Ghillie Basan


Ghillie Başan is a Scottish-based food and travel writer, cook and workshop host. Her books have been nominated for the Glenfiddich, Guild of Food Writers’, and Cordon Bleu awards.

Biography

Brought up in Kenya where her parents were doctors, Basan was sent to boarding school in Scotland from where she got an entrance to the University of Edinburgh to study languages. Once at the University, Basan switched her course from languages to social anthropology.
Basan met her husband in Turkey and they moved to live in the United States for two years before returning to Scotland. Their first book, Classic Turkish Cookery, was nominated for two awards and gained them a weekly slot on the Sunday Herald and a contract for their second book, The Middle Eastern Kitchen. The couple are no longer together, and she is raising her two children, Yazzie and Zeki alone.

Career

Basan has now written over 40 books and her articles have appeared in the Sunday Herald, Scotland on Sunday, BBC Good Food Magazine, TasteTurkey, and Today’s Diet and Nutrition. From her home, she runs cookery workshops and travels widely to research and write her books.

Books