Q&A with Rosie Lovell

Recently we had the chance to do a Q&A with Rosie Lovell, author of Spooning With Rosie. Five years ago, the passionate, energetic young cook opened up a thriving deli in Brixton market. This week, we featured a snippet of her book as the Weekly Extract on Fifth Estate.

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m 28 but I keep forgetting and saying I’m 23. I live in Brixton where it’s boisterous and loud and full of food, and I feel very lucky for that.

What books have had a lasting impact on you?

Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries is incredible. The pictures are so accessable and I love the idea that you can be on the exact same day and look up what he ate. It makes you feel really close to the magic. I mostly buy food books, though often old ones from markets which are really dated and comforting.

Why do you write?

I write because I love the process of typing, reading, re-reading and honing ideas into something that makes sense. Also it’s a really important part of recording in the case of cookbooks, so that things can be passed down and remembered. I’ve learnt in the last year that the people that work through this creative process with you are the key, and in doing so you meet really talented people. That’s an honour. 

As an author, what are you most proud (or embarrassed) of writing?

I’m proud of all the people that I got to talk about in my book. I’ve met, and continue to meet really great and interesting people, both in my deli and also around London, that I wouldn’t be able to cook with out. All the bits in Spooning with Rosie about my family and my upbringing and our lovely Suffolk home fill me with joy. It’s cheesy but true.

What is your biggest failure?

My rubbish memory. Since my brain haemorrhage I have a terrible memory and it’s really frustrating when you are trying to take over the world! Perhaps loving too hard too.

When you were a kid, what did you think were you going to be when you grew up?

A singer. But then I took up smoking.

If you could go anywhere in time for one day, where would you go and why?

Back to Gokana, where I had the best South Indian experience. Monkeys, juggernauts, and a wicked deep friend cauliflower salad, swimming to the sunset and watching cricket on the telly.

Who are the five people, living or dead, you’d invite to a party?

Nick Drake, Marianne Faithfull, Elizabeth David, Kate Moss and can I have the Mitchell Brothers from EastEnders as one?!

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a top secret new book idea which I’m really excited about. It’s going to be so rewarding and enlightening to make, and all I can say is “Women of the world take over, because if you don’t the world will come to an end, and it won’t take long” (that’s a song)

You can check out Rosie talking about her book in this video:

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