Silvena Rowe
Encyclopedia
Silvena Rowe is a British
chef
, food writer
, television personality and restaurateur
.
, Bulgaria
to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish
father. Rowe's father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised
his name due to Bulgaria's communist government. He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine
. At the age of 19, she moved to London
. Silvena cooked in the kitchen of the Notting Hill
bookshop Books for Cooks, which led her to cook for Princess Michael of Kent
, Ruby Wax
and Tina Turner
. She also met Malcolm Gluck
and the two began to write a regular food column for The Guardian
newspaper. In 2007, she was the food consultant on David Cronenberg
’s 2007 film Eastern Promises. She has become a regular guest on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen
and ITV's This Morning
. In 2007, her book Feasts won the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award
. After her fathers death she wanted to rediscover her heritage so she travelled through Turkey
, Syria
, Lebanon
and Jordan
tracing her Ottoman roots; this resulted in her cookbook Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.
On 7th June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair
Hotel in Mayfair
, London
. Her restaurant is influenced by her Turkish heritage- homage to her grandfather Mehmed, who used to cook the dishes for her father.
Silvene Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, food writer
Food writing
Food writing is writing that focuses on the topic of food, both widely and narrowly defined.-Definition:Food writer Mark Kurlansky gives the scope of food writing when he observes: “Food is about agriculture, about ecology, about man’s relationship with nature, about the climate, about...
, television personality and restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
.
Biography
Rowe was born in PlovdivPlovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
father. Rowe's father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised
Bulgarisation
Bulgarisation is a term used to describe a cultural change of the spread of Bulgarian culture within various areas in the Balkans....
his name due to Bulgaria's communist government. He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine
Ottoman cuisine
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.- Description :...
. At the age of 19, she moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Silvena cooked in the kitchen of the Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
bookshop Books for Cooks, which led her to cook for Princess Michael of Kent
Princess Michael of Kent
Princess Michael of Kent is an Austrian-Hungarian member of the British Royal Family. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of King George V....
, Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax is a BAFTA nominated American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
. She also met Malcolm Gluck
Malcolm Gluck
-Career:Initially an advertising copywriter for Collett Dickenson Pearce, Doyle Dane Bernbach, a founder employee of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and later creative director for Lintas, Gluck was for sixteen years the wine correspondent of The Guardian with the column "Superplonk"...
and the two began to write a regular food column for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper. In 2007, she was the food consultant on David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
’s 2007 film Eastern Promises. She has become a regular guest on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen
Saturday Kitchen
Saturday Kitchen Live is a 90 minute cookery programme, which is broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday mornings. It is currently presented by James Martin; previous presenters have included Antony Worrall Thompson and Gregg Wallace. The programme is currently produced by Cactus TV...
and ITV's This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
. In 2007, her book Feasts won the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award
Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards
The Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards were intended to recognize achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting on the subjects of food and drink...
. After her fathers death she wanted to rediscover her heritage so she travelled through Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
tracing her Ottoman roots; this resulted in her cookbook Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.
On 7th June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair
The May Fair
The May Fair is a historic hotel with a modern design, set in the heart of Mayfair, London. It is located on Stratton Street, within close proximity of Piccadilly, Bond Street, Knightsbridge, Green Park and Buckingham Palace....
Hotel in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Her restaurant is influenced by her Turkish heritage- homage to her grandfather Mehmed, who used to cook the dishes for her father.
Silvene Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.
Awards
- 2007: Glenfiddich Food and Drink AwardGlenfiddich Food and Drink AwardsThe Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards were intended to recognize achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting on the subjects of food and drink...
-London - 2011: Gourmand Award - Paris
Television appearances
- BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's Saturday KitchenSaturday KitchenSaturday Kitchen Live is a 90 minute cookery programme, which is broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday mornings. It is currently presented by James Martin; previous presenters have included Antony Worrall Thompson and Gregg Wallace. The programme is currently produced by Cactus TV...
, a regular guest - ITV This MorningThis Morning (TV series)This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
- Let's Dance for Comic ReliefLet's Dance for Comic ReliefLet's Dance for Comic Relief is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charity Comic Relief. The programme is currently presented by Steve Jones and Alex Jones, who replaced previous host Claudia Winkleman in...
- Screen expert/judge on BBC Young Chef of the Year (2009)
- Come Dine With MeCome Dine With MeCome Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
- Great Food LiveGreat Food LiveGreat Food Live, formerly Good Food Live, was a British magazine programme hosted by Jeni Barnett and broadcast on UKTVFood part of the UKTV Network between 2001 and 2007. Jeni Barnett was joined every day by a chef co-host...
- Soapstar SuperchefSoapstar SuperchefSoapstar Superchef was a cooking show on the ITV Network, where soap stars from Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Neighbours compete to be crowned "kings" or "queens" of the kitchen.Their culinary efforts are judged by an expert panel of three judges...
Books
- Supergrub: Dinner-party Bliss on a Budget, HarperCollins, (ISBN 9780007176120, 2004)
- Feasts: Food for Sharing from Central and Eastern Europe, Mitchell Beazley, (ISBN 9781845331566, 2006)
- The Eastern and Central European Kitchen: Contemporary & Classic Recipes, Interlink, (ISBN 1566566789, 2008)
- Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume: Cuisine of the Eastern Mediterranean, Hutchinson, (ISBN 9780091930967, 2010)
- Orient Express, Hutchinson, (ISBN 9780091930950, 2011)