Sri Owen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sri Owen
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Sri Owen at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 2012
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| Born | 31 March 1935 Padang Panjang, Sumatra's West Coast Residency, Dutch East Indies
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| Died | 4 October 2025 (aged 90) London, England
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| Occupation | Cookbook writer and culinary teacher |
| Spouse(s) | Roger Owen (died 2021) |
Sri Owen (born March 31, 1935 – died October 4, 2025) was a famous Indonesian cooking teacher and writer. She lived in London for most of her life. Sri Owen wrote the very first English cookbook focused only on Indonesian food. She is known as a top expert on the delicious dishes of Indonesia.
Contents
Discovering Sri Owen: A Culinary Journey
Early Life and Education
Sri Owen was born in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, on March 31, 1935. At that time, this area was called the Dutch East Indies. She grew up in a Minangkabau family, which is a special culture in Indonesia. She was the oldest of six sisters.
Her childhood was affected by a difficult period of war and big changes in her home country. Many people faced hardships during this time. Her parents were teachers. The family lived in Jakarta for a short while. Later, they settled in Magelang, Central Java, in 1949.
Sri continued her studies in Yogyakarta. She went to Gadjah Mada University and studied English Literature. After finishing university, she taught there. She also became the head of the university's library. In 1961, she met Roger Owen, a British history lecturer from Oxford University. Sri and Roger got married in 1962.
Sharing Indonesian Flavors with the World
In 1963, Sri moved to London with her husband. She worked for the BBC Far Eastern Service for almost 20 years. She was a translator, broadcaster, and producer. This means she helped share news and stories.
In 1984, Sri and Roger moved to Wimbledon Village with their two sons. There, Sri opened a shop. She sold tasty Indonesian dishes and snacks from her shop on the High Street.
Her First Cookbook and Many More
Sri Owen's first cookbook was called The Home Book Of Indonesian Cookery. It was published in 1976. This book shared family recipes that her grandmother had passed down. Her mother had carefully written them all down.
Sri went on to write more than ten books about Indonesian and other Asian foods. A very important person who helped her was Alan Davidson. He wrote The Oxford Companion to Food. Sri later dedicated her 15th book, Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food, to him. He helped her think about "foodways." This means all the different food habits in a community or culture. She also explained that rendang, a famous Indonesian dish, comes from the Minangkabau people.
Besides writing, Sri Owen also taught cooking. She gave demonstrations and workshops all over the world. She even appeared on BBC TV with famous chefs like Raymond Blanc.
A Legacy of Food and Culture
Sri Owen passed away in London on October 4, 2025. She was 90 years old. Her work left a lasting impact on how people around the world understand Indonesian food.
Global Recognition for Her Work
Many people praised Sri Owen's books. Her book, The Rice Book, was chosen by Bee Wilson of the Observer Food Monthly as one of the top 50 cookbooks ever. Her most recent book, Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food, tells her life story through the cooking of her home country.
Experts like Paul Levy, from the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, compared Sri Owen to other great food writers. These writers, like Elizabeth David and Julia Child, helped introduce new types of cooking to the English-speaking world. Sri Owen did the same for Indonesian food.
Nikkei Asia called her "the Indonesian food writer credited with introducing her country's cuisine to the world." She also helped and guided younger chefs and writers, like Lara Lee. The San Francisco Chronicle said she was "an obvious authority on Indonesian cooking." Mayukh Sen simply called her "The Woman Who Changed the Way We Think About Indonesian Food."
Special Awards for Her Contributions
Sri Owen received several important awards for her work:
- Indonesian Food and Cookery won the Langhe Ceretto Prize. It was also a finalist for the 1995 Julia Child award.
- The Rice Book won the Andre Simon Memorial Award in 1993.
- In June 2017, Sri Owen received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild of Food Writers in London. This award honored her entire career.
See also
- Padang cuisine, the traditional food of the Minangkabau people.
