In Conversation With Nena Foster
Tell us a bit about you and how you started out being a chef.
I am a trained Nutritional Chef. People often ask what that means! I trained in cooking and nutrition. I learned how to cook and use food that better supports the body’s nutritional needs and how to use food to address health issues. And I now work as a food educator, food stylist, recipe developer, cookery and fermentation teacher. I am a mum of 2 and I live in South East London. Before retraining as a chef I worked as an academic and policy consultant. I worked in public health and healthy systems strategy, but I also worked on other social justice issues from human trafficking to equality & diversity.
Substantively, I liked my previous careers, the subject areas that I worked in, but something was missing. I just didn’t love my work and I wanted to love and be passionate about my job. I wanted more creativity, more autonomy and I wanted to decide my own path, not spend my working life trying to climb a hierarchical ladder. I felt like I was always looking for that something else, but was on maternity leave with my second child, the idea came to me--I wanted to retrain as a chef and work in food. But I knew I didn’t want to be a traditionally trained chef or work in a restaurant, because nutrition and health were important to me. I found a course that catered to both aspects of what I wanted to do and I went for it.
How did the pandemic impact your life balancing motherhood, work and a healthy lifestyle?
Most of my work is centred on working with people, so when the pandemic hit, all of my work was suddenly gone. I still needed to earn and I still needed to work for my sanity, so I had to find another way of juggling the kids and work. I moved what I could online, my partner and I split the homeschool and childcare duties and we just muddle through. The last 6 months were intensely under the same roof, like with many families, and it felt even more important to feed my family well and find some joy in family mealtimes. I do most of the cooking (I am a tough critic, so it’s for the best), so there were days that I’d be cooking our meals as well as running cooking classes so I would spend entire days in the kitchen! But I loved it—I enjoy making sure my family eat well and I know how important it is to look after myself by eating well too. I also loved sharing recipes, ideas and inspiration with others as I know how hard it can be to think about cooking yet another meal. And yes, there were times when cooking was the last thing that I wanted to do, so veg-packed traybakes and one-pot grain & veg dishes were my go-to. Now that the kids are back in school, I’m getting back into the swing of spending more time on my work, which feels great.
Your work is based around gut health and nutrition, if you had a piece of advice, what would be one recommendation to achieve better gut health?
It’s not complicated. The best and only advice you need is to eat more whole, unprocessed foods, like fruit, veg, nuts, seeds and wholegrains and make sure you are eating a wide range of foods, so not the same thing all the time. You gut bacteria need fibre and a diverse range of food to keep looking after you.
Photo by Indi Petrucci
Which role does fermentation play in healthy eating?
Fermentation is the oldest tradition of food preservation. When you eat foods that have been fermented you preserve the nutrients, make then nutrients more digestible and you are eating live beneficial bacteria (which helps to maintain bacterial balance in the gut, which is linked to better physical and mental health).
Autumn just started for us in England, how can we support our immune system, especially with everything that's going on at the moment?
Diet plays a huge part in keeping your immune system healthy, eating food packed with nutrients, particularly immune supporting ones, such as Vitamins C, D, A, your B vitamins, etc. Eating seasonally is important for this as it nature has a clever way of providing you with the right nutrients when your body needs them—things like dark leafy greens and squash are high in Vitamins A, C, K and things like folate, iron and important for immune health. But sleep and stress also play an important role in immune functioning, so get more sleep and try to reduce the stress (easier said than done, given the current situation).
There is also scope for adding in more fermented foods to help repopulate the gut with healthy bacteria—a healthy gut helps to support immune function. For us, it’s about eating well, as usual, but I make lots of fermented ‘potions’, like master tonic, garlic fermented honey and make use of things like rosehips (really high in Vitamin C) and elderberry in brines, syrups and gummies for when we need extra support.
How important is it for children to participate in cooking and how can you interest kids in being a part of the process?
So very important. Cooking helps children to understand how their food gets to their plate and it helps to form positive relationships with food. It takes away some of the fear or nervousness that might have around trying new foods. It’s fun and it helps to take some of the pressure off, it’s a way of engaging with food, but not having to necessarily sit down and eat it. They learn all sorts of things; maths, science, history, reading, reasoning, creativity are a part of cooking. And MOST importantly they learn an invaluable life skill. And you can live in hope that one day they’ll cook your dinner!
Your Family Gut Nutrition and Cookery Workshop Series is starting later this month, tell us who can benefit from this and what will be covered overall?
Most of the parents that come to these sessions are busy and know they want to eat better and feed their children better, but just aren’t sure where to start. I help to make it practical, relatable and show them how to do this meal after meal. Some of them also want to encourage their children to try more foods, but feel like their current tactics just aren’t working and they are frankly fed-up cooking the same meals over and over again. It’s a fun, supportive and practical way to learn and engage with nutrition and gut health. I find that some parents also make the most amazing meals for their kids, but don’t necessarily eat well themselves. I show them how to look after their own health as well as the family’s health.
To book the workshop visit www.nenafosterfood.com
Do you have any more exciting projects or workshops planned this year?
I have monthly Fermented Veg Masterclasses, these run every 3rd Saturday of the month (the next one is Oct 17th). There is my Family Gut Nutrition & Cookery Workshop Series, starting on October 22nd. I’m also starting working with some new 1-2-1 Gut Nutrition & Cookery clients. And I have a few exciting filming and development projects for some partnership collaborations for Halloweeen and one for Christmas focused on healthy edible gifts. I’m also working on a cookbook project with the amazing guys from Original Flava, doing some work with Chefs in Schools and I’ll be working running a bespoke food education programme in a local primary school. The pipeline is full of lots of great work that I am really excited about and feel lucky to be doing the type of work that I love. And of course, in true freelance fashion, I am always open to other opportunities as they pop up!
Easy Peanut Butter Biscuits
These peanut butter biscuits are easy to make and perfect, quick bake when you want something sweet, but healthy. Full of wholegrain fibre, healthy fat and protein means they are great way to enjoy a sweet and keep your blood sugar balanced. Maintaining balanced blood sugar is important for your mood, energy levels, concentration & focus and overall health. If you don’t have nuts, feel free to substitute tahini or another seed butter and top with sesame seeds or other chopped seeds.
Photo by Nena Foster
Ingredients
Makes 12-14
200g wholegrain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ ground cardamom
Pinch sea salt
90g butter, softened
95g maple syrup/honey
85g peanut butter
30g peanuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180 C (fan)/200 C (non-fan)/gas mark 4. Line your baking tray with baking paper (parchment).
In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and spices). Rub the salt between your fingers to break it up and add it to the bowl.
Use a whisk or fork to mix together the dry ingredients until it is well combined.
In a separate mixing bowl add the soft butter and honey. Whisk this together until it is smooth and fluffy. Next add the peanut butter and carry on whisking until it is smooth again.
Next add half the flour to the peanut butter mixture, stir with a spoon on spatula to combine. Repeat with the remaining flour. Let the dough rest while you finely chop your peanuts.
Use a spoon to scoop the dough, roll into balls, flatten and coat one side in the chopped nuts.
Put on the baking tray and repeat using up all the dough.
Bake the biscuits for 10 -12 minutes until the edges go golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a baking wrack to carry on cooling
Allergy info: dairy and nuts, if using
