About Anna

Anna Colquhoun is a cooking teacher, food writer and consultant on BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet, based in London.  Something of a food nerd, she has travelled far to research and write about her subject.

Having always loved cooking at home, I finally left my career in international development in 2006 to become a cook.  It started in San Francisco.  I trained professionally at the Tante Marie Cooking School, took more specialised courses at other schools, including the San Francisco Baking Institute, and worked as an intern at Alice Waters' legendary restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley.  I fell in love with simple, seasonal cooking and making everything from scratch — sausages, pizza, pasta, preserves, you name it ... There is more about my experiences in California in Abby Dyson's interview with me.

A year travelling for culinary research deepened my understanding and love of Turkish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Moroccan and Senegalese cuisines, among others.  You can read more about these culinary adventures here, and find lots of recipes too.  Food’s place in history, geography, language, culture and society fascinates me; nutritional analysis and calorie-counting aren’t my thing.  

My cooking classes include Moroccan and Turkish feasts, French classics, preserving workshops, seasonal vegetarian cooking, knife skills, bread and pasta making, seafood and more.  They are always small and hands-on, ending in a convivial meal around the kitchen table.  Since early 2010 I have also been running a monthly supperclub called the Secret Kitchen, which seats 20 people at communal tables.

My first book, Eat Slow Britain, tells the stories of 88 wonderful British food businesses — pig farmers, bakers, cheese-makers, organic veg growers, restaurants and more — who share my commitment to Slow Food values.  I support sustainable agriculture, animal welfare and fair trade and only use the best quality ingredients in my cooking classes, usually sourced from Riverford Organic, Hubbub and my wonderful local butcher, greengrocer, fishmonger and cheesemonger in Highbury.

I had the idea for BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet and am food consultant for the show.  Each week the programme travels round the country to meet local food-loving people who pose culinary questions to a panel of experts chaired by restaurant critic Jay Rayner.  You can download the podcasts here and read a behind-the-scenes report of the first recording in Suffolk here.  Episode 2 is my favourite so far.

I work freelance in London offering cooking classes and more.  Contact me to get yourself on my email list for monthly updates.  You can find me on Facebook here and follow me on Twitter @CulinaryAnth.

Why the 'culinary anthropologist'?

• Food is not feed.  The stories behind the dishes we create and the different perspectives on the foods we eat are as interesting as they are delicious to eat and fun to cook.
• I love food and I love travel.  Food is a fantastic route into understanding a place's people, history, culture, economy and more.  Everybody eats.
• In many parts of the world we are fast forgetting how to grow and make real food - food that is good for us and good for the planet, made by hand from good ingredients.  I want to learn from the people who still have this important knowledge, and encourage others to get cooking too.
  
• I did anthropology at university.  I am now a cook.  I like to glorify my career by thinking of myself as a culinary anthropologist.

Who is Matt?

Matt eats very well.  He is also a computational linguist who takes time off from the research he usually does for culinary road trips and other adventures.  He has contributed much to this website.

Who is Barnaby?

Barnaby is our culinary bear.