Interview: Babalwa Nogoboka May 3, y

THE GRACE OF BABALWA

Africa's Digest March 2015 1

"I never thought of giving up, even when everything seemed against me."

Despite adversity and cultural bar-riers this prominent Xhosa Chef lets nothing stand in her way. We all could learn a thing or two from the successful business owner of Patty-Pans, Babalwa Nogoboka.

Dara Lewis (DL) I had the amazing opportu-nity to eat your food for the past couple days, please, tell me where did your inspiration to cook developed?Babalwa Nogoboka (BN) I grew up watching my grandmother cook, she was just excep-tional! I remember her waking up as early as possible to prepare a nice warm meal for the family. I really enjoyed watching her prepare meals it was so effortlessly done. I wanted to be like that....just like her.DL Did you ever help your grandmother pre-pare the meals?BN Yes, all the time. In the Xhosa household the women must know how to cook. At a very young age I was peeling vegetables for her. By the time I was ten years old I was making meals for the whole household. In our culture, your extended family lives with you. So, I was mak-ing dinner for many people.

DL You were preparing entire meals at the age of ten, I find that impressive. So you had lots of practical knowledge as well as cultural knowledge with cooking. Did you find it im-perative to get a degree in culinary arts? BN I wanted to go to university, I knew it would help me with pursuing my dreams. At times it didn't seem possible though. My mother and father were not apart of my life, I only had my grandmother and when she passed away my life completely changed. I was young and emotionally devastated when she died. I had no one to help me with school, I didn't know what I was going to do.

DL I'm sorry to hear that, what did you do then?BN I did what I had to do. I worked in my spare time...made enough money to move to East London, got accepted into Intech Col-lege. I then started working in the kitchen of a local hotel to pay my college fees. It was very hard. I never thought of giving up, even when everything seemed against me. My grandmother's death made me very inde-pendent early in life,

Interview: Babalwa Nogoboka May 3, y

Africa's Digest March 2015 2

As she effortlessly juggles onions, Ba-balwa shows us how to have fun while working.

DL Although the reason why you became inde-pendent is not ideal, would you say that develop-ing that quality early in life has been beneficial? And how so?BN Greatly, I'll share this with you....I had a month left to work at the hotel, and that was my only source of income. Again I didn't know what I was going to do. My landlord who really appreci-ated my work ethic recommended me to a Ger-man couple looking to hire a chef for their 5 star restaurant. It was drive to succeed that my land-lord liked, I gained that through being indepen-dent. That was my first real job as a chef, and I was the head chef. DL I guess you never really know who's watch-ing! Now that you are an established chef, what do you find is one of the hardships you face?BN I would have to say the discrimination. As a woman in the chef industry, especially a black woman, it is very difficult at times. I am not al-ways taken seriously. I have to assert myself very often, even within my own culture. In South Africa if the woman is a chef she tends to be white. Many times you will see the face of a cooking company is white but the people in the kitchen are all black. That is partly why I de-cided to create PattyPans.

DL I know many women can relate to that statement, it can be difficult at times navigat-ing through male dominated fields. Tell me more about PattyPansBN Well, I wanted to go into business for my-self. I wanted to be able make my own rules. PattyPans, is fun, creative, and the meals have cultural significance. I'm able to experiment and step outside my boundaries as a chef be-cause of PattyPans.

FUN FACTS ON OUR FAVORITE CHEF:

Babalwa means The Grace of God

Why the name PattyPans? It's her all time favorite squash!

Ingredients to making a great chef: Passion and dedication

Favorite Chef besides her Grandmother: Gordon Ramsey

Spice she can't live without: ROSEMARY

In 5 years she will be: Running a huge global catering business with baking and a chocolatier bistro