Fuchsia Dunlop, an award winning cook and food writer specialising in Chinese cuisine will be one of several main features at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2017. She received her formal training to be a chef at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine in Chengdu, China, and has spent twenty years researching and writing about Chinese cuisine. Dunlop has authored five books, and her writing has appeared in several publications, including The New Yorker, Lucky Peach, Gourmet, Saveur, and The Financial Times. She is currently based in London, and leads regular culinary tours of China.

In a brief email interview, Dunlop tells us what cooking means to her.

How do you feel about participating at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2017?

I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of visiting Sri Lanka for the first time, and looking forward to taking part in the festival!

What would you say is your most favourite type of cuisine?

Chinese, obviously. Within Chinese cuisines, my favourites are Sichuanese, the food of Jiangnan and the food of the Chiuchow region.

What single ingredient can't you do without in your kitchen?

Soy sauce.

What does cooking mean to you?

It's one of the fundamental, essential skills of life, and it's also an enormous pleasure.