It’s Father’s Day, and in honour of this special day, I reflect on memories made and lessons learned from Dad, in the kitchen, and beyond.
For me, some of the greatest influences for my love of cooking and food has been a father figure. In some cases, this sparked enough of a love that I chose to make food my lifelong career.
Growing up, I learned that putting a nutritious and delicious meal on the table does not have to be complicated. One of my favourite recipes from my dad is one with the fewest ingredients: samp and beans.
So simple, but it is how it is prepared and cooked that makes it so delicious. He also taught me how one ingredient can change the flavour of a whole dish. For example, how you can use Holsum when cooking samp and beans, but not tone down the flavour of the dish.
Made from a blend of palm oils, this versatile product does not contain any animal fat and is unsalted and unflavoured, making it ideal for roasting, cooking, baking, and frying, without changing the flavour of the food being cooked. It is more stable than most liquid oils, and lasts longer.
Thanks, Dad, for teaching me that good food is about simplicity, fresh ingredients, and a whole lot of care and love. My dad taught me everything I needed to know about the kitchen and its tools. He passed down most of his recipes to me.
The smell of samp and beans, umphokoqo (crumbled maize meal), and beef stew will forever be in my memories because of him. One other thing I am grateful to have learned from my father is persistence. I relate this back to when he first taught me how to make a proper curry, which requires patience, determination, and a long process of slowly layering and building a depth of flavour that cannot be simplified or expedited.
In the kitchen and in life, we are constantly faced with obstacles and challenges that make our goals seem further out of reach. My father’s lessons have helped me remember to remain persistent in whatever I am working on, regardless of the challenges or obstacles.
Although I can no longer experience these intimate, and fun kitchen moments with him, as we are miles away from each other, I’m certain the memories will continue to inspire me to be creative, curious, and aspire to always keep good company around the dinner table - values I hope to pass on to my kids someday.