Chatting slow travel and slow food with

For the latest edition of our interview series, we caught up with chef and food writer, Ella Mittas. Based in Australia, Ella honed her skills at NOPI in London before working under Brigitte Hafner, Annie Smithers and Ismail Tosun. She teaches cookery classes, curates and caters food events and dinners, and has had her recipes and food writing published in several publications. Her debut book, Ela! Ela! , a collection of recipes and stories, was published in the UK earlier this year.

Could you tell us more about the trip you're on, and how travel influences your recipes?

So for this trip, I'm travelling by train predominantly, first through Italy, and then through Greece – from Athens to Thessaloniki, up to Bulgaria, and then through Plovdiv to Sofia. I'll be visiting wine makers, farmers and slow food producers on my travels. Looking at region-specific produce and local recipes. Travel introduces me to so many new cooking techniques and flavour combinations. Because I'm visiting so many producers and farmers, I'll be exposed to so many specific ways to prepare ingredients. It's a great way to learn, and is very inspiring.

What does 'slow food' mean and how do your recipes adhere to it?

To me slow food is about enjoying the experience of eating, using fresh ingredients from local producers, and celebrating local food traditions. In my cooking, I source organic ingredients as locally as possible and will adapt recipes to use the best produce in whatever region I'm in. My recipes are also very simple, and I create dishes that allow the ingredients to shine.

Have any particular places stood out to you so far on your trip?

So far on the trip, I've caught the train through Italy. First to the surrounding area of Lucca, which is beautiful and lush and green with lots of winemaking in the region. I visited during the wine harvest and spent some time helping friends in their vineyards. There is a big biodynamic farming movement in the area around Lucca, where I spent most of my time, so a lot of amazing wine and produce in the region. And then I was in Liguria, in vineyards through a series of beautiful fishing villages that looked out over the ocean. Very amazing swimming spots and we ate really amazing seafood.

Ela! Ela! is a collection of essays and recipes from different regions I worked through Greece and Turkey. In my early years of cooking, I decided I wanted to learn about Greek food and the regions around where my family is from, and so I travelled and worked a lot. I took notes and photos as I did so, and over COVID, set about trawling through all this material that I'd collected to make it into a recipe book. I wanted something physical to document all my time and research. Each chapter is headed by an essay about a kitchen I worked in, with a selection of regional recipes to follow. The book is primarily focused on vegetable-based dishes. There is some meat and fish, but I wanted to highlight the more vegetable forward-style dishes of Greek and Turkish cuisine.

Where does the inspiration for your recipes come from?

Mostly from travel. My favourite way to find inspiration is to travel to regional areas around Europe and explore traditional cuisine in depth, then take the dishes I've seen and use them to create contemporary versions.