in. I’m sure I would get ripped to shreds but I would love to just bask in some of that high intense kitchen energy. 

What’s a dish you’d like to relive again for the first time? 
This amazing mushroom risotto with truffle oil I ate in Santorini, Greece. I would love to relive that experience. 

Your biggest kitchen pet peeve? 
Sticky kitchen floor. Yuck. 

Savoury or sweet? 
Savoury. As much as I have a massive sweet tooth, I choose savoury here because I feel that you can really experience a wider range of flavours with savoury food. So, if I had to pick one and stick with it, it would be savoury. 

If you could dis-invent one thing – what would it be?
Rolled ice cream. I think it’s horrid. I feel that all the bashing and rolling takes away from the creamy essence of ice cream and you’re left with rolled flavoured flakes of ice and what’s the point of that?! 

Your thoughts on modernizing traditional dishes? 
Definitely not a fan of modernizing traditional dishes. I would be ok with tweaking the dish with one or two peripheral ingredients but never with changing the core of a traditional dish. Some of my best recipes are from vintage newspaper clippings passed down to me. I truly believe that our ancestors sometimes understood flavours better than we do because they didn’t live in such a rat race. They took their time tasting and experimenting with flavours. Now, because we have so many options, we sometimes overdo it with the combinations and the flavours and the fusion. We forget that sometimes one or two condiments will give tastier cleaner flavours. 

If you were to have an endless supply of any food – what would it be?
Cheese... No! Chocolate..No! Cheese! No...Chocolate. I can’t decide...

It's 2050 – what are you doing? 
Hopefully still trying out new recipes!