Jackie Kearney is a British cook specialising in vegetarian and vegan street food, drawing especially from Asian cuisine. Kearney works as a chef and food development consultant, as well as running The Hungry Gecko dining club. She has a food trailer called Barbarella,[1] and has published several vegan cookbooks.[2]
Kearney worked for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence before taking a year-long trip around South East Asia. Upon her return, she was a finalist in the British television cookery competition MasterChef.[3][4] Kearney participated in the 2011 series of the programme, finishing fourth.[2] The Hungry Gecko, Kearney's dining club, was established in the same year, and she launched food truck called Barbarella.[1] With her vegetarian street food truck, Kearney was a finalist in the British Street Food Awards in 2012.[5]
Kearney went on to publish her first book, Vegan Street Food, in 2015. Though she is a vegetarian, not a vegan, the book ended up being predominantly vegan, and she removed the non-vegan elements at her publisher's suggestion.[3] The book won the PETA UK Vegan Food Award for Cookbook of the Year 2016.[6] Further vegan cookbooks followed, including books focused on comfort food, mock meat, and Christmas food.[2]
Kearney's books have been reviewed by critics. In 2018, Coach Mag named Vegan Street Food one of the Best Vegan Cookbooks.[7] In reviewing Vegan Christmas Feasts, the American journalist Avery Yale Kamila said "Kearney calls upon her British heritage and her travels for a collection of celebratory recipes that feel nostalgic yet a wee bit novel".[8] The journalist Selene Nelson listed My Vegan Travels on a list of her three favorite vegan cookbooks.[9] In 2016, the MasterChef winner Tim Anderson said he was cooking from Vegan Street Food.[10]