North Sydmonton mother scoops UK cookery award

A North Sydmonton villager of around 14 years, Romilla Arber, won first place in the Best Easy Recipes Book Category of The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, for her second book: What’s for Dinner? Second Helpings.
A mother of four children, aged nine to 17, the 46-year-old’s book contains 570 recipes tried and tested on her family, whose favourites include cookies, which they have made for themselves and also curry.
Mrs Arber, who is not a trained chef, had to self-publish her book and has struggled to get major bookshop chains to stock it said:
“Cookery writing should not be the exclusive domain of celebrity chefs and ex-models and actresses. Others may have an interesting contribution to make. It is fantastic for me to be judged on my merits and not my background.”
All the profits from sales of this and her first book - What’s for Dinner, go to the Food Education Trust, a charity established by Mrs Arber in 2008 to promote, through education, the benefits of a healthy, balanced, home cooked diet.
Schools and organisations which have benefited from the funding include the Clere School, Burghclere, who received £2,500 from the trust for cookery equipment including new saucepans, weighing scales and mixing machines:
“The funding has enabled the Clere Secondary School to purchase much needed cookery apparatus that will greatly improve the quality of each lesson,” said Cheryl Wheeler, Food Technology teacher at the Clere.
Mrs Arber’s new book was recently ( Sat Feb 2), named the Telegraph’s Book of the Week and Mrs Arber said she was really pleased her efforts had paid off: “It’s nice to have the recognition,” she said, adding:”I try to write jargon-free recipes which can be done without too much fuss and using ingredients easy to find in shops.”
An advocate of fresh, natural and locally sourced ingredients, Mrs Arber - who also provides cookery demonstrations, including in schools - has ambitions to open a small restaurant: “We are looking for premises, not too far away so I don’t have to travel,” she said.