This Life Ghillie Basan

Exotic flavours from far-flung corners of the world fill the remote Highland home of this celebrated food writer

Off the beaten track in a quiet glen high up in the Speyside hills is the home of food writer, workshop host and broadcaster Ghillie Basan. Having grown up in East Africa, she has never lost her need for space and wilderness. “Africa is my childhood. It is a massive part of my life and it is at the root of all the decisions I’ve ever made,” she says. “It’s a bit of a cliché to say it, but it is in my soul. And the view from my cottage in the Cairngorms actually reminds me of Africa. The feeling of solitude I get here is like a sanctuary.” This might be a remote corner of Scotland but it’s certainly not lonely. People make the pilgrimage from all over the world to learn to cook by her side or to enjoy a relaxing week in the cosy holiday home she has fashioned out of a former barn. In any case, dealing with rugged isolation would be no big deal for a woman with such a well-developed knack for unflinching graft.

Basan has been living here since her two children (now 19 and 22) were born. In between an unconventional school run – on skis for most of the winter, or by Land Rover – the single mother would cook, clean, plan and write cookery books based on her travels. “Travel is important if you actually go on a journey – either physically or mentally – and you allow it to open your mind, inspire you, change you, teach you,” she believes. “There is so much to learn in life, so many different ways of living, so many different ways of seeing. If you travel for experience and to expand your horizons, you’ll benefit from it in many ways, sometimes life-changing ones.”