LERATO UMAH-SHAYLOR
Chef, food writer & TV presenter; London
Set the scene. What have you been eating or drinking today?
I am at home on the Sussex coast. I was starving and just devoured a bowl of fried rice. A rushed version of the ‘Bejewelled & Aromatic Fried Rice’ my mother often makes, with chunks of carrots and green beans, juicy prawns, aromatics, and curry powder to bring it all to life. It’s a dish I cook often with leftover rice and whatever vegetables I have lying around. It needs to be very well spiced and seasoned, fragrant and just wonderful, like my mother makes it.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in a sort of hybrid lifestyle travelling back and forth from the UK to Nigeria and across Africa. No, I am not a diplomat’s child. My mother really wanted us to see the world and so she did her best to send us to the most random places to live and study. I spent a considerable amount of time in Nigeria travelling to all corners, the customs and ways of the people are deeply engrained in me. Winter months were mostly spent in the UK, and so to me Christmas often called for snow. I also spent a lot of time in the Republic of Benin, a francophone West African country formerly known as the Dahomey Kingdom – famously depicted in the blockbuster movie, The Woman King. I am so grateful for those experiences which have shaped who I am today and inspired me to write a book like Africana.
I started cooking at a young age, watching our family cook and helping out in the kitchen, much earlier than when my mother was ready to teach me in my early teens. We had a family chef called Papa and he made the most wonderful curries. In my home we ate a very eclectic menu from across the world. My mum later taught me more traditional Nigerian dishes and as I travelled, I also learned so much from other cultures in Africa and beyond. It wasn’t until university in London while studying economics, that I started to see subtle signs that food might be much more than fun, but a great passion. After I graduated from university in London, I travelled to Nigeria to explore writing and working in international development. I even got a job with the BBC World Service Trust, but the calling of food was much stronger.
Instead, I started a catering business and opened a pizzeria – a business decision that was great for that space and time. I would go on to write a cookery column in the Guardian, and to meet my first TV Producer/Director and now dear friend who cast me on my first TV show. Now I run a food business; I teach and write about cookery; cook on television; host fabulous supper clubs and immersive experiences, and I have written my first cookbook, Africana. Food is my whole life!
Photo credit: Tara Fisher
Tell us about the food writing and work that you do – including your newsletter ‘Cook with Lerato’?
My newsletter became a place to share stories with my community, a place to share and preserve my never- ending ideas, recipes and especially the limitless possibilities with African cooking. I love story telling, especially because it provides context when sharing stories and recipes that are unfamiliar to many. I often find myself writing epistles on my social media pages, sometimes running out of space. It has also become such a distracting place with little room for quiet creativity, so the noisier the world became during the pandemic, the more I yearned for a space for quietly create, reflect and share. Writing for publications also has its limitations. I am fortunate to be given space to write about what I know. There is only so much I can say in an article and so I yearned for a place to say much more and with my own distinctive voice.
Even after writing a whole book, it wasn’t enough to hold all the stories and recipes I wanted to share. ‘Cook with Lerato’ has become my little hideaway where I can truly be free and limitless. My newsletter also got a lot of attention after winning a spot on the coveted Substack Writers’ Fellowship. A platform where writers enjoy the freedom to curate newsletters as their own magazine, if you will. I also create recipes and work with brands and organisations who align with my vision of bringing people together to enjoy good food and those who support me in giving African recipes and stories a well-deserved platform to shine.
Photo credit: Tara Fisher
What’s the mantra / vibe of your new cookbook ‘Africana’?
Africana is an essential book on African cookery. It is a celebration of our culture, history, and food, highlighting its importance alongside other world cuisine. I wrote this cookbook because I didn’t have a book like this to learn from, a book that could pass on our history and those secret whispers that have been passed on to me by my mother, grandmother, aunties, and family and friends. A book to tell our stories and to preserve it for generations to come. I compiled over 100 of my favourite recipes, from the traditional – adapted for the modern cook like myself and cooks of all abilities. With recipes such as Egusi soup and pounded Yam, the two fool-proof jollof recipes; one a classic smoky jollof and the other a seafood jollof, South African Vegan Bobotie – instead of the typically meat heavy dish, three variations of the sunshine on a plate that is the Senegalese Yassa, one with aubergine, one with chicken and another with lamb. East African Kachumbari with plump tomatoes and many more, to inventive recipes I dreamt up, combining ingredients typically used in different regions to create a beautiful marriage in recipes such as my Plantain Shakshuka, or my Grilled fish with Makrut Lime Leaves and watermelon Kachumbari, Harissa Leg of Lamb with Hibiscus Salt and Cumin or even my Christmas Pudding Puff Puffs inspired by my hate for traditional Christmas pudding and love for drop doughnuts.
Africana is full of inspiration, big flavours and very cookable recipes. I am a cookery teacher and so I paid attention to many of the things I know people need or worry about when learning a new recipe, from finding the right ingredients to adapting recipes for plant-based or nut free options and more. I also encourage my cooks to feel free to swap seasonal ingredients, and to use up what they have at home. Africana is full of travel inspiration, with a great sense of place in the stories – places just beckoning you to visit. This book is an essential book for anyone who wants to enjoy a diverse range of African recipes, almost like a food safari from the comfort of your own home.
How would you describe your food? Any signature dishes?
My recipes are vibrant and bold. Dare I say ‘wow’ flavours that will keep you coming back for more. Perhaps because I am a bit of a greedy cook, not for quantity of food but I want to be completely enthralled by flavours and so I cook to achieve just that. To enchant and leave a lasting memory. I absolutely adore all the recipes in my book. If I had to choose any favourites, they would be for different reasons. My book starts with drinks in front, instead of at the back of the book. The Spiced Hibiscus & Ginger Drink and the Hibiscus & Pomegranate Chapman are my versions of a childhood favourites that are so refreshing and wonderful, I cannot wait for everyone to try them. And the Kenyan Masala Chai with Black Pepper & Vanilla Chai Shortbread is just enchanting; for me, the stronger the better. All the plantain dishes are firm favourites as I adore plantains. In the book I have a chapter on how to cook plantains, and across the book, you will find recipes from Plantain and Crab Salad to Plantain chips used as croutons in an aromatic pumpkin soup. I have even started a plantain series on my newsletter and socials, I am that obsessed.
The Honeycomb Pancakes are just wonderful drenched in orange blossom and honey syrup. Braised Greens with Sweet Peppers are so dear to me because they are inspired my grandma, for whom I cooked this dish with boiled plantains while she suffered from diabetes. Slow-cooked beans and plantains is also a childhood favourite, a dish my mum weaned me on and quite possibly my favourite dish to eat, if I had to pick only one. The Fragrant Fish in Banana is enchanting with scotch bonnets, crushed makrut lime leaves, a cocktail of citruses and aromatics. I told you I loved all my recipes; I could go on forever! The plantain & Coconut Curry with Red Kidney Beans is such a dream as you can keep adding lots of veggies, lentils, beans to bulk it up or enjoy it a little differently every time. I really could go on; I suggest you see for yourself! Cook the book!
Who are the biggest food influences in your life?
Growing up I didn’t know of any African cookery writers. I didn’t see our foods documented for learning and sharing. I learned by watching and listening very carefully. My mother and grandmother have been the biggest food influences in my life. Teaching me much of what I know and influencing my approach to cooking with fresh produce and extracting flavours from the simplest ingredients. The stories told to me by my mother and those told to her by her mother are the gems that made writing Africana possible. The life my mother gave me, one that nurtured my curiosity and thirst for travel and culture, prepared me for the life I lead now as a writer, teacher and as a student of life. I have come to love plantain, sausages, bacon, eggs and baked beans as a classic breakfast because this is what my mother presented to me, unbeknownst to me it seems to be an unusual combination for many, but it works and beautifully so. This marriage of cultures that I have mastered has not been intentionally experimental. I grew up eating like this. This is party of my identity. My mother’s love of hosting and feeding others also influenced my life so much so that I became a professional dinner party host – hosting supper clubs to put it less glamorously. I love every minute of cooking and hosting others, seeing their faces filled with gleeful surprise.
Photo credit: Tara Fisher
And the biggest non-food influences?
The biggest non-food influences in my life…this is such a difficult question. I love travel, but my love for travel is also attached to food. I use food to connect with people and their stories. My love and quest for food is what primarily feeds my wanderlust. I thoroughly enjoy the writing of prolific Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, the father of African Literature. Once again, what pulls me into a lot of his writing are references to food, and so I really cannot escape it. He writes, “Mong the igbo, the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” Palm oil is known to be a very important and much-loved ingredient in many Nigerian dishes, and the Igbo tribe to which my mother belongs are known for their enchanting proverbs, many married to food. My favourite books to read are, you guessed it…cookbooks, especially books with a great sense of place. It is ironic that I teach people to cook and create recipes for others to follow, but I mostly keep my favourite cookbooks by my bedside to read and be transported to other places. I love music, with a rather eclectic mix from old school pop and RnB to random one hit wonders and the new age ‘Afro beats’ which is just so energetic and enchanting.
How does it make you feel when you’re asked the question ‘where are you from?’ Or the more leading ‘where are you really from?’?
Honestly, I don’t mind that question at all. I take pride in being African, so if that question comes with a veiled assumption, then the assumption is correct. I don’t find it offensive if anyone assumes I am from Africa, because I am, and proudly so. I tell anyone and everyone who cares to listen. I love being an African woman. I understand the negative connotations associated with being ‘othered’ or when it is implied that a person of colour does not belong. I cannot speak for others about how it affects them, but personally I believe I belong wherever I am, regardless of my nationality or ethnicity.
What are your thoughts on the word ‘authenticity’ in the context of food? And the word ‘fusion’?
The word has been bastardised to mean a fantastical idea of what people think something should be, often ignoring what the thing truly is or the various nuances that come with the difference in people, history, culture, and personal preferences. Who really decides what is authentic or what isn’t? It is especially rich when someone from a different culture tells me, my recipe is not authentic because it doesn’t have as much chilli. Or a lady who once told me I should be more authentic next time by using more print in my décor. Are these prints part of my ‘authentic’ personal style or my tradition? Does that matter? As long as I tick the authenticity box of what is expected or what one has been conditioned to expect, then such people are never satisfied. To banish these types of comments, I began giving a little speech at my events. Announcing that, “if anyone was here expecting a rendition of the Lion King they were in the wrong Disney film”. Fusion is a perfectly reasonable word. Meaning to combine two or multiple things. I would say just as many of my recipes are traditional or modern adaptations of traditional recipes (because no one has time to slave in the kitchen for hours and life is expensive) I also create many fusion recipes, rather naturally. I have also not been conditioned to eat only Nigerian food with Nigeria accompaniments. Imagine my Smoky Jollof with the Celebration Lamb Mrouzia or with the Senegalese Yassa or the Mozambiquan inspired Mango & Lime Piri Piri. In Africana I give the reader, tips on what to pair with the recipes and many of these pairings create a fusion – a beautiful marriage not because they sound cool together, but because they work.
With this in mind, have you got any thoughts on ‘cultural appropriation’ in the food world?
In the world as we know it, many chefs especially the popular ones on the television showcase foods from all over the world and their audience seem to accept whatever they say as gospel. And so, I believe it is their/our responsibility to be mindful and respectful of individual cultures, especially highlighting origins where possible so as not to eradicate important stories and traditions. It does irritate me a little when I can see that little or no research was done before a recipe was created. This is one of the great motivations for writing a book on the diverse foods of Africa. I am an African woman who has experienced many African cultures and foods. I have lived in several African countries for a considerable amount of time and so my perceptive is derived from those common experiences and memories I share with so many, as well as my own unique experiences and memories. I believe in writing what you know and when you don’t know, research the hell out of it and ask those who know. Give credit where and to whom credit is due. I cannot speak for others but myself, and in writing Africana I am ‘owning’ the narrative of African cooking through my own lens. This is not to say that I alone claim ownership but that we, “as Africans” will represent, celebrate, teach and inspire the world with what we know and love. It is that simple. We are doing it brilliantly in music, fashion, the arts and why not with food?
Photo credit: Tara Fisher
How do you hope the narratives on culinary identity develop in the post-Covid 19 world?
I hope those lesser-known voices continue to shine as we seem to be doing now. People are a lot more open interested and proactive about learning more, than ever before. And I am here for them all. To teach, to inspire, to learn and to share.
Finally, the plug section…
Africana is a grand extension of my mission to bring African cookery and stories to the mainstream stage. There was so much that didn’t make it into the book, and more I discover daily. For this reason, my newsletter is so important. It allows for continued discussion, exploration, discovery and sharing amongst us. I would love my cooks and readers to sign up to ‘Cook with Lerato’ to fully enjoy being part of a community that is feasting, sharing, experiencing, and travelling together. Travel has also been a big theme at my events and in Africana. I have been planning the most fabulous and immersive cooking holidays around Africa and beyond. Unique experiences like no other with fresh organic produce, sumptuous food, inspiring locals and in the most beautiful settings. We will cook and feast together, while supporting the local people, expert tour guides, farmers, cooks and more who will make our holidays possible, and we will support a chosen charity or social enterprise. I am coming full circle with my love of food, people and my interest in economics and development. I also have a few fabulous restaurant residencies coming up, and so who knows what the future might bring?! A very exciting journey ahead, I am sure.
Follow Lerato on Instagram and visit her website
Africana: Treasured recipes and stories from across the continent (HQ, HarperCollins) is out now.