Lisicki values her time in the kitchen

 

Originally published on: 28/02/12 10:43

There are plenty of reasons why many of the world’s leading women enjoy being at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Championships. Aside from the warm weather and good prize money, there is the chance to shop to your heart’s content.
 
Some players head for the big shopping malls or the gold souk, but Sabine Lisicki makes sure the spice market is on her itinerary. “I went to one of the big malls and to the spice market,” the 21-year-old German said when asked how she had been spending time away from the court this week. “I always do it when I come here and I enjoy it a lot.”
 
Lisicki, who was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Agnieszka Radwanska in today’s quarter-finals, said: “I really like to cook, so I have to go and get some good spices. I like the variety really. With spices you can really change the food a lot, and here we have spices that you cannot buy the same way in Germany.”
 
How has she learned to use all the different spices? “Well, we go to lots of different restaurants. I am curious how you make it, so I go on the internet and take a look at the recipes and then try it out myself.” Had she tried asking the chefs for their recipes? “They won’t tell me anyway,” Lisicki laughed. “So, no, I haven’t done that.”
 
Given her busy schedule, the world No.13 said she did not have many opportunities to practise her culinary talents, but “once I’m home I always cook”. Even when she was sidelined by an ankle injury for five months during 2010, Lisicki was unable to spend much time in the kitchen. “I was on crutches, so I wasn’t allowed to stand,” she said. “Mum was the one doing the cooking back then.”

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