Irina Janakievska

I am a Macedonian-British writer and recipe developer. Born in Skopje, North Macedonia (then one of the republics of former Yugoslavia), I grew up in Kuwait from the late 1980s onwards. In 2001 I moved to London to complete my undergraduate and masters degrees at the London School of Economics in international relations and history. After university, a large corporate law firm sponsored me through law school and I became a solicitor. In 2020, I left my successful career in corporate
and finance law to work for myself as a consultant solicitor and follow my passion for sharing my love of Balkan cuisine, the Balkans and its people with the world. I completed my culinary training at Leiths School of Food and Wine and spent a brief period in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen.
I have contributed to the Guardian, Foodnetwork US, Whetstone Magazine and Mediterranean Lifestyle Magazine.
My debut cookbook, "The Balkan Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans" was shortlisted for the Jane Grigson Trust Award in 2023. It is expected to be published on 22 August 2024 (and 27 August 2024 in the US) by Hardie Grant/Quadrille.

Professions

Author, Feature writer, Food and travel writer, Food historian, Recipe writer

Special subjects

Specifically - Balkan food history, culture and culinary traditions.
More generally - Balkan and Cold War history.

Regular work

Consultant solicitor - on sabbatical while transitioning to food writing, including researching and writing and promoting my debut cookbook.

Advisory boards / Awards

Shortlisted for Jane Grigson Trust Award 2023

Languages spoken

Macedonian and English - mother tongues
French - fluent
Serbian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Bosnian - conversational
Arabic, Russian, Dutch and Slovenian - basic

Commercial interest

N/A

Contact

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