Olia Hercules

Olia Hercules has won legions of fans with her mouth-watering Instagram profile, appearances on Saturday Kitchen and articles in the Guardian. Originally from Kakhovka in the south of Ukraine, Hercules moved with her parents to Cyprus at the age of 12 and came to England at 18 to go to university. After studying international relations at Warwick she embarked on a career as a chef, training at Leith’s and working for Yotam Ottolenghi. Her debut cookbook Mamushka (2015) drew on the culinary secrets of her mother, aunts and grandmothers — a multicultural heritage spanning the former USSR — while Dedakatsi, released later this year, will follow Hercules on a culinary odyssey through the Caucasus.