Rafi Fernandez

Rafi Fernandez (1944-2013) was born in India but lived in England from the age of twenty-one, working first for a travel agency and then for an airline. The latter position enabled her to travel to many parts of the world, and so to develop an interest in a wide range of cooking. In 1983, after attending a cookery seminar, Rafi began to organise her own catering events on the theme of 'West meets East through Food', at which she introduced eastern customs and culture related to the menu being served. Her first book, on Malaysian Cookery, was written at the encouragement of her Malaysian Indian husband; subsequently she wrote a book on Indian vegetarian cooking. In 1988 she set up Rafi's Spicebox selling freshly-made curry mixes, a business which is continued by her family to this day, with shops in Sudbury, York, Harrogate, Newcastle and Leeds and mail-order around the world.