​​For chef, writer, TV presenter and restaurant, Julie Lynn, food has always been a way of connecting with her mixed heritage. Her mother hails from Malaysia and Nyonya, Malay Chinese, and her father is Scottish, born and raised in Glasgow. ‘Have you eaten yet?’ was the question her mother asks her most frequently to this day, and by the age of three Julie was asking this in two different languages. Julie grew up learning how to toss pasta with chopsticks, listen to the sizzle of something cooking, and create a banquet out of leftovers; lessons that were integral in helping her embrace her culture. 

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Julie embarked on her own journey of exploration through food in 2016, leaving a job in retail to start a small street food stall in Glasgow, where she cooked classic Malaysian dishes like Nasi Goreng and dishes with a twist: sesame prawn toast using a local delicacy – Scottish, thick-cut Mother’s Pride Bread. The stall was an instant hit, and she went on to cater events, festivals and weddings before opening her first restaurant GaGa in 2021 – a journey that helped strengthen her identity, and connection with her heritage.  ​

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Her debut cookbook, Sama Sama, is a celebration of this journey, and all parts of Julie’s identity, with 90 delicious recipes and heart-warming stories of food and self-discovery. Julie encourages you to test your palate, adjust recipes to your liking and broaden your ideas authenticity. Rather than lengthy recipes and complex processes, her style is about cooking with soul and creating accessible dishes with explosive flavours, such as Chilli Crisp Puttanesca, Steak au Sichuan Poivre and Kaya Croissant-and-Butter Pudding. Sama Sama celebrates the origins of traditional recipes, whilst acknowledging that to sustain these recipes we need to adapt them to our own climate, ingredients and unique cultural landscape.

Julie Lynn is a Malaysian Scottish chef, writer, TV presenter and restauranteur. GaGa, her Glasgow restaurant, is Michelin recommended and was named Best Restaurant in Scotland in 2022.

 

She has appeared on Saturday Kitchen, The Hairy Bikers Go Local and Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil and cooked for Judi Dench on Countryfile. Julie has also contributed to the Guardian , Observer , BBC Good Food and Vice . She has a Substack and accompanying podcast, Use Your Noodle, on which she shares recipes and anecdotes from her week. In 2024, Julie was named Food Influencer of the Year at the Golden Chopsticks Awards and was named Women of Influence’s Woman to Watch.

 

Find her online at julielin.co.uk and on Instagram @julielincooks and @gaga.glasgow. To be published in hardback by Ebury Press.