Durban - At 23 she was food editor at one of the largest selling women’s magazines in the country. But for South African foodie, Justine Drake, success so soon was daunting.
“I had to figure out where to next,” she said.
She knew from an early age that food would be in her future.
“I’ve been cooking ever since I can remember. I also had parents that dragged me to restaurants across the world. It was what I knew and loved.”
As a young girl she also made her own magazines.
“I made a mag I called ‘New Look’ when I was nine years old on (magazines editor) Jane Raphaely’s floor.”
With most of the female influences in her life already in the industry, it seemed a natural path to follow.
At Fairlady she wrote her first cookbook, then moved on to become food editor for a number of magazines, including Men’s Health, Shape, Discovery Vitality and the Eat In Food Directory, where she was also instrumental in launching the Eat In Small Producer Awards.
Such early accomplishment in print led to a multi-faceted career in food, with a career that today cuts across the various sectors of the media from print to radio and TV - writing, styling, editing and conducting trends analyses.
Drake said her media career had always run parallel to her personal life - which is perhaps what lends to the authentic public persona she possesses.
South Africans will remember her best for her cooking programme, Just in Africa. The culinary travelogue made her a popular BBC chef long before it was popular.
Drake said at the time she could very well travel the length and breadth of the continent cooking on the side of the road.
“Food has led me into every avenue, but the work I’ve done has always been a reflection of where I was at in life. These days being a mom, to Trixie-Rose, seven, and Flynn, three, is what’s pivotal to my career.”
Just Cooking in association with Fresh Living, which airs every Tuesday at 9pm on DStv’s Channel 174, speaks to South African householders.
“I can genuinely relate to my audience; as a working mother of two, I constantly have to balance work, family and individual tastes to keep everyone healthy, happy and fed,” she said.
“Like most working moms, I don’t have hours to prepare the evening meal, nor do I have a limitless budget, so modern, fresh food that’s simple and quick to whip up is the order of the day.”
The half-hour show is an instructional cooking slot based on healthy everyday dishes for the time - and cash-strapped cook; presenting ways in which to jazz up roast chicken, find inspiration for Sunday lunch and learn to spruce up everything from spaghetti bolognaise and curries to soups and salads.
Drake is passionate about the provenance of food.
When they can, she and husband, Marc, and the children, leave Cape Town’s Camps Bay and head to the family farm in George.
“My children know their vegetables and where they’re from. You don’t have to have a farm to do that… just growing a few strawberries in a patch of the garden helps create awareness for kids.”
She said she loved this stage of her life, particularly as the “curator” of her children’s palates.
“You do get ‘fussy-eaters’ but as parents we have a responsibility to introduce our children to varied, fresh foods. My daughter’s idea of take-out is sushi, but that’s just because she has been exposed to a great deal of food.
“To teach our children about good food, we need to be alert consumers.
“As South Africans we’re hopeless with labels - for example, we offer breakfast cereals loaded with sugar - that we’re unaware of or unconcerned about. It’s as good as junk food.
“Waste is another great tragedy in the South African scenario. I loathe packaging, huge meals and the wastage of water,” Drake said.
“This is the next frontier in the food revolution because people aren’t even conscious of the level of waste in their daily lives.”
The Mercury