Hall of Fame Award (Posthumous) | 2021

Noorbanu Nimji was born in Nairobi, Kenya into an Ismaili Muslim family originally from Gujarat, India. In 1974, when non-Africans were being expelled from East Africa, the Nimji family sought refuge in Canada, settling in Calgary. Seeing a need in her community, particularly among homesick Ismail students, Nimji began offering cooking lessons. She later compiled the recipes from her lessons into four volumes of cookbooks, collectively entitled A Spicy Touch. The first volume, displayed here, was published in 1986, followed by the three others in 1992, 2007, and 2015. By combining traditional culinary practices and foods from North India, East Africa, and urban Alberta, Nimji’s A Spicy Touch not only preserved the culinary heritage of dispersed Gujarati-Kenyan Ismaili people in Canada and beyond, but also helped to break down cross-cultural barriers.