A friend of mine who I work with came up with the idea and motivation for a book revolving around food and faith. He has an Indian background but grew up in Kenya while I am a British Tamil.  As such, we both came from heritages which put a lot of focus and importance on eating together.  We are also both Christians and wanted to inspire other Christians (and others) to make eating together with others (friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances, etc.) a more intentional habit. 

My friend began thinking about the importance of eating together in our day to day lives, the friendships that develop from that and the value of opening your home up to others, all of which are very much in line with Christian teaching.  He approached me with the idea through a brief he had prepared.  At the end of the discussion, we both thought a full colour coffee table style book with lots of recipes would be the perfect way to bring the idea to life.  It would have a number of Christian themes running through it but we wanted it to be an interesting read for everyone by making it a great source of original recipes.

Together with a publishing company, we began compiling stories from people who have used food in their lives to help build local community, reach out to the homeless, engage with their neighbours or maybe just get to know friends on a deeper level.  We were pleasantly surprised to receive so many great stories, pictures and recipes, but we couldn't include all of them  which was a struggle for me.

The book features over 40 authors, including  two Tamils, from many different cultures from all around the world which makes it a very rich read. 

Simply Eat is available on Amazon and would make a wonderful yet affordable Christmas present!