Meet Zai- Our Resident Foodie

Meet Zai.

Zai is our resident Foodie, and will be making regular contributions Sacred Whisper Bellingen with all sorts of amazing, nourishing, inspiring recipes. He had been cooking up love and trouble at 5 Church Street Bellingen since it opened a few years ago, and has been working in kitchens since he was a young lad.

Get to know Zai a little more intimately here:

SW: What does food represent to you?

Z: A creative outlet.

SW: What's your favourite food to make?

Z: Indian...it's a broader range of textures and flavours, if I had to nut it down to one style. I ate a lot of it growing up, and Mexican as well.

SW: Tell me about your cultural heritage when it comes to food, because you have two really interesting paths there, haven't you?

Z: Yeah, well my grandfather started the first Mexican restaurant in Australia, and he was very successful with that for many years... He travelled around the world, and Mexico. And my aunty is a Hare Krishna devotee and she learnt all her cooking through that, so I grew up learning Hare Krishna recipes. I've always had a knack for cooking, I don't know whether it has come through the gene pool.

SW: What does the creating of food bring to your life?

Z: Relaxation time...outside of work it's relaxation time.

SW: What direction would you like to see the creating of food take in the future, socially, thinking of the slow food movement, a move back to wholefoods, foods grown within our own local ecosystem?

Z: All that's good. None of it's a sole answer, because not all foods will grow everywhere, a lot of spices just don't grow in this country. Just to be more conscious of what you eat.