In Je bent wat je eet (You are what you eat), we dive into the tasty world of culinary storytelling with kitchen chefs and cookbook authors. Because with flavours and dishes, as with books, you share your experiences and memories. Like a carefully chosen word, a specific flavour can evoke powerful emotions.

Hassnae Bouazza talks to cookbook authors Katinka Lansink Dodero (Peruvian cuisine) and Raghenie Bhawani (Surinamese cuisine) about cooking, food and food culture.

Katinka Lansink Dodero is an author of culinary books and runs cooking workshops for chefs and consumers under the name cevicheceviche, develops recipes for restaurants and brands, and provides media-wide culinary advice. She grew up in the Netherlands with a Peruvian mother and Dutch father. From her mother, she inherited a love of South American cuisine. In 2021, she published her book Mi casa Peru, with eighty recipes for colourful dishes, comfort food and cocktails from Peruvian cuisine, each flavoured with stories. Her second book Cocina Nikkei combines colourful Peruvian with sophisticated Japanese cuisine, including travel stories and surprising fusion dishes.

Raghenie Bhawanie enjoyed an all-Hindustani upbringing by her Surinamese mother with Surinamese dishes with Javanese, Creole, Indian and Chinese influences. She viewed that culinary melting pot with renewed interest in Madame jeanette: simpele Surinaamse recepten met pit (Madame Jeanette: simple Surinamese recipes with spice, 2024). In it, she serves over a hundred dishes, the vast majority of which feature vegetables in the main role. There is also ample room for humour, family stories, photos and encounters. Raghenie is a communications strategist and recipe developer. As a culinary columnist, she works for Het Parool, the NPO Radio 1 programme Villa VdB and Foodies Magazine.

Hassnae Bouazza is a journalist, columnist, presenter and programmer. She publishes in various media (including Dutch national daily newspaper NRC and women's magazine Linda); and runs her own online magazine for culture lovers, Aicha Qandisha. Together with Michelin-starred chef Soenil Bahadoer, she wrote the culinary books Spicy Chef (2020) and Streetfood (2022). She published two further books in 2022: Een koffer vol citroenen (A Suitcase Full of Lemons), a portrait of a mother and daughter, and Arbeidsmigranten in Nederland (Migrant Labourers in the Netherlands).

You Are What You Eat is curated for Writers Unlimited Festival 2025 by Ilonka Reintjens.

Festival tip 1: for the full festival experience, join us for the grand festival events Friday Night Unlimited (24 January) and Saturday Night Unlimited (25 January)! Both nights you choose your own route along some 20 performances, readings and conversations on five stages in Theater aan het Spui and Filmhuis Den Haag. English and Dutch spoken.

Festivaltip 3: as Writers Unlimited presents its literature festival for 30 years, we celebrate this anniversary with Playing with Fire, a show full of music, dance and literature at Amare (Danstheater) on Sunday afternoon, 26 January. You will see and hear Spinvis, Shirma Rouse, XILLAN, Babs Gons, Joost Oomen, Zaïre Krieger, Claudia Karapanou Flamenco Trio, Royal Conservatoire Dance and percussion group Pulse led by Eli Wing, among others. Book now! Tickets are 11 euros (under 29s or students), or 16 - 35 euros (depending on seat chosen). Note: Dutch spoken.

From 23 to 26 January 2025, Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague is to be found in theatres, libraries and schools throughout the city: from Theater aan het Spui, Filmhuis Den Haag, Amare and Paard to Theater Dakota, Theater De Vaillant, the Nieuw Waldeck, Schilderswijk and Ypenburg libraries and De Haagse Hogeschool. With over 120 writers, poets and spoken-word artists and musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. With readings, prose, poetry, storytelling, spoken word, author interviews, topical talks, films and music.