Meet Ryan. Busy student doctor by day, budding chef and food photographer by night! Inspired by his mother’s natural cooking ability and the flavours and techniques he has picked up from other cultures, Ryan’s part-time hobby has grown and grown. What started as a small Instagram account, Rabcooks now has a fully fledged blog, over 2000 followers, and the possibility of becoming part of the burgeoning supper club scene in the city (you heard it here first). Here we catch up with him about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle (although he isn’t actually one himself!), who and what inspires him to create, and the hidden foodie gems to be uncovered in the Scottish capital.
When did you first discover your love for cooking? Did you learn from someone? How did you hone your skills?
When I first moved out, I had no clue how to cook. I remember this infamously bad frittata incident on my third day away from home that I’ll never live down! But I always loved to eat what my talented mum (affectionately known as Maw Broon on my blog) had cooked. Eventually my cooking skills just had to get better to meet my expectations.
So a wee bit of trial and error here, the odd cookbook or YouTube video there, and eventually it all just came together. There were definitely a few more hilarious disasters along the way. As one of my good friends always says: stories over standards!
How do you balance your medical studies and your food creating/blogging?
My philosophy is that spending a wee bit of time preparing your food for the week is a smart investment. Knowing that I’ve a fridge full of lovingly prepared and nutritious dishes at home makes my busy life work better.
Now that I’ve mastered the time management and multitasking skills, having the hob, oven, washing machine and iron going at the same time doesn’t really phase me anymore!
The blogging on the other hand, that’s usually the first thing that gets put on hold when I’m busy. As a food photographer, I struggle to shoot during the daylight hours, especially in winter.
I do have one top tip for anyone who wants to blog but finds themselves busy! Sometimes you get overwhelmed by how behind you are. It can weigh on your mind so much that you feel like you can’t make a dent in it. When this happens, the best thing to do is take a break. A real break! Put the blog way out of your mind for a few days, or even a week. However long it takes until you feel like whatever you do now will be a fresh start.
You feature a lot of vegan recipes on your Instagram and blog. Are vegan recipes in high-demand? What do you find are the benefits of vegan food?
I’m sure everyone in Edinburgh has noticed the growing popularity for plant-based food, and for good reason too. I’m not a vegan myself so it’s probably not my place to discuss the ethics of consuming animal products.
There are however, a wealth of other benefits to switching to a diet that is more plant-based. There’s the obvious increase in your dietary intake of vitamins and fibre that comes from eating a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. It’s generally more environmentally friendly, especially if you buy local. It can also be cheaper unless you go down the popular fancy vegan-cum-alchemist route!
Something I love about vegan cooking is the incentive to be more creative. Substituting animal products involves problem solving and thinking on your feet. In fact, I became a strict vegan briefly last year to get me out of a rut in the kitchen – and it worked!
When you take the night off and go out for a meal, where in Edinburgh do you go? Any hidden gems we might not know about?
As I’m on a budget, I tend to go to typical student places like Ting Thai Caravan, Checkpoint, 10 to 10 in Delhi etc, but my hidden gem is a family-run restaurant that I consider to be the only authentic Hong Kong-style dim sum place in Edinburgh: Imperial Palace near the Corn Exchange. It’s delicious and totally legitimate – the other dim sum places just can’t measure up.
Winter has pretty much arrived in the city and the colder weather has us craving comfort food. What is your favourite dish to create on a cold winters day?
Winter comfort food has to be my favourite, I’m not sure I could choose one! I’m a sucker for a savoury porridge with roasted pumpkin and pine nuts, a big helping of super sour kimchi fried rice with cheese on top, or an enormous bowl of ramen that’s packed with toppings to make it extra special. Then there’s all the delicious pies and tarts you get at this time of year like apple, mince-meat, sweet potato… I could go on forever!
Your Instagram and blog are full of amazing imagery of your food. Are there any other food influencers you look to for inspiration? Who else should we be following?
There are far too many incredibly inspirational people to mention! If you like local talent there’s food reviewer extraordinaire @plateexpectations, or for daily vegan bangers there’s my dear friend @skinnyscottishcook, and for enviable bakes, my classmate @iamcalvinator and my neighbour @amysbakes_uk!
Looking further afield, I’m obsessed with foodies with beautiful moody photography like @twiggstudios, @local_milk, and @limeandcilantro. And that’s really just one sub-genre! There’s so much talent out there, how could you not feel inspired in the kitchen?!
Finally, will we be seeing a Rab Cooks restaurant in the capital anytime soon???
It would be a dream come true to let the fine people of Edinburgh taste my food. And while a restaurant seems unlikely, I would love to get more involved with local foodie scene with something like a pop-up or supper club. I’m bursting with ideas!! Watch this space!
Follow Rab Cooks on Instagram @rabcooks.
