A chat with Barbara Finesse |16 November 2019
Barbara Finesse with daughter Louise
‘My passion for food comes naturally’
Today we have a chat with the famous social media contributor Barbara Finesse. Those following the ‘Ki Menu Tanto’ group for sure knows this lady through her posts of her daily menus. We went to Praslin to have a chat with her and found out that she is a devoted mother, life partner and a foodie.
“My passion for food comes naturally. I am the eldest of my four siblings and I think as the eldest one, you are given certain responsibilities and play a motherly role, taking them to the nanny, to school and all. I myself have four children aged 28, 24, 23 and 11 and when I formed my own family, I have always found it normal to be the one to make their meals. One of my boys has since started cooking and frequently calls me up to ask for a recipe and my youngest, my 11-year-old daughter, has taken a liking to baking,” recounts Barbara.
Barbara Finesse was first involved in other businesses. “I have been involved in hardware for a while and have since diversified into tourism due to more competition in hardware. My partner in life once surprised me with a food take-away outlet. I was approached by a lady from the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA) who told me to sign the license and that is how I found out. I ran the take-away at the Pension Fund Complex next to Deepam Cinema for a year and then sold it as it was extremely demanding. To this day, I have people asking when I will go back into the take-away business.”
What about her daily life? “On school days, I am usually up at 8am. I plan ahead the meals I am cooking the next day and I make sure to purchase the ingredients beforehand. I can’t say a lot of effort goes into cooking or a lot of my time as I can cook three or four dishes at the same time while I am cleaning the house.”
Being a regular contributor on the site ‘Ki Menu Tanto’, many people contact Barbara for recipes, for advice or even for them to come for lunch!
“I receive a lot of calls and messages. Some people call and inbox me for recipes and it’s really encouraging. It was discouraging at one point when some were asking if I am showing off or making negative comments but then others encouraged me not to give up but to continue posting to inspire their own meals. I cannot make a business out of selling food as I travel quite a lot and it would not be feasible. Once a lady just texted me and said she would be coming to Praslin and would love to dine at my place and I did not actually know her. I was rather shocked and they did indeed come as a family on the Saturday evening. And they wanted to come again the following day and I was happy to accommodate them. I often send food to Mahé through Cat Cocos. The very same lady called me and said she was craving for ‘katkat’ and ‘ladob’ and she is expecting so I made it and sent it over. I am also requested to cater for parties sometimes even for people and organisations on Mahé and I do not charge much as I enjoy cooking and don’t really concentrate on the profit-making side of it.”
Her secret to know is to try new recipes: “I also used to cook authentic Creole food for tourists and visitors in previous years. I tend to cook mainly Creole dishes. Whenever I try something new, I try to deconstruct it and think of all the ingredients and the method behind it, and then I try it myself. It takes some practice sometimes and you adjust along the way. It might not turn out right the first time but you can keep trying and improving.”
Barbara noted that she feels very happy when some people send her pictures of the food they cook from her recipes. “Even when I am away I cook unless I am someplace where there is no kitchen. I don’t mind eating out but I miss my home-cooked food,” concluded our host.
During our conversation, Barbara’s youngest child Louise participated enthusiastically to it. She proudly showed us the photos she took of the cakes she baked. Her favourite food is beef steak and lasagne, which her mum voluntarily makes for her.
Below are two recipes of what we had at Barbara’s house. We also had grilled spicy red snapper, and fresh tuna chutney.
Passion fruit and mango juice recipe
Ingredients: 5 big passion fruits, I mango:
Remove passion fruit pulp and add to blender with chopped mango, sugar and a small pinch of salt and a touch of vanilla essence. Do not dilute it too much for a more concentrated flavour.
Beef Curry
Sautee onions, tomatoes and cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves and curry powder until almost burned. Add boiled beef and cubed potatoes. Add some coconut milk and just before removing from the heat, add a mix of garlic, ginger and herbs and a little bit more herbs, parsley and thyme.
Vidya Gappy
Photo source: Barbara Finesse
