Tisane cooks up magic with music on the menu

Published Feb 28, 2013

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You never know what to call TV personality Lebo Elle Tisane. When she was acting, back in her Muvhango days, she was known as Elle Tisane, but when she released her gospel album, she appeared as Lebo Tisane. Now that she is the host of e.tv’s Cooking Gospel, she appears as Lebo Elle Tisane. It almost kind of reads like the from Puff Daddy to P Diddy story, with all the name changes in between.

“When I started out, there were a lot of Lebos in the industry and I needed to make a name for myself so I went as Elle. I got comfortable when the brand grew so I added Lebo, but there are those who know me as Elle and I just decided to go with both,” said the bubbly woman.

Having gone quiet after leaving Muvhango and recording an album, Tisane is making a comeback with Cooking Gospel, a show on good food with good music.

“I don’t know about you, but growing up we had a tradition where every Sunday after church we’d play loud gospel music and make big lunches to it. Without fail, every Sunday we would cook to good church music and Cooking Gospel is trying to capture that era,” she explained.

“We invite celebrities to the show where I cook their favourite meals with them. They show me how they want their meals done and I in turn show them a few variations on how to spice up the same meal,” she said.

The interesting thing is Tisane may be no Angela Day, but she can cook very well. However, to make sure the meals and recipes they work with on the show are always on point, Cooking Gospel has expert chefs who also come in and show Tisane a thing or two about reworking a given recipe.

“I have a strong cooking background, but the show invites professional cooks to suggest interesting ways of elevating the taste of the given recipe,” she said.

Celebrities who have been on the show so far include actor and singer Howza and gospel singers Solly Moholo and Sipho Makhabane.

“It is interesting to see these big names relax from their busy schedules and instead cook their favourite meals,” said Tisane.

“Some of them can’t cook or do anything beyond boiling an egg, and others just have the basics. It is interesting to see them take some-thing from the show that they’ll use for a long time to come,” she said.

After getting married and giving birth to her first child, Tisane decided to break away from the limelight to focus on her family. Now the beauty is back with this show and has plans for another album.

“I am going back into the studio next month to work on another gospel album. I don’t want to talk too much about it but I want to say that it is going to be something interesting for my fans,” she said.

• Cooking Gospel airs from March 10 at 11am on e.tv.

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