Bathandwa Nkambule is a South African cook from Kwazulu Natal. After having followed her path & cooking for a long time, we decided to let her tell her own story as to inspire with realism. Here is Bathandwa:
"I best describe myself as a food enthusiast with a passion and
love for cooking and bringing people closer to real, good food through creative
food experiences. My love for
cooking started when I became vegan as I then learned to be more adventurous and
discover different ingredients and try new flavour combinations. This sensation
brought out the creativity in me, a certain glow and feeling of artistic
release.
I found a new way to indulge on my creative side and I never imagined
that food could be art and love at the same time. The ingredients are the tools,
the plate is the canvas, YOU ARE THE ARTIST and you can create a masterpiece
through flavours & plating. I made a promise to myself to be more artistic in
the kitchen and introduce to others this new found love and to try show people that
food is beyond TV dinners, microwavable meals and fast food treats. That real
food is an experience, sustenance, nutritious journey and sensation that
hits at your senses from all angles.
The unfortunate part is that I let fear play a huge role in my decisions for a while when it came to my cooking. I remember allowing myself to be swayed into choosing the safer side in terms of a career and only take up cooking as a hobby. The thing is that we let ourselves fall victim to other people’s opinions and we then start painting all these negative scenarios and begin to doubt ourselves. I started sinking into depressive states and developing unhealthy habits because I was unhappy and I was letting my passion die and slowly I began to lose the will to want to actually live.
This one time a
friend asked me to cater for her event and I refused because I had convinced
myself that I’m not good enough since I had no formal training, hadn’t studied
in the culinary field or had any experience in a restaurant surrounding. I
participated in my own downfall for a while but something woke me up after some
time. I was making a dish and kept thinking of new ways to jazz it up and tried
new ingredients and made a simple vegetable flan, took a picture, posted it and
people kept asking how I created it. I started uploading more pictures, created
a page and sharing recipes which eventually led to freelancing at events and
guesthouses since people found my visuals on social media. I felt alive again! In a big way food rescued me.
I was grateful that I was getting booked to cater at peoples events, I felt like my passion was visible but I wanted more. I wanted to cook more unique dishes, to challenge myself, to play a role in the food scene, to create dining experiences that will excite people, to give foodies something to look forward to.
So I decided to create my own brand called "Once Bitten" with one of the
objectives being a venture into Pop up Restaurants as that would allow me
the freedom to explore more and let creativity to reign supreme. Every month I host
a pop up restaurant called 'Dress Up and Dine Sundays' where we have a different
theme and we get to dress up according to the theme, play music that is
strictly according to the theme and I get to create a two course meal that
reflects the theme and people who attend get a free mixtape with music from the
theme.
I didn’t want to
do anything safe anymore when it comes to food and I didn’t want to stay
comfortable and limit my abilities. I wanted to stretch my mind to all food avenues
and I wanted to prove to myself that whatever idea I have the power to think
of, I have the power to manifest.
I started my own blog called Once Bitten where
I have photo tutorials demonstrating how to transform simple ingredients into a
marvel. Not only did I start developing my own recipes I started creating menus
for different businesses and started free-lance editing for a well-known
magazine.
I recently began
collaborating with other young entrepreneurs and work together to host events
that involve food and music because I believe that we are all (as entrepreneurs)
meant to grow, support and feed each other.
While trying to make a name for myself I’ve come across some difficult situations. I recently auditioned for a cooking competition and it looked very promising, as I had progressed through each round of the audition phase. On the last phase of the auditions, the production company asked me whether I was willing to become a vegetarian and eat vegetarian food for the duration of the show, instead of being vegan. It was heart breaking to be asked to sell out on my beliefs in order to fulfill my dreams. I declined the offer because I believe what is meant for me would never require me to go against who I am and what I believe in.
That is what we need to realise when it comes to having an ambition, to set your limits and know your limits. Don’t rush your process to the point where you become desperate and fixated on the end goal and yearning to achieve so badly that you lose yourself to it. Trust in your work and know that what is for your will come your way the more you keep working honestly at it. The business industry stresses success a lot and forgets to highlight the importance of defining your own success. Doing what you love unapologetically and being satisfied with your work while inspired to do more – for me that is success.
Define your own
success so that you don’t chase others' ideas of what success is. The journey will be much more meaningful."
Thank you for your amazing food & inspiration, Bathandwa! We believe that your natural & balanced approach will bring many great things while we keep feasting on your heavenly creations!
Click the links to view Bathandwa's blog & pages:
https://www.facebook.com/Once-Bitten-1484906748482986/
www.once192.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/bathandwa.nkambule.1
#food #africanfood #africa #SouthAfrica #cooking #kitchen
Very very nice!
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