The coronavirus crisis has led people across the world to observe social distancing and stay at home. The homebound time, however, brings certain blessings with it.
The challenge has also brought the opportunity for many individuals to develop their hobbies and materialise their interests as they are forced to spend most of the time with their families.
Cooking can be counted both as a job and as a hobby. The crisis has invoked the culinary interests of people as medical experts have been underlining the need to eat healthy and boost immunity to ward off the coronavirus.
British expatriate Julia Toon is a culinary motivator and food influencer. Founder of Jules of the Kitchen, anthology of her recipes, Julia boasts of over 40 years of her experience working as a cook for celebrities and international business associations.
“Basically Jules of the Kitchen is a collective online hub of my best-loved recipes; secret gems from my experience working as a cook for celebrities and business associations, or recipes collected from friends and family over the years, and presented simply as an easy reference source for those people who share a passion for cooking,” said Julia.
With the onset of the devastating coronavirus, it became apparent to Julia that the way forward for her and her family, in order to help beat this pandemic, is to stay at home, eat well and work hard to stay healthy. “In brief, take a personal – look after yourself – initiative in order to stay healthy and to help Qatar in fight against the virus. Well for one, it is important to eat well or better to eat as healthily as you can. To me this means being in charge of literally what you eat and therefore, what you cook at home. Stop buying the preservative laden commercially prepared foods, learn to cook and take responsibility for your health and the health of your loved ones.
“When you cook at home you know all the ingredients, you are in control. I am a great believer in the 18th century adage which says ‘you are what you eat’ and medical science now advocates this saying.”
Based on her long experience of cooking and knowledge of food, Julia suggests consuming as much fresh vegetables and fruits as possible. “My recommendation for good health is to always eat fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, whole grains, home-made soups and of course, quality cuts of meat or fish.”
Sharing healthy food recipes, the culinary motivator said: “There are some recipes that people can try at home with ease. These are flatbread salad with warm walnut dressing, roasted tomato soup, and baked salmon fillet with zingy yoghurt dressing.”
For Julia, this home seclusion means she has time to really focus on creating new and interesting recipes, cooking and photographing them to upload to the website. “We all now have time to do those hobbies or wants which we kept putting off by saying if only I had time. The time is now to do these things and if cooking is something you really would like to do, learn more about or simply enjoy.
“At a time when all of us are housebound, I believe cooking with or for the family is an enjoyable traditional pastime suitable for everyone of any age.”
Jules of the Kitchen is also in the embryonic stage of releasing YouTube cooking demonstrations. “Via Youtube Jules of the Kitchen, very easy family recipes are displayed alongside stories and often health giving tips on ingredients etc. The recipes on Jules of the Kitchen are varied and cover all culinary trends i.e. Mediterranean, family, organic, gluten free, vegetarian and vegan. The recipes are not over complicated as the vision is to create enjoyment and a feeling of fun whilst cooking in the kitchen. If you are a beginner always start with something easy and challenge yourself as your confidence grows. Try to always think healthy and enjoy everything in moderation.”
You can visit Julia’s webite at www.julesofthekitchen.com
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