American national Sheryn Babuka moved to Dubai in 2006 and lives with her husband and Emirati rescued dog, Beesly, and cat Pennie, in Jebel Ali. Sheryn works as an office manager and spends heAr spare time keeping fit by biking and hiking. Other than writing her own blog, All the calories, she also enjoys reading other blogs and recipe websites, but she hopes she will be able to finally commit and devote her time to knitting soon – something she’s always wanted to do.

About the blog

I started All the calories in September 2010 as I wanted it to be a reflective cookery diary, which I hoped I could look back on, to see how drastically my cooking has changed over the years. Through the blog,I connect with my family and friends in the UK and US, as they constantly comment on my recipes – we have a little foodie conversation. The blog basically showcases everything I cook on a daily basis, which can sometimes be a cookbook recipe, a recipe I made up, or came across online. I’d like the blog to be a place for foodies in Dubai to communicate, and share their passion for cooking with each other.

Catch me dining at…

My five minute salad:

Crunchy romaine lettuce, salty Greek olives, strawberries, avocado and a drizzle of olive oil.

What cookbook are you reading right now?

Modernist Cuisine (The Cooking Lab; Spi Har/Pa edition) by Nathan Myhrvold. My husband surprised me with it for my birthday last year. It’s a truly impressive work of art and I am fortunate to own it!

All-time favourite dessert

Fresh berries with whipped cream, and homemade basil sorbet.

A foodie personality I would love to dine with…

Anthony Bourdain. I’d want to share bowls of noodles over a plastic table somewhere in Asia.

Foodluxury:

Free-range, corn-fed whole chickens. They are unbelievably delicious when simply roasted, and well worth the Dhs100 price tag.

Top foodie tips

– To make healthy popcorn, add a tablespoon of coconut oil, teaspoon of salt, and ½ a cup of popcorn kernels to a pan with a lid. Shake the pan over medium heat, until the popping slows down.

– Put a green tea bag in a bottle of cold water. It will still steep even though the water isn’t hot, and it’s a great way to get extra antioxidants throughout the day. I go through at least four green tea bags a day, and that’s what I attribute to the fact that I very rarely catch a cold.

My guilty pleasure

Fried chicken! I try to eat mostly vegetarian food,at all time, but after a few meatless days, I get a serious craving for fried chicken.

Favourite cuisine

Right now I’m all about Southwest Asian cuisines. My recent trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam makes me crave noodles quite a lot, and I also find myself adding a pinch of red chilli to everything.