Food and Hosting
Cooking for Mother's Day with Rachel Ama
03.04.2026
Spend five minutes with Rachel Ama (@rachelama_) and you’re immediately pulled into her world, one where food is generous, sauce-led and rooted in feeling. For Rachel, Mother’s Day isn’t about a polite brunch or a single showstopper dish, it’s about abundance. Think slow-cooked butterbeans, citrusy chermoula, soft sourdough slicked with avocado and lemon salt, chocolate mousse with olive oil, and tables dotted with figs and berries, a feast designed to make mum feel truly spoilt.
In this conversation, Rachel reflects on the dishes that shaped her, the quiet power of intention when cooking for someone you love, and how becoming a mother herself has deepened her understanding of care. From pistachio lemon loaf as a fail-safe crowd-pleaser to suya-spiced oyster mushrooms made for sharing, she reminds us that celebratory food should be joyful, flavour-packed and made with heart - never worthy, never restrained, always abundant.
Image: From Rachel’s book, One Pot: Three Ways
Image: From Rachel’s book, One Pot: Three Ways
Interview with Rachel
What’s one dish your mum made that instantly transports you back to childhood?
I can’t eat it now but she’d chef up a chicken stew.
Brunch, lunch or full-blown feast - where do you stand on Mother’s Day menu planning? And what’s on your dream spread?
FEAST FEAST FEAST. Savoury elements - queen butterbeans slow cooked in cherry vine tomatoes and spices. Avocado, lemon salt on sexy sourdough with Chermoula. Sweet treats like cute soft, delicate, not too sweet muffins and whipped cream. OR chocolate mousse with olive oil. Side dish of the best in season fruits, figs, blackberries, strawberries. I want multiple things to make a feast. Feel spoilt is the energy.
What’s the one ingredient that quietly upgrades a dish from “nice” to “this is special” - especially when you’re cooking to impress mum?
Can I say a Chermoula? It adds citrust and herbaceous notes to any meal for an elevated but simple upgrade.
For anyone who left it to the last minute (we’ve all been there), what’s your fail-safe Mother’s Day recipe that feels thoughtful but doesn’t require a 6am start?
Cake, like pistachio lemon loaf cake. I love cake.
CRISPY FRIED STICKY MISO JERK AUBERGINE
CRISPY FRIED STICKY MISO JERK AUBERGINE
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 long aubergines, chopped into diagonal chunks
- 5 tbsp Ama's Sticky Miso Jerk Sauce
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp spelt flour (or plain flour)
- 3 tbsp cold fizzy water (or still, but fizzy gives a crispier finish)
- Sea salt, to season
- Neutral oil, for frying
Method
- Chop your aubergines into diagonal chunks. Diagonals = more surface area = more crisp.
- Steam the aubergine for 6–8 minutes, just until fork-tender. This locks in moisture and softens the flesh. (No oil soak here.)
- Make the batter: In a bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, cold fizzy water, and a pinch of salt. The batter should be light and just coat the back of a spoon.
- Heat oil in a pan (medium-high).
- Dip each steamed aubergine chunk into the batter, then gently lay into the hot oil. Fry until golden and crisp, turning as needed (about 3–4 mins).
- Drain on a wire rack or kitchen towel. Never let crispy things sit flat - you want air underneath to stay crunchy.
- In a wok or large pan, heat Ama’s Sticky Miso Jerk Sauce for 30 seconds until bubbly and aromatic.
- Toss in the fried aubergine until evenly coated and glossy. Work fast - you want to glaze, not soak.
How I Served It:
On a bed of coconut allspice rice, a dollop of coriander-lime yogurt, and a sprinkle of fresh chives.
It’s giving heat, comfort, texture, and balance.
Chef’s Notes:
- Cold fizzy water in the batter creates a delicate tempura-style crust. Keep it chilled until the moment you mix.
- You can air-fry or oven-bake the steamed aubergine if you want to skip pan-frying — just brush with oil and roast until golden, then glaze.
- Double the sauce. Trust me - you’ll want extra for drizzling, dipping, or tomorrow’s rice bowl.
How do you make plant-based food feel abundant and celebratory rather than ‘worthy’ or restrained?
Make it pretty, make it filling, make it saucey and not dry! Use plants - herbs, spices. Make it an occasion.
What’s your dream Mother’s Day table setting?
Not perfect. I want it to feel homemade but pretty. Aesthetically pleasing. Let the food do the talking not the plates. They look pretty in the background.
Has becoming a mum changed the way you think about being cooked for versus cooking for others on days like this?
I can see how special the intention is. I love love love being a mum but I am also mostly extremely overwhelmed running businesses and being a single mum. My mum was a supermum and I’ve always appreciated her, we’ve always had a beautiful relationship, however now I understand the energy and effort in raising little me which means I really understand how those little moments of being and feeling cared for are so massively important.
If your son was planning your perfect Mother’s Day menu in 20 years’ time, what would you hope he’d cook - and what’s one dish you secretly hope he avoids?
I hope he’d avoid anything on the fried english breakfast side of things. Sorry to all lovers of a classic english breakfast. I hope he’d treat me to much of what I’d make for my mum but then i’d hope he would observe me and find some special, unexpected personal touches that make me feel special and seen (no pressure……lol).
Your cookbook One Pot: Three Ways is all about making cooking feel joyful and achievable - if someone bought it specifically to cook for Mother’s Day, which recipe would you point them to first and why?
SUYA OYTER MUSHROOMS served like a kebab. Oh wow, now I want this. Its oyster mushrooms are cooked in suya spices which are essential ground peanuts, paprika, and cloves. Paired with a big soft pita wrap, pickled pink cabbage, hot sauce, tzatziki. But for something easier, the harissa hot pot, all in a pot!
Quickfire
Go-to ingredient when you want maximum flavour, minimum effort?
A condiment of dreams - AMA’S sticky miso jerk.
One spice you can’t live without?
A quality curry powder spice mix
Your most-used kitchen utensil?
Tweezers , the cute lil kitchen ones, my son loves using them for turning over tofu in the pan.
Dream dinner guest (dead or alive)?
Zack fox, endless entertainment and music
Dish you could eat every week forever?
Peanut butter toast, every damn day.
A meal that instantly feels like a hug?
Caribbean channa, roti, slaw, fried plantain
The most underrated vegetable?
Aubergine
Sweet or savoury breakfast?
Savoury
One food trend you’re politely refusing?
Most of them, they’re cheat sheets that look good online but often taste awful.
Your “I’ve got guests in 20 minutes” emergency recipe?
Pistachio pesto pasta with lots of green veg. Always delicious.
A smell that instantly makes you happy in the kitchen?
Scotch bonnets.
If you could only cook one cuisine for the rest of your life?
Caribbean or Thai.
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