Annie Evans is a DIG COOK…

… if you are wondering exactly what this entails (and so was i until i met Annie) it is someone who travels the world on archaeological digs, cooking for the whole party for the entire duration of the dig. This has taken Annie to faraway places and to countries where food is difficult to purchase and even harder to prepare.

Annie spoke of the most unusual circumstances to cook in, from a mud brick house in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus, to small villages perched high in the Greek mountains . The immense amount of planning and preparation that goes into each trip is quite extraordinary and having to adapt menus and recipes to fit the culture and country and availability of produce could be hard work if you are not Annie Evans!

Our local wonder chef has encountered obscure supermarkets packed to the rafters and bursting with bizarre and unrecognizable objects and foods and has bought more than her fair share of highly unusual items , like an octopus that was sold to her by a local in Cyprus on the side of the road, after which came the job of knowing how to turn it into something tasty and edible.

We heard all of this along with the joys of discovering her ‘talent’ as a traveling cook at, shall we say, a more mature time in her life.

This lady is full of delicious inspiration and her infectiously cheerful manner was delightfully tasty and something you would certainly look forward to coming in from a dig for.

Annie left us with one of her favorite recipes, a Moroccan Spiced Vegetable Dish (which can also be adapted to you meat eaters out there).  You can discover it and many more on Annie’s website. www.digcook.com

Annie’s 12th expedition took her from her home in Myocum to the lands of Syria and beyond.

I can’t wait to catch up with Annie to hear more stories of food adventure and tasty tales  to go with the images below. This is certainly a very colourful time in Annie’s life and i hope that it serves as an inspiration to all of those out there who think that life slows down when you reach a certain place in it. Well, Annie is here to remind you that it doesn’t!