Ishara Naicker dishes how she turns a bland part of her life into something hot and spicy
What does the future of work hold for those negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic?
Covid-19 left a bitter taste in Blairgowrie resident Ishara Naicker’s home, but through her love for cooking, she turned that foul taste into something flavourful and opened Dante’s Spice Delight.
Having left Durban in search of a brighter future with a purpose, Naicker financially sunk due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In her time of needing to supplement her income and seeing others battling the same war, she knew she could provide herself and the community with something good.
“I hope to improve people’s culinary skills and make it possible for them to provide healthy flavourful foods for their families and friends; making it affordable so that people can save on their monthly food budget; show them that they can cook and help them build their confidence through easy-to-use recipes,” said Naicker.
Following her appearances at the Blairgowrie Primary School Local Market, Rest UR Ass Donkey Sanctuary, Randburg SPCA Winter Market, and the IR Griffith Primary School Local Market, Naicker added, “The support from the public at these markets has been very encouraging.”
Naicker’s challenges included finding the right markets, business compliance procedures, finding the right locations and creating a product that generated demand.
When Naicker isn’t cooking up a storm, she is out lending a hand to the community. “Over the past 25 years, I have been involved in anti-drug education and literacy programmes aimed at improving the quality of education in South Africa.”
Naicker’s motivation arises from her satisfied clients, some as young as 10 years old, who share their success stories with her blended products. “We had a gentleman who drove across the city to meet us at Delta Park because his wife refused to cook without our spices. We have customers call on a Friday and Saturday to check where we are so they can make sure they get their favourite spice blend for the coming week or month.”
Dante’s Spice Delight hopes to make home cooking easy and service your spice needs, catering and cooking lessons.
Details: Ishara Naicker at dantespicedelight@hotmail.com; 072 432 3021/ 082 920 4451.
Related Article:
