Close Connections: Yvonne & Camilla – we have the same values: food, family, positivity
After meeting on BBC Two series See Hear, Yvonne Cobb – dubbed the ‘deaf Nigella’ – and Camilla Arnold embarked on a series of food adventures together
When Yvonne Cobb first met Camilla Arnold three years ago, they instantly bonded over their shared love of cooking. Yvonne, 48, who is profoundly deaf, is used to making connections with people in the deaf community through her cooking lessons and workshops, but discovered a special connection with Camilla, 34, who is also deaf.
The pair were introduced while filming for BBC Two’s See Hear, a programme exploring various issues affecting the deaf community. Camilla is a producer for the show and Yvonne works as a co-presenter and cookery presenter.
Camilla says, “We instinctively clicked when we met as we both share a deep-rooted love of cooking. For the first episode we worked on, I asked Yvonne to make a cake to bid farewell to an interpreter on the show. She came up trumps with an amazing delicate apricot cake.” She liked Yvonne’s so food much that she created a dedicated cookery segment for Yvonne to present using sign language.
Yvonne adds, “Camilla and I share a similar outlook on life and have the same values: food, family values, positivity - and hair!” The pair discovered a shared love of eating out and they particularly enjoy tapas and Middle Eastern food. When Camilla got married, Yvonne treated her to a talk by chef Yotam Ottolenghi in Bristol.
Yvonne hadn’t always worked in food. Having been a British Sign Language teacher for 20 years, she decided to change careers. She felt her three children (who can all hear) were old enough for her to devote more time to her passion for food and cooking, which she inherited from her mum.
Yvonne says, “When I was growing up, I spent a great deal of time watching Mum, who’s also deaf, cooking. She was a natural. She turns 90 this year but, in those days, she often had friends over and would serve all sorts of culinary delights. As I got older, I loved having friends over and cooking for them, too. In fact, it was friends who suggested I set up my own business.”
In 2016, Yvonne launched her company, Yumma Food, running workshops and vlogging to help educate deaf people who face several challenges when it comes to cooking, including a struggle to read recipes or a dearth of knowledge around health and nutrition.
Yvonne says, “A lack of accessible information is a huge problem, and the biggest part of this is the difficulty many deaf people experience with reading. On cookery programmes, there isn’t always a translation service available or a British Sign Language instructor on screen.’
Without a translator, those who struggle to read captions cannot follow the show. Yvonne started vlogging, creating video clips about food that were both signed and captioned, making them accessible to all. People started calling her the ‘deaf Nigella’.
She says, “Being referred to as the ‘deaf Nigella’ is a lovely compliment and I can see similarities in our cooking styles. There is a sexiness to the way I cook, an expressiveness. I enjoy it.”
Honing her presenting skills through her vlogging and online workshops, and teaching people to cook over Zoom during the pandemic, when Camilla and Yvonne met, Camilla instantly knew Yvonne’s personality would inspire viewers.
Camilla says, “I knew she’d be a brilliant role model for the deaf community and that her bubbly onscreen presence and infectious passion would make people fall in love with cooking. We first trialled an item in the kitchen in the early days of lockdown, and we’ve not looked back since.
“Her son Frazer films all her cookery segments, too, so it’s a mother-son partnership, which is really special to see. Yvonne has devised some incredible recipes for the show, including the ultimate picnic sandwich, and two years on, her cookery segment is still very popular. It’s very inspiring.”
Yvonne is the BBC’s first female deaf news reporter, and hopes to see more deaf people represented onscreen, ‘It’s a huge honour, and I can see the growth of acceptance of having deaf people on mainstream TV channels. There was a heart-warming response from the public when [deaf Eastenders actress] Rose Ayling-Ellis won Strictly last year – but there’s still lots more to do in terms of representation, and I’m excited to see what will come next.’
Make Yvonne’s vegan chocolate tart.
This feature originally appeared in Good Food Magazine, May 2022.
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