Mira
My name is Mira and I’m a wife and mother of 4 from the very beautiful island of Mauritius. I'm also the writer, recipe-creator and photographer behind Everyday Cooking. Being Mauritian of course means my food is heavily influenced by traditional Mauritian styles of cooking. Mauritius is a country built on a diversity of peoples and a variety of cultures so to describe traditional Mauritian cuisine is to describe a melting pot of everything from French to Chinese, Creole, Indian, English and Portuguese. I've been living in Ireland since 2008 and I'm married to an Irish man with a big Irish family so I guess I've had a big dollop of 'Irish' added to my very own Mauritian melting pot.
Marrying Thomas in 2010 was the beginning of a new chapter for me. Among the many changes marriage brought to my life was the change in my relationship with food and cooking. A fire was sparked inside me soon after I started cooking for Thomas. I could see clearly that my cooking was bringing him real joy (he's a man after all). For the first time somebody was fascinated and interested in the food I made and showed real gratitude for my efforts.
Let me tell you a little about why I'm blogging. Since the age of 14 when I had to leave school and get a job to help support my family I've worked in factories and a variety of other jobs. It wasn't easy, though I had hopes and plans for my future career. I also wanted to be a domestic engineer. These were 2 conflicting identities and in October 2010 the stay at home mother won out and I've been at home full time ever since. After years of my self esteem and sense of self worth being tied up in my job I became a little lost. After the birth of my 3rd child I suffered from postnatal depression. For over a year I couldn't find myself, I tried but I couldn't find my place. I couldn't find fulfillment or satisfaction. I got a lot of help and started practicing mindfulness (a real life saver) and I gradually came back to myself. Bit by bit I started finding what was hiding in plain sight right in front of me, the joys of motherhood (trust me they are there even if they're not always immediately obvious). As happy as I was to find myself again and to be enjoying life I had to acknowledge my need for a creative outlet away from the kids. I had to find a way of nourishing that part of me. I decided to write a blog and decided to write it about what I do everyday; cooking.
The size of the grocery bill has been one of the biggest influences on my cooking. Our family has grown to 6 very quickly (and expensively) so I've had to learn how to present food I can be proud of without costing the earth. You won't find Micheline Star like dishes among my recipes because even if I had the time to make them (and I don't ) the food I'm blogging about is everyday food that I can afford to make everyday. Nutritious, delicious food prepared on a budget.
I hope you enjoy Everyday Cooking with Mira and I look forward to hearing from you. A bientôt !
