Loud chef’s culinary skills impress
Kegaugetswe Matsetela created a brand from being Pedi and being loud.
POLOKWANE – The 19-year-old chef is the brain behind ‘Meals with The Loud Pedi Girl’ in which she uses what is known to those around her, to her advantage.
She explained that she became known as the ‘Loud Pedi Girl’ after she was introduced to her friend’s mother.
“I was just my usual bubbly self. After that first encounter, my friend’s mother had forgotten my name and she asked “where is the loud Pedi girl?’ and it was something that I embraced since,” she explained.
Her earliest memory of being in front of a stove was when she was still in pre-school.
“I stood on a bucket next to the stove so I could reach and I managed to make eggs. When my grandmother walked in, she started to panic but the eggs came out perfectly. Even today, she still shares that story at family gatherings,” she said.
Regardless of that first experience and helping out more in the kitchen, becoming a chef was something she didn’t even think about, her sights were set on becoming Miss South Africa one day.
At the age of 12, she offered to prepare a meal for her uncle’s graduation lunch and reluctantly her family agreed. She made a meal for 20 people and it was a success.
“It was at that point that my family took my cooking seriously.
“Funny enough, I don’t remember what I made but my family does and I still get praises for the meal,” she said.
It was only in Gr 8 that she took an interest in the workings of a restaurant and the meals that are served, but her mother was not supportive of the idea of her becoming a chef.
Despite her mother’s doubt, she managed to get ahead in the culinary field with the support of her aunt.
She is glad that she followed her dreams by attending culinary school because she now does what she loves and believes she was born to do.
