had sensitivities to specific foods - gluten,
dairy, soy, and egg. I needed to cut out the
offending foods to give my gut a chance to
heal. I got experimenting with alternative
foods and fell in love with the creative
process and the delicious results. I’ve
never looked back.Did you not notice the symptoms prior to
becoming pregnant?
Mild symptoms like bloating after meals,
tiredness, low energy. I was a mum to my
one-year-old and was studying and working.
I didn’t really look into the symptoms, like
many other women, thinking it was just
side effects of being super busy.How do you develop your recipes? What’s
the process?
I am heavily inspired by colours and find
my obsession with colour palettes help me
to map out my next meal, as do flavours
and tastes from my childhood. I usually
picture a meal in my mind, source the
ingredients and then get in the kitchen
to create the recipe.Does it ever go wrong?
Yes of course. Sometimes the idea doesn’t
translate. Flavour combinations may not
work and styling won’t come together as I
imagined. It’s all part of the creative
process - you win some and you lose some.If your cupboards and fridge were opened,
what would we see?
Spices, beans, nuts, seeds, plant oils, nut
butters, tahini, pasta, rice in the pantry.
Colourful fruit and veggies, rice milk and
tofu in the fridge.What’s a typical day like for you?
I wake up around 6.30am, get the kids
ready for school, get breakfast going, rush
out for school... then I go for a walk/run for
some happy highs and endorphins. I return
home, make and sip on a smoothie, catch
up on emails, attend meetings/appointments
and return home for some recipe creating
and photography and recipe writing. Then
back to school for pick up, home for dinner
plus homework and after school activities.
There’s lots on all the time. Weekends are
more cruisy.
Hippie Lane: The Cookbook by Taline Gabrielian is
available from all good book stores.HIPPIE CHIC
What’s your new cookbook Hippie Lane about
and what was the inspiration behind it?
Hippie Lane is a 100+ recipe collection of
plant-based wholefood recipes that are free
of gluten and refined sugars. The Hippie Lane
philosophy is quite simple - it’s the coming
together of friends and family over a table
of beautiful, appealing and well presented
food - food that is wholesome, nutritious
and full of flavour. My goal is for people to
reduce their reliance on animal products,
to get back to nature and to eat an abundance
of fresh, local and vibrant plant foods.
It’s been said that you rule iPhone with
your new app Hippie Lane. How did that
transpire?
I was fortunate that I had a really keen
audience who were following my recipes
and posts on social media. A year into my
Instagram journey, I decided to develop The
Hippie Lane app due to the demand for my
recipes. I thought carefully about what type
of recipes people wanted and gave them
what I believe was my best. App users
made the recipes and shared with their
followers and friends. And through word
of mouth and media/online reviews, more
healthy conscious people downloaded the
app, [placing it] in the top ranks for food
and drinks on the App Store. It’s been truly
amazing, inspiring people around the world
to choose healthy and to see my recipes
being shared by families around the world.
It’s super special and I’m so grateful for the
people who have supported my journey.
What was life like growing up in Sydney?
It was great. I was raised by beautiful,
committed and loving parents, who really
prioritised my brother, sister and I. Food
was a big thing in my family. Both parents
were fab cooks and gathering around a
table of beautiful food was the norm for us.
My passion for delicious, nourishing food
definitely is inspired by my family.
When you were pregnant, you found out
you had food intolerances which led you to
change your diet.
I found out that I had intolerances when I
was trying to fall pregnant with my second
child. It wasn’t happening and I just felt
like something wasn’t quite right. I went for
a check up and my doctor ran some tests
which revealed, among other things, that I
With a huge following on social media, founder of
Hippie Lane and mother of two, Taline Gabrielian,
talks about the release of her new cookbook and
her passion for plant-based wholefood.
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