Brown Chicken Stew, Corn Fritters, Guinness Punch Pie – Melissa Thompson's Jamaican Recipes
"I'm really excited," says Melissa Thompson, on the eve of the publication of her first cookbook, Motherland, before changing her mind slightly . "When I was a reporter and I had a big story the next day, my anxiety level was really high." The arrival of Motherland, she says, is even more nerve-wracking. This is about his Jamaican heritage, and because it's such an underrepresented culture in publishing, Thompson can't help but feel an impossible responsibility to speak for everyone and cover everything. "I'm terrified," she said.
Homeland is the culmination of a few busy years. Thompson currently writes a column for BBC Good Food magazine, cooks at food festivals, and this summer was co-curator of the British Library's annual series of food talks and events. She trained as a journalist and worked for national newspapers, but began to lose her passion for news, discovering a passion for food instead. In 2014, she began hosting supper clubs and events, earning a reputation for her riff on Japanese flavors, including karaage-style fried chicken.
The following year, Thompson left her newspaper job for one in marketing. During the lockdown, she lost much of her job, but found she was cooking for fun for the first time since giving birth to her daughter. Then came the news of the murder of George Floyd. She always feels emotional talking about it.
"What bothered me was the reaction of white people saying, 'Oh fuck, I guess racism is one thing,” she says. "I ended up crying all the time. Appropriate sobbing. She started using her Instagram account to advocate for the work of black chefs, cooks and other food professionals of color. She wrote articles for Vittles on the lack of black representation in London's food industry representation, and for the Guardian on racist attitudes surrounding fried chicken. A spark was reignited. "I thought I had left journalism behind," she says. "Now I was starting to write stuff that was really close to my heart."
Daughter of a Maltese mother and d a Jamaican father, Thompson wanted Motherland to reflect his own family's cuisine, but also tell the story of Jamaican cuisine. "The natives never had a written language," says- her. The slaves who came later were not allowed to write. During her research, th She had to interpret historical texts written from a white European perspective.
"Context is so important...
"I'm really excited," says Melissa Thompson, on the eve of the publication of her first cookbook, Motherland, before changing her mind slightly . "When I was a reporter and I had a big story the next day, my anxiety level was really high." The arrival of Motherland, she says, is even more nerve-wracking. This is about his Jamaican heritage, and because it's such an underrepresented culture in publishing, Thompson can't help but feel an impossible responsibility to speak for everyone and cover everything. "I'm terrified," she said.
Homeland is the culmination of a few busy years. Thompson currently writes a column for BBC Good Food magazine, cooks at food festivals, and this summer was co-curator of the British Library's annual series of food talks and events. She trained as a journalist and worked for national newspapers, but began to lose her passion for news, discovering a passion for food instead. In 2014, she began hosting supper clubs and events, earning a reputation for her riff on Japanese flavors, including karaage-style fried chicken.
The following year, Thompson left her newspaper job for one in marketing. During the lockdown, she lost much of her job, but found she was cooking for fun for the first time since giving birth to her daughter. Then came the news of the murder of George Floyd. She always feels emotional talking about it.
"What bothered me was the reaction of white people saying, 'Oh fuck, I guess racism is one thing,” she says. "I ended up crying all the time. Appropriate sobbing. She started using her Instagram account to advocate for the work of black chefs, cooks and other food professionals of color. She wrote articles for Vittles on the lack of black representation in London's food industry representation, and for the Guardian on racist attitudes surrounding fried chicken. A spark was reignited. "I thought I had left journalism behind," she says. "Now I was starting to write stuff that was really close to my heart."
Daughter of a Maltese mother and d a Jamaican father, Thompson wanted Motherland to reflect his own family's cuisine, but also tell the story of Jamaican cuisine. "The natives never had a written language," says- her. The slaves who came later were not allowed to write. During her research, th She had to interpret historical texts written from a white European perspective.
"Context is so important...
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