Sri Owen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sri Owen
Sri Owen at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 2012
Born	1935 (age 89–90) Padang Panjang, West Sumatra
Occupation	Cookbook writer and culinary teacher
Spouse(s)	Roger Owen (died 2021)

Sri Owen (born March 31, 1935) is a famous Indonesian cooking teacher and writer. She has lived in London for most of her life. She wrote the very first English cookbook focused only on Indonesian food. Many people see her as a top expert on Indonesian cooking.

Early Life and Education

Sri Owen was born on March 31, 1935, in Padang Panjang, a town in West Sumatra. At that time, this area was known as the Dutch East Indies. Her family belonged to the Minangkabau group, and Padang Panjang is a very important place for their culture. She was the oldest of six sisters.

Her childhood was difficult because of the Japanese occupation during World War II. Millions of people in Indonesia suffered from hunger and forced labor during this time. Her parents were teachers. The family lived in Jakarta for a short time before moving to Magelang, Central Java, in 1949.

Sri continued her studies in Yogyakarta. She went to Gadjah Mada University to study English Literature. After she graduated, she taught at the university and later became the head of its library. In 1961, she met Roger Owen there. Roger was from Britain and had studied at Oxford University. He was teaching history in Indonesia. Sri and Roger got married in 1962.

A Career in Food Writing

In 1963, Sri moved to London with her husband. For nearly 20 years, she worked for the BBC Far Eastern Service. She was a translator, broadcaster, and producer.

In 1984, Sri and Roger moved to Wimbledon Village with their two sons. There, Sri started selling Indonesian dishes and snacks from a shop on the High Street.

Her First Cookbook

Sri Owen's first cookbook was called The Home Book Of Indonesian Cookery. It was published in 1976. This book was special because it shared family recipes that her grandmother had passed down and her mother had carefully written.

After this first book, Sri Owen wrote more than a dozen other books. These books were about Indonesian food and also cooking from other Asian countries. A very important person who helped her was Alan Davidson, who wrote The Oxford Companion to Food. Sri later dedicated her 15th book, Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food, to him.

Alan Davidson helped her think about "foodways." This term means all the different food habits in a community or culture that change over time. For example, Sri Owen explains that rendang, a dish recognized as one of Indonesia's five national dishes, actually comes from the Minangkabau people.

Teaching and Demonstrations

Besides writing, Sri Owen has also taught cooking. She has given demonstrations, workshops, and courses all over the world. She has even appeared on BBC TV with famous chefs like Raymond Blanc.

Why Sri Owen is Important

Many people recognize Sri Owen for her important work.

• Her book The Rice Book was chosen by Bee Wilson of the Observer Food Monthly as one of the top 50 cookbooks of all time.
• Her most recent book, Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food, tells her own story while celebrating the cooking of Indonesia, her home country.

Melissa Clark from the New York Times shared what Paul Levy said about Sri Owen. Paul Levy, who used to lead the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, said that Sri Owen is like other famous food writers. These writers introduced new types of cooking to English-speaking people. For example, Elizabeth David taught about Mediterranean food, Jane Grigson about European and British dishes, Claudia Roden about Middle Eastern food, and Julia Child about French cooking. Sri Owen did the same for Indonesian food.

Nikkei Asia magazine has called Sri Owen "the Indonesian food writer credited with introducing her country's cuisine to the world." She has also helped younger chefs and writers, like Lara Lee, who also wants to share the amazing food of Indonesia. The San Francisco Chronicle calls her "an obvious authority on Indonesian cooking." Mayukh Sen simply described Sri Owen as "The Woman Who Changed the Way We Think About Indonesian Food."

Awards and Recognition

Sri Owen has received several awards for her work:

• Her book 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.

See also

• Padang cuisine, a type of cooking from the Minangkabau people