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We Chat with an Old Schoolfriend from Nagaland – Eyingbeni, to Get a Glimpse ofHer Life and Work in Ireland

Ah, 2020, it was quite a year, wasn’t it? In its own peculiar way, it provided a much-needed pause for many of us. It gave us the precious opportunity to reconnect with ourselves, rediscover our hobbies and passions, and even reconnect with old friends. Speaking of which, one fine evening, we had the pleasure of catching up with an old friend from school, Eyingbeni, who now resides in Ireland. She’s someone who has traversed the globe through her work, and we’ve always been fascinated by her laid-back yet fulfilling life.

We decided to have a chat with her to delve deeper into her experiences in a foreign land, her exciting travel adventures, and of course, her amazing food account @foodnotic, where she occasionally treats us to her delightful homemade creations.

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Eyingbeni with Mr Theo

  • Hello Eying, so nice to be finally having this chat. Please introduce yourself to our readers ๐Ÿ™‚

Eying: Hi everybody, itโ€™s a pleasure to e-meet you and I hope you have all been keeping well. What an incredible year 2020 was. What a year it has been! But I hope we are all ready for 2021 – with the hope of a renewed year ahead.

So how do I start, well let me begin by sharing that I am normally not the best in describing myself, nor the likes that enjoy being in the eye of a reader ( you know always been the awkward very private kind). But since one of the co-founders of Roots and Leisure is a very dear friend of mine, letโ€™s say this is a special one for her.

Having grown in a multicultural environment, where studies and work have taken me places, I had to occasionally acclimatise my name as well. Whatโ€™s in a name anyways ๐Ÿ˜‰ย  Most of my school and family friends know me as Eying/Eyingbeni, a name originating from Lotha Naga tribe, which carries the meaning of being calm and peaceful, the literal opposite of me really. As I gradually sojourned away from the motherland, Beni became my second name (not a family name!). For our readers, I leave it to you with the choice that best suits.

Professionally, I work in the development sector, hang on let me explain a bit here. Well, you could say work around humanitarian response actions (emergency response during natural/manmade disasters), peacebuilding actions in countries with protracted conflict, gender and women empowerment promotion work,ย  advocating human rights actions for an equitable and just society, policy actions at National and Global platforms to influence National governments and International Organizations such as United Nations, European Union to advocate for a world free of abject poverty. Enticing for you? leave me a text and I can share more.

  • As a Naga staying in a foreign land, how do you stay connected to your roots?

Eying: I would say, scavenging for any semblance of Naga green vegetables in Asian supermarkets and shrieking with utter joy at my findings such as the four-winged beans, pennyworth leaves, mustard leaves, king chilli etc. And of course, imbibing a weekend tradition of cooking a fine Naga dinner with pork and bamboo shoot on the menu (slurp!).

I suppose a non-intended tradition I have built for myself over the years is collecting local handmade trinkets and products whenever I am home in Nagaland and presenting them to my friends and acquaintances at work, telling tales of our culture, folklore, history and tradition. My bit of creating visibility of Nagaland wherever I can. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Ghost Peppers from Eying’s Kitchen Garden

Pennywort leaf is a wild herbal plant that is commonly used in most South-East Asian cuisines. It has a slightly bitter taste but makes a very good salad and blends well with any non-vegetarian dishes.

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Pennywort leaf

  • What is your favourite Leisure activity?

Eying: I enjoy reading, and binge-watching Korean shows ๐Ÿ˜Šย  and period dramas. Of late, I have taken up strolling around the beautiful parks of Dublin with my Dog Mr Theo and playing Sherlock Holmes in co-discovering the little nooks and corners of the city and its secret lanes (shortcuts). Such a Joy I tell you!

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An evening stroll with Mr Theo | Photo: Eyingbeni

  • Tell us a bit more about your love for cooking, baking – and exploring food in general. Where did you pick up this love – and talent?

Eying: Honestly, I was a terrible cook and never really enjoyed cooking. Being the youngest in the family, I was quite pampered when it comes to readymade food being served on the table (Yeah, those annoying lucky youngest ones, I tell you๐Ÿ˜Š). But alas! when I moved away from the comforts of home, is when necessity became the best inventor, and letโ€™s say it brought out the cook and baker in me.

I was the worst baker whilst learning to bake, rather the likes who would enjoy having that nice slice of cake effortlessly baked by my much-talented baker of a sister (Editor’s note: Achum’s Cake, Kohima – is indeed one of the finest bakers in Nagaland. Highly recommend).

However, one fine day just as I was about to relish a heavenly piece of cake – ย I recall my late father telling me, โ€œEying! everything is to each her/ his own, donโ€™t take the present for granted, you are not going to have your sister bake for you forever. โ€ For some reason this really struck me and thatโ€™s when I started learning the basics of baking from my sister.

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Homemade Cheesecake by Eying

  • Share some interesting discoveries about local food cultures around the world – as you’ve encountered in your travels.

Eying: Whichever country I am in, I love visiting their local farmers market and rummaging through their local cafes or restaurants, as these are the places where you will find authentic local cuisines served. I had my first brush with South American cuisine in Colombia, where I absolutely loved their local preparation of Mariscos (fish or seafood in Spanish ) and how in their very atypical Colombian restaurants, freshly pressed tropical fruit juice is served rather than aerated drinks, impressive isnโ€™t it?

Another lovely experience was in Bangladesh, where a very nice lady cooked up authentic Bangladeshi food at our local office – the aloo petika with Chingri (Potato mash with shrimp) was delish!

  • Give us a glimpse into your travel bucket list.

Eying: I am very keen to make a hopping trip across South East Asia, a region I havenโ€™t travelled much to. The furthest I have been is Thailand, but I am very keen to travel to Japan, Korea and Cambodia someday soon. Hopefully, when I do travel there, I will have loads of exciting food culture pictures and recipes up on my foodgram. ๐Ÿ˜Š

  • Tell us about your hobby projects that you are working on .. if you have any.

Eying: As much as I enjoy my work, it also keeps me on my toes (literally!) but it is also this work that takes me zigzagging across the globe, which I feel very fortunate as it opens my eyes and my perspective to different culture and roots should we put it that way. The very reason I thought to start my multicultural foodgram @foodnotic on Instagram (โ€ฆ itโ€™s a little defunct presently, due to COVID-19, letโ€™s just say itโ€™s in a prolonged quarantine until I get to travel about again).

  • Give us a little travel tip . . .

Eying: A little pre-planning helps, whilst travelling to a new country. Run a bit of your own research, map out the places you would like to visit and most importantly have your google maps set. Learning a few basic survival words in the local dialect of the place you are visiting comes to your rescue as well. I use an app called Duolingo, which has been very helpful.

  • Share a simple cake recipe for our readers ๐Ÿ™‚

Eying: I am sharing a simple chocolate cake recipe which is very basic and easy to make… I have named this cake Mr Theolove ๐Ÿ˜Šย  Hoping that you will give it a try and welcome the New Year sharing a freshly home-baked cake with your loved ones. Happy New Year to you and yours! [Check out the full recipe here: Simple Chocolate Cake by Eying]

Mr Theolove – easy-to-bake Chocolate Cake by Eying [Full Recipe]

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Mr Theolove

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