Cooking with love!
Welcome to SILA’s Kitchen,
a place where cultures meet, flavours dance, and every dish carries a memory.
My name is Sylvia Elizabeth Mulamba Alexander, but everyone who knows me — especially my husband — calls me Sila. The name stuck, and it became the heart of this kitchen. My journey with food began long before this blog.
BIO
I grew up on a farm in Zambia, surrounded by fresh ingredients, warm family cooking, and the comforting aroma of goat dishes simmering slowly on the stove. My mother’s recipes shaped my childhood — rich, earthy, soulful meals that brought everyone together. Years later, life took me to the Birmingham College of Food and Arts (now the University College of Birmingham). That’s where I met James, my husband — a first‑generation British Jamaican with whom I shared a deep love for Caribbean flavours, culture, and heritage. One of the first things that brought us together was our mutual appreciation and respect for each other’s cultures.
Food became our bridge – our shared language.
The very first Caribbean dish I tasted with James was curry goat and rice. I still remember that moment — the warmth of the spices, the tenderness of the meat, the way the herbs lifted the flavour. It instantly transported me back to my mother’s kitchen in Zambia. It felt familiar and new at the same time.
That meal sparked something in me. It connected our worlds, opening a door to a world of flavour, colour, and creativity that felt like home in a completely new way.
Today, SILA’s Kitchen is a celebration of that connection — African roots, Caribbean soul, British influence, and the joy of blending traditions into something beautiful.