African renaissance – Chef Mbombi’s nostalgic cookbook

South African chefs across the country are finally finding their local voice as more and more showcase the best of their roots including Chef Daniel Mbombi. 

From his determination of having a cooking career at a young age, despite his family advising against it, his career growth shows continues to blossom. From culinary school to finding a job out of nothing and a career built on the new age of social media.

Chef Mbombi is known for sharing his traditional recipes on his Instagram page and quickly gaining thousands of followers because of his authentic African dishes. He would then work with beloved brands such as Knorr, Tastic, Koo and Jungle Oats.

The Chef says his career was ready and established for a cookbook. 

Recently publishing it, he reveals that he wanted to call his book OMG, I am African, he tells The Citizen. However with the publishers, Penguin Books, they agreed on the name An African Bite would work better.

He describes the book as nostalgia, a place one calls home. 

“It is biting through any African home you know. We are authentically known for something whichever tribe you come from.” He adds being African is everything to him. 

An African Bite is about 150 pages of recipes that many of us have emotional attachments and fond memories to. 

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Think Amahewu, iskopo (sheep’s head), umqombothi (traditional beer), amagwinya (fat cakes), steamed mealie bread and isijingi (warm butternut and maize meal) porridge. 

The cookbook is also separated into chapters that are close to his heart, such as Gogo’s recipes, street food, meat, and salads but with his own twist and flavours. Including his take on the popular West African dish jollof rice.

Chef Mbombi’s jollof, is with Mzansi flavour and is cooked without the meat in the rice pot. There is also a variety of salads, and meat dishes to fill your heart’s content and feed your loved ones. 

One can easily tell Chef Mbombi’s cooking style is clearly African, he adds its “big portions, simple, full of love, hearty and soul food”.

Loving food from a young age, he always wanted to celebrate and highlight the continent’s food. 

An African Bite has an easy guide and index for go-to ingredients and chef tips. With big plans for the future, Chef Mbombi also has a franchise in the works. 

“iSkopo is a concept to explore Africa, called Cooking for Africa. We go to an African country and cook for a village.”

With a clear vision of his culinary exploration, he is already planning his second book titled Goat and it will take us to many parts of Africa.

An African Bite is available at leading bookstores nationwide, including as a digital copy.