A little red, hand-painted food truck houses one of Wanaka’s best kept food secrets and a woman determined to share her love for food and people with every meal she serves. 

Isan Zahra was born and grew up in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh where, at her grandmother’s side, she developed a passion for the magic of cooking.

“She is my inspiration,” Isan told the Wanaka App. “She often used very minimal ingredients but what I would see is she would invest a lot into cooking - giving attention, love, time and care to a meal. That transforms a dish to a different level.”

Isan has also adopted her grandmother’s love of spices to create mouthwatering food - learning from her how to toast, fry or combine them to release amazing scents and flavours.

Isan’s dishes included up to 20 different spices, and through asking her customers for feedback, she has found the sweet spot that incorporates the best of her traditional cuisine with flavours that are adapted to also suit a Western palate. 

At her little Brownston Street food truck, dishes like ‘chaat’ are proving to be customer favourites; it’s the type of dish sold on every street corner in Bangladesh

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The dish is vibrant in colour, with a mix of hot and cold ingredients and punchy flavours that are light and comforting: “It includes two fried samosas with chickpea gravy on top, and yoghurt raita, chutney, masala, and salad.”

“Every corner of the community [in Bangladesh] will have one little stall and every one will be a little different.”

Continuing her Bangladeshi cooking helps keep her food tradition alive for Isan’s family of four, who have lived in the UK and Australia since leaving Bangladesh. They landed in Wanaka two and a half years ago.

Until her serendipitous move to Wanaka, Isan had only lived in big cities, but she has since discovered she is at home in the small town. 

“We were blown away with how fortunate we are to be here surrounded by this beautiful scenery; the mountains and the lake; we got a lot of help finding a house and settling here; the community has so much love,” Isan said.

“It is so special to be somewhere I can finally say is a home away from home.”

That community spirit rallied for Isan when she feared her eponymous food truck might have to close after finally turning her love of cooking into a career in November 2019.

Isan had worked a variety of jobs, from airline work to aged care, before she finally decided to take the plunge, buy a second-hand truck and give the Isan food truck a shot.

“My brother is very fond of my food and he said to me that I am the happiest when I am cooking; and I should make a living out of it,” Isan said. “I decided to try.”

When the economic impacts of Covid-19 hit, a team of supporters showed up to lend help. “They told me if I closed then they would be showing up at my house to eat my food,” she said.

Customers offered assistance with social media, photography and online promotion, as well as spreading the word among friends and family.

“My customers believed in me; they wanted my food and they wanted me to stick around. That made me feel so lucky. I am so grateful.”

Isan said that even if she has lost money creating the Isan food truck, she has gained much in the connection, love and support she’s received from Wanaka locals. 

“What I will take away from this is the love I have got from the customers,” she said.

Isan’s goal is to keep afloat this year and survive through the Covid-19 pandemic to pay back the support she’s received from many of the Wanaka community.

PHOTO: Wanaka App