"Summers under the Tamarind Tree" ... the story begins; about my cookbook

Growing up, I was silently aware of my passion for flavour, it was an untapped love for creating from what nature blesses us with, creating food that spoke to the heart and not just to the palate alone. Food was an expression of togetherness and love in my home, no mater where the table was placed.I was someone who grew up so removed from the land that gives us what we eat, my early childhood memories of food were those of eating aboard the cargo liners my father commanded, never seeing where the food I ate came from till much later in my childhood, when I moved to Pakistan (around age 7). However, whatever I ate, no matter how modest or where is came from, was always touched with flavour, a story of days gone by, with love and effort in it's creation. With a mother who was vehemently passionate about cooking Pakistani food as well as learning international recipes from travels, sharing them and ensuring the absolute perfection of a dish, I grew up unblinded from the reality of cooking, feeding and creating flavour, no matter what the provenance.Moving back to Pakistan in the early 80's, I was a young child with an alternative childhood under my belt, one that did not translate to others around me. I always found myself struggling to connect to being at a normal school (most of my early education was correspondence based), I found that though I went through the motions of growing up, I never left truly bonded with the land I was in. Though today I am a patriotic Pakistani, my journey here has not been conventional. I may have only been 7 when I moved to Pakistan, most people think that age was mouldable, but I believe the isolation of my early childhood didn't allow me connections - my only home still felt like the scent of the surf, the sound of crushing waves and the rolling and pitching of a ship on rough seas. I think I found my real connection through the cuisine of Pakistan, the passion for food, feeding and living the art of creating recipes from simple seasonal produce, all I learnt from my grandmothers, mother and aunts. Seasonal is all we talk about in the West today, but this is what people in my part of the world are forced to do for the lack of any other alternatives, and it is by far the best way of eating. I never realised the connection I had with my homeland's cuisine  till I moved much later in my life (8 years ago) to the UK. As I tapped into my memories of my life, the only highlighted flashes were those that involved food in any form. Be it a memory of mother's cooking enveloping the kitchen , eating roadside snacks after school, stealing moments of forbidden fruit of my Nanis' (maternal grandmother) trees, or a waft of curry leaves at my Dadi's (paternal grandmother) house on Sunday visits - everything without exception was woven around an intimate web of food related memories.It all came to a head when I realised after a long career in a profession I had no passion for, that food was the journey that would finally find my true roots in a country I actually grew up in. My one connection I never realised was what would reunite me with a missing link all my life. Pakistani food, its culture, heritage and the people in my life who lead me to a path of discovery of who I really was without me every realising.I started this website with a simple mission, to create an awareness of my homeland's aroma, flavour and love for food. I have spend the past 3-4 years trying my best to honestly open peoples' hearts, minds and palates to the taste of Pakistan. I have done so from deep within my heart, more so it's been as much a journey of self discovery for me.Every writer dreams of a book deal, and rightly so. I always hoped that someone would write a cookbook about what makes Pakistani food so unique, distinct and individual, I always hoped that someone would just get a chance to take that opportunity to say something about a hidden aspect of my homeland. But I never dreamed it would be me.I am so overwhelmed and equally excited by the task before me as I begin my humble endeavours to produce a cookbook based on my memory of Pakistani cuisine, the flavours I grew up with, I do genuinely hope that I create a space in people's  minds and hearts to Pakistan's flavour, it's infectious adoration and generosity for feeding others and celebrating its' ultimate goal of togetherness, love and family through food.My first cookbook "Summers under the Tamarind Tree" is to be published by Frances Lincoln (UK), the first cookbook of it's kind in the UK - the book is out in Spring 2016 !  A memoir based cookbook, this will include 100 recipes, with stories, memories, photos and passion.Please wish me luck as I will be needing it and I hope I do my nostalgic flavours of Pakistan  justice through my words and recipes. Sumayya x