THE Urban Rajah is coming to Beaconsfield with stories of his family's journey across three continents and the food they brought with them to England. The food writer, cook and traveller will be talking about his new cook book at a lunch raising money for the South Bucks Hospice.

Ivor Peters goes by the name of Urban Rajah. With his curly moustache and charming manner, he is a self confessed dandy. And he has a great family story to tell.

This is mixed in with his love of curry in his cookbook, Urban Rajah's Curry Memoirs. And he will entertaining guests at the end of the month at the Crazy Bear Hotel, while they enjoy a three course lunch.

All money raised will go to South Bucks Hospice as they fundraise for a new state-of-the-art hospice building in Totteridge.

The 42-year-old who lives in Ascot said of his book: "It is basically geared around my father and his three brothers and their journey from the Indian subcontinent across the Middle East and Europe.

"It is really the story of the food that followed them. "It is three generations of food and 80 recipes and all the stories of how these recipes came about."

He added: "The way it has been described- if Bollywood was to make a cook book then this would be the cook book.

"It is food with stories of love, tragedy, heartbreak and all of that."

Ivor is a second generation immigrant and a son of 70s Britain in a terraced house in Slough which he shared with his brother, mother and father. And he said it took him two years to write the book and it was a real journey for him, back to his childhood- eating hot chappattis and vivid spiced curry.

And he loves mixing this Eastern influence with Western cuisine. He said for him food tastes better when there is a story behind it and he has made sure all the recipes can be cooked easily at home.

Ivor said: "We spend about £3 billion a year on Indian food in Britain. We don't make it. We go out and buy it or eat out.

"I think perhaps it is because people are afraid of how to use spices. The book hopefully demystifies the use of spice."

His celebrated blog www.urbanrajah.com is dedicated to spiced recipes and stories about food, travel, life and style finds.

He also runs the elusive and highly acclaimed pop up restaurant, Cash n Curry, a social enterprise dedicated to raising funds for projects helping India’s street children and helping to liberate trafficked children and those in bonded labour.

Ivor is also the creative director of a film and video production company.

And as well as this he has paired up with award winning Pub Curry Chef of the Year 2013 Indunil Sanchi, who is head chef at the Noel Arms Hotel in Chipping Campden.

They are about to go on a tour of the UK in autumn called The Great Indian Food Feast, where diners can find out how to create recipes and learn about spice pairing. They will be at The Bermondsey Square Hotel in London on October 3, The Wood Norton Hotel in Evesham on November 7 and The Cotswold House Hotel and Spa in Chipping Campden on December 5.

But funnily enough when he left home he wasn't the cook he is now.

He said: "When I left home I couldn't cook for toffee. I was so used to food I have been eating since my childhood.

"I learned to cook really when I left home in my early 20s."

His book is now available to buy online and in book stores. He will be at the Wycombe Harvest event this Sunday (see top five things to do).

He said of his book: "I was quite overcome with the final product. Headline Publishing have done a fantastic job of the book. It has been really well received."

Ivor will talking at the three course lunch, including a glass of wine, at The Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield on September 25 from 12.30 to 3.30pm. Goodie bags provided by Serendipity and music by Harpist, Paula Smith. Tickets are £37 - early booking advised. Call 01494 464045 to book.

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