Connecting Chefs In Africa to the world

Dieuveil Malonga is a self-proclaimed “Afrovisionist”. The 26-year-old Chef has a deep love and appreciation for the rich cuisine of his home continent Africa, and his journey in the food world and what he has achieved in it reflects this. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Germany, Chef Dieuveil is the founder of Chefs In Africa, a unique digital platform that aims to cultivate the talent and culinary passion found in Africa. It connects government institutions, training centres and businesses with professional Chefs and young culinary students or apprentices looking for work experience. With over 4,000 African Chefs as members, this network facilitates contact between its members and hotel and restaurant industry agents, and local producers as well. This is Chef Dieuveil’s story of how Chefs In Africa came to being, and how he is helping his peers to achieve in the food world, while celebrating Africa’s diverse culinary delights…

 

Chef Dieuveil Malonga in Rwanda. CREDIT Dieuveil Malonga Facebook.

 

Education is key to making African cuisines mainstream, according to Chef Dieuveil Malonga.

As a student of his Shubhangi Saxena brilliantly put it, “With so much propaganda of poverty and hunger doing the rounds about Africa, no one really thinks anything of African food”.

“Isn’t it food for thought?” Chef Dieuveil says.

Born in Brazzaville, Congo and raised in Germany, the innovative Chef made it his goal in life to not only learn more about Afro-fusion and about Africa’s gastronomic heritage, but to also promote these aspects of African cuisine. 

Chef Dieuveil studied at Adolf Kolping Schule in Münster, a leading culinary institution before going on to win several competitions such as Die Goldene Kartoffel in 2012.

His talent and desire to achieve speaks for itself when looking at his illustrious career in the food world.

He honed his skills at Michelin-starred restaurants including Schote, Life and Aqua, and he has become one of 10 Chefs to have made it to the final list of the Basque Culinary World Prize – one of the most prestigious awards in the culinary universe. 

However, in 2016, his passion for African cuisine, and what really drives him in the food world came to the fore when he founded Chefs In Africa.

It was during his travels throughout Africa to promote African cuisine and learn more about his own heritage, and the traditional foods of the continent, where he met many young aspiring Chefs.

“I was blown away by the desire of some young Chefs, who had the goal it was to reinvent African cuisine,” Chef Dieuveil says.

“Enthusiastic, creative and determined, these culinary artists were hopeful for one thing: Universalize African Gastronomie.

“But their path is littered with pitfalls and amidst lack of equipment, new skills, social prejudices; African chefs are struggling to be known.”

With the birth of Chefs In Africa shedding light on African gastronomy, the goal is for young and talented Chefs to narrate their culinary journey and philosophy, using the platform to boost their careers, he adds.

“Chefs In Africa wants to be the crossroad to these energetic young men and women, from Abidjan to Cape, Nairobi to Tokyo, Pointe Noire to New York, to portray Africa from a different perspective – boldly and gastronomically.

Inspired by the drive of hundreds of young leaders he met to own and reinvent the narrative of African culinary arts; Chef Dieuveil says this is how and why Chefs In Africa started. 

The digital platform aims to cultivate the talent and culinary passion found in Africa.

Chefs In Africa connects government institutions, training centres and businesses with professional Chefs and young culinary students or apprentices looking for work experience.

With over 4,000 African Chefs as members, the network facilitates contact between its members and hotel and restaurant industry agents, and local producers as well.

“Our commitment is to support them with the building of their creative and business legacy,” Chef Dieuveil says.

“As such, we hold workshops, seminars and provide resources for them to interact with both local and international key players.

“Our partners include government and leading hospitality institutions such as the Sheraton Hotel.”

As part of his role as Founder, Chef Dieuveil promotes the platform and the talent of its members in private meetings with recruiters and gastronomic tour companies.

He has also promoted the concept at top international culinary events, such as the Fourth World Forum of Gastronomy Tourism of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in June 2018; and at UNESCO’s Africa Week and Siemens’ Fusion Food project.

Chefs in Africa is a 100 percent self-funded social business platform on a mission to educate and put talents from the continent at the forefront of a global culinary revolution, Chef Dieuveil adds.

“Our online community is thoroughly curated, and the website allows members to connect, build their personal brand, further their education and source work opportunities in hospitality.

“This past June, the United Nations World Tourism Organization invited us to give a keynote at their Fourth Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Bangkok, Thailand – and it is this type of visibility which sparks global awareness yielding economic opportunities for our community of young Chefs.”

On visiting the Chefs In Africa website, people are introduced to the young aspiring Chefs, including Kwame Annom Amfo-Akonnor, 22, from Ghana.

The final year business administration student is a self-taught Chef, who developed a love and passion for food during his teens and who has the goal of owning a chain of fine dining restaurants.

“Growing up I used spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my mum, learning some tricks in culinary as an art.

“In my sophomore year at university, I decided to start the journey to fulfil my dreams by starting a small company Biishville, which provides pop-up dining and offers private Chef services and restaurant takeovers.”

Kwame hosts nomadic dining sessions once a month and offers a lot of private Chef services in homes and restaurants, he adds.

“Starting Biishville has been a great experience and the idea behind it is to bring people together to enjoy good food, network and basically revive the African way of families sitting together to eat which is becoming very difficult in the modern African home.”

The self-starter has created 21 recipes and has added interesting twists to existing recipes, incorporating the flavours from Africa to continental cuisines.

He is currently working on A Journey To – a project seeking to share the culture and heritage of four countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia and Ivory Coast) through food.

“Early this year in March I hosted the first event under this project – A Journey to Ghana, Road to Independence – which highlighted how food has played a role in the Gold Coast (Ghana) Road obtaining independence.

“Interesting twists were added to Ghanaian recipes and presented in a modern way.”

Kwame hopes to contribute to the future of African gastronomy by coming up with as many African recipes as possible and also, pushing the fine dining scene in Ghana and throughout the West African region.

Another young driven Chef, who is making use of the Chefs In Africa network is Linda Nirina Rojohasina Mazibuko.

Born in Madagascar and raised in South Africa, Chef Linda has always loved the arts.

Her love for culinary arts started in the gardens and fields of Madagascar where she would hunt for locusts to eat with traditional vary amini hanana (rice with spinach), she says.

“This love grew over time as I watched my mother chop and create all sorts of delicacies in the kitchen – I longed to be just like her, creative and meticulous.”

Chef Linda trained at a private college in Randburg, Johannesburg – HTA School of Culinary Arts in 2011 following university.

While Chef Linda did well at Chef school, she was told she would not succeed due to her tendency to boast crazy and funky hairstyles.

“My dad also began to struggle with paying my fees because his business went through a very rough patch during my two years at chef school. By the grace of God, I managed to make it through and finished strong, and I graduated in 2013.”

During school, Chef Linda was fortunate enough to have trained in five-star establishments such as Horn & Phillips (Catering), Pick n Pay on William Nicol (Retail), Thyme on Nicol, Palazzo Hotel (Restaurant) and The Saxon Boutique Hotel (Hotel), which was by far her favourite as she was trained by Chef David Higgs, a South African legend.

“He taught me the art of flavour combinations and fusions using molecular gastronomy.”

In 2015, Chef Linda was selected to go and work at the Kempinski Hotel in Qatar, Doha, where she mastered resilience and extended her culinary skills.

The following year, Chef Linda was selected to be a contestant on Top Chef South Africa, out of 104 Chefs – she finished in seventh place overall.

A stint in food styling followed, and Chef Linda styled the adverts for Whirlpool South Africa Sixth Sense Range in 2016.

Chef Linda loves exploring new cultures, their lifestyles and their flavours and she is not afraid to reinvent the traditional ways of cooking.

She believes African Cuisine is the next frontier in the culinary world.

“It’s about time the world begins to recognise what we are able to do, it’s about time that our African Chefs young and old are credited for their hard work.”

Empowering Africans in the culinary world is important to Chef Linda and she wants to develop systems that educate people in farming and agriculture, and develop curriculums enabling Chefs to study up to PhD level.

“I will contribute to globalising African gastronomy by conquering on my home ground first.

“I am going to explore all 11 South African tribes and their lifestyle and culinary traditions and then turn their meals into gourmet dishes fit for five star establishments…I am currently in the research phase of this venture that is why I am so interested in joining Chefs in Africa.

“My next step is going into Africa itself to learn more about the people and their culinary traditions in the land.”

To progress forward, we need to stake stock of the past, and Chefs In Africa pays homage to the “Pioneers” – Chefs from the four corners of the planet, who have reinvented African cuisine and promoted its gastronomy.

One such pioneer is Chef Selassie Atadika.

After over a decade spent engaged in humanitarian work, in some difficult parts of the world with various international organisations and years of self-teaching in the culinary arts, Chef Selassie completed course work at the Culinary Institute of America.  

A founding member of Trio Toque, the first nomadic restaurant in Dakar, Senegal, she brought her innovative approach to African cuisine back home in 2014, through Midunu.

Midunu is a nomadic dining concept in Ghana’s capital city Accra celebrating Africa’s culinary heritage, which Chef Selassie refers to as New African Cuisine.

It is a culinary lifestyle company with an eye towards celebrating Africa’s cultural and culinary heritage and its goal is to create experiences where culture, community and cuisine intersect, reminiscent of earlier times while creating new memories.  

Midunu selects local and seasonal ingredients along with some of the more traditional grains and proteins to translate Africa’s bounty to the table. 

It achieves this goal through nomadic events, special events, private dining, retail and lifestyle products and a bespoke event space.  

Chef Selassie has been featured on CNN African Voices; and mentioned in Vogue, National Geographic’s The Plate, Entrepreneur Magazine and Ebony.

Meanwhile, sticking with the idea education is key to expanding people’s knowledge and awareness of African cuisine and helping to make it enter the Western mainstream, Chef Dieuveil along with Professor and Brand Strategist Sissi Johnson co-created an African gastronomy MBA course in December 2017.

The course is part of the Luxury Brand Management programme at IFA Paris (International Fashion Academy), and it is the first of its kind in Europe and the world, Chef Dieuveil says.

“Food is art, food is culture, food is history, and food is political,” he says.   

“Our curriculum tackles the uncomfortable and the unknown about Africa – we address clichés, misinformation, research local eating habits, ingredients and recipes per region and cook together.”

And outside the classroom, branding African excellence is paramount to shifting the narrative, Chef Dieuveil continues.

“Through SelfSells agency, I have achieved an unprecedented level of global visibility which ultimately brings awareness to African gastronomy.”

However, the main “ingredient” to Chef Dieuveil’s success is the people he has been supported and inspired by, he says.

Visit HERE for more information about Chef Dieuveil and HERE to learn about Chefs In Africa.

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