Greek home cook
Nadine’s story
Nadine, both mother/wife and owner of Nadine‘s kitchen lab, is home chef by day, and private chef by night, specialising in traditional Greek cuisine, prepared using premium British products from small farms around the UK, allowing her to combine what she loves, whilst also supporting local suppliers. She grew up with her Greek mother who originated from Corfu, and a Greek Cypriot father, and although both cuisines are classed as Greek, they both have separate methods of making the same dishes, which as you can imagine caused a lot of friendly bickering in the kitchen, leading Nadine to fuse the best of both methods for each dish, in order to create the perfect flavours.
Greek food stands out in the cuisine world for its Mediterranean triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine, which can be seen in Nadine’s Beef Sofrito with rice, with its tender cuts, slowly sautéed in white wine, red wine vinegar and the not-so-secret ingredient... lots and lots of garlic. Sofrito, in fact, refers to a specific dish native to, and almost exclusively to be found on, the island of Corfu. This wine tradition can also be sampled with her marinated pork in red wine, this time a traditional Cypriot dish, consisting of pork marinated in red wine and spices, slow cooked with fragrant coriander seeds, and baby potatoes. Nadine’s authentic culinary repertoire does not stop there though, with the addition of the popular moussaka (layers of eggplant and potato, topped with a flavoursome grass-fed lamb and beef meat ragu, finished off with a cheesy and creamy béchamel sauce), or if you're looking for something a little less well-known, try the Greek baked macaroni, called by Nadine’s father ‘makaronia tou fournou’ and known to her mother as ‘pastitsio’, this Greek lasagne is made bucatini pasta, topped with a rich, meaty ragu and finished with lashings of freshly made, cheesy béchamel sauce, with hints of halloumi, and mint!
Nadine’s own culinary journey took her surprise, casually starting her business after the last lockdown in December 2021, selling her bakery produce at a Christmas market in Enfield, where she sold out, giving her the strength to carry on and start trying out different methods of selling her food. She opened a stall in Camden Town and started having stalls around London selling bakery goods. Following this success, Nadine wanted to do more, so she joined some home cooking platforms, including Hey! Food is Ready and started offering her catering services, cooking her favourite dishes, and now she conducts children’s cooking workshops. For Nadine, making authentic Greek food is not just work, but her passion. In the kitchen is where she is her happiest, able to express her love through the food.