The Root: 54 Countries And Cuisine In The Thousands

Nky Iweka a.k.a. ‘The Executive Mama Put’ has spent almost a decade redefining Nigerian food and challenging the way in which Nigerian food is cooked and presented.

She opened her first restaurant, Pitanga, two years ago. Situated in West Kensington in London, U.K., it bills itself as offering “Nigerian Food With a Twist”. Serving traditional fare such as Egusi and Okro as well as inventions of hers using Nigerian ingredients in new ways such as her signature Jollof Balls and Prawn Akara. Pitanga boasts an eclectic client base and is fast becoming a destination restaurant for Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike.

“One of my biggest joys is looking around the restaurant and seeing people of various ethnicities eating Nigerian food. I show them how to eat with their hands. It’s part of the Pitanga Experience. Our open-plan kitchen means we can quickly respond to customer needs. My teenage dream is eventually coming true! The next step is to spread the Pitanga Experience.”

A mother of two, she started off her professional career as a management consultant at Unisys and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was lucky enough to eat her way round the world (in addition to working in Finance Transformation for Blue-chip Companies, mostly in the Telecoms Sector).

“Worldwide, chefs are constantly reinventing their national dishes and creating truly beautiful masterpieces, worthy of any artist. I wanted the same for our food”.

Her first book, ‘Quintessentially Efik Recipes’ which showcases the dishes and culture of the Efik people of Southern Nigeria was published in 2014. Other books on Nigerian cuisine and her culinary adventures are in the pipeline.

Key Media & Appearances
● ‘Where’s My African Takeaway?’ BBC Food Chain (Nov 2017)
● Guest Chef, Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, UAE (Apr 2016)
● Annual Igbo Conference: Panel Speaker (Ap 2014 & Featured Speaker Apr 2016)
● ‘Nigerian Food Pops up in London’, BBC (Dec 2015)
● CRBC, Nigeria (Sept 2015)

Chef Oumar Diouf was born in Senegal. He got his start cooking at age 13, when his father passed away. He helped his mother out in the kitchen until he went to college. After college, he headed to Argentina to pursue a career in soccer. When an injury sidelined his career, Diouf decided to attend culinary school. He went on to own restaurants in Argentina — his first was selling pizza and empanadas — then moved to Brazil, where he worked in hotels and catering businesses. In his journey after culinary school, Oumar has worked with and led many different teams in several restaurants in Argentina, Brazil, and the United States ranging from casual dining to luxury fine dining.

During the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Oumar proudly led a kitchen team in charge of cooking for five Houses: the NBA House, Australian Olympic Center, New Balance’s House, Casa Cartan and Casa Time Brazil. The daily number of guests to serve exceeded five thousand people.

During his time in Brazil, Oumar was struck by the similarities between Brazilian cuisine and the food he ate growing up. “In Bahia, which is the north of Brazil … about 80 percent of their food was actually brought by slaves 500 years ago,” Oumar said. “So those cooking style techniques, even the names are very close from Africa — especially West Africa.”

Those similarities, along with an Anthony Bourdain episode about the Bahia region, inspired Oumar to pursue an Afro-Brazilian style of cooking. In 2016, Oumar moved to the Bay Area, and started a catering company called Afro-Brazilian Cuisine (ABC). In addition to ABC, Oumar also owns and cooks at the Damel, an Afro-Brazilian restaurant in Oakland. The name Damel was the title given to the king of Wolof Kingdom of Cayor which was located in modern day Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

At The Damel, Oumar set out to tell his story through cuisine, the menu reflecting his lived experience in Senegal, Argentina, and Brazil. Above all, Oumar’s goal is to demonstrate the influence of African cuisine — not just in Brazil, but all over the world.

“A lot of dance has African background, a lot of fashion has African background, but food, too, has an African background,” Oumar said. “And that’s what I want to stand for — to try to take back what’s from us and have people that want to find more about their ancestors … eating the same food their ancestors brought from Africa to here.” Oumar uses the best local ingredients to create a fusion between traditional culinary and global cooking.

Andria Barrett is President of the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce. She is also a nutritionist and pre-diabetes food & wellness expert.

She believes there is a direct correlation between the food we eat and the way we look and feel. Daughter of a Diabetic, she has first hand experience about the impact of high blood sugar on the body. She works with people diagnosed with pre-diabetes and who need to lose weight. By educating her clients on the power of real food and reinforcing the importance of simple lifestyle changes, her clients experience less complications related to their disease and enjoy a higher quality of life.

Andria is also a Consultant with the Diversity Business Network and is the CEO of The Diversity Agency.

Yasser Bagersh is a Humanist. Culturalist. Advocate.

He is involved in multiple sectors in Ethiopia and runs the largest communication network in the country. Through his work in this sector, he has transformed and led the industry in Ethiopia. Yasser Bagersh also runs one of the biggest catering companies in Ethiopia which produces over 10,000 meals a day for the employees of major corporations around the country. In food, he has explored both western and Ethiopian cuisines. His cooking classes are sold out months in advance, especially in traditional food. In the arts, he has curated multiple contemporary art spaces and continues to be a driving force in the artistic community. He volunteers regularly at Our Father’s Kitchen a community kitchen he founded 10 years ago, which on a daily basis, feeds 300 children who are living under severely challenging and underprivileged circumstances. Bagersh also caters for some of the most prestigious venues in Ethiopia and his restaurant, Lime Tree is one of the top restaurants in Ethiopia. He has cooked for heads of states and celebrities including the Pulitzer family, Brad Pitt and Candace Bergen. He is also an expert in Ethiopian spices consulting for Unilever and Nestle in developing seasonings for the Ethiopian market.

In communication…

Bagersh has been heavily involved in the growth of the communication and advertisement industry in Ethiopia. He currently runs the largest communication network in Ethiopia including Cactus Communication which is a creative and strategy agency handling some of the most exciting accounts in Ethiopia ranging from Coke, Unilever and Heineken to MasterCard Foundation, UNDP and the Ethiopian Government. Prologue – Burson, Cohn & Wolfe is the top events and public relations companies in Ethiopia the biggest launches and events in the country. Omnimedia is a content-creation company that produces radio and TV shows as well as publications. Finally, Way Marketing, is one of the most important communication agencies in Ethiopia focusing on experiential marketing. With 11 offices around the country and over 250 full time staff it boasts the largest nationwide network in the country.

In the arts…

Bagersh is an avid art collector. He annually organizes the Big Art Sale taking place in the Hilton Hotel which is the single biggest contemporary arts event in Addis Ababa – over 150 artists sell their work to thousands of art collectors.

Bagersh annually produces the Art Tour with multiple embassies. Last year the art tour took place, in addition to his own residence, at the French Embassy, the Belgian Embassy, the Germany embassy and the Jubilee Palace hosted by the president of Ethiopia.

Bagersh produces the annual prestigious Bag Show at the Sheraton launching the newest line of bags of the top bag designers in Ethiopia. He also produces the Ballet Gala at the National Theatre. Both events are fundraisers.

Bagersh curated several art shows and spaces in the last 20 years. His most recent work was curating the USAID art collection.

Bagersh also launched the Design Master Class flying in some of the most prolific figures in design to speak on different aspects of design and fashion.

In theatre and arts-in-education (past career)….

Worked in children’s theatre in Houston, Texas. The theatre he founded in 1991, Express Theatre, performs to over 75,000 children annually in Texas and beyond. Express Theatre is the winner of 2 Austin Circle of Drama Awards, 3 B. Iden Payne awards for Children’s Theatre, and garnered the cover story on Stage Directions magazine. Express Theatre produces the annual Children’s Hilltop Festival at Miller Theatre. It was named the 2010 Best Theatre Production for Children by Houston Press.

Bagersh was on the theatre panels and/or boards for many organizations in the US including the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County (now called Houston Arts Alliance), Business Volunteers for the Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Bagersh has penned over ten theatre productions and directed over thirty productions for children. As a performer, he toured professionally in the US and beyond in musicals and plays.

Bagersh ran numerous workshops for teachers and students in the area of theatre, multi-culturalism, media literacy, performance arts and incorporating the arts in education.

He has been recognized by multiple figures for his accomplishments in the arts in the US including President Bill Clinton, Governor George W. Bush. In addition, he received a proclamation (Yasser Bagersh Day) from the Mayor of Houston for his work with children.

Most Current Articles on Yasser Bagersh

https://www.capitalethiopia.com/interview/no-looking-back/

Tiyan Alile is the current President of The Culinary Arts Practitioners Association in Nigeria, the founder and promoter of Culinary Academy and the Chef Patron of Tarragon, an experiential dining room and wine club. Her objective is to change and improve the standard of Culinary Arts Education and Culinary awareness globally and she has successfully trained and mentored over a thousand students. She left her corporate law practice and founded the Culinary Academy Nigeria in 2012, after studying Advanced Culinary Arts at L’Academie de Cuisine in the United States.

She birthed her brain Child- The African Young Chefs’ Competition in 2016, which is a Pan African annual event giving Young African Chefs a platform to express their skill and creativity as well as a platform of learning and capacity building. Tiyan is also a proud member of the World Chef Global Connect, a unifying platform for the promotion of culinary education and mentorship.

Tiyan Led Nigeria as Chef Mentor in 2015 to participate in the Young Chef Olympiad competition in India Her Restaurant Tarragon received in Belfast and Russia the prestigious World Luxury Restaurant Awards for Fine Dining and Food Styling and Presentation for West Africa and Nigeria (2018) and Tiyan was named Best Head Chef West & Central Africa (2019) by the World Luxury Restaurants Awards. She has been instrumental in the opening and operation of several other successful restaurants in Lagos, Benin & Abuja.

Tiyan has been involved in planning a number of events in the hospitality space and delivering masterclasses to thousands of attendees at several food fairs including the Fiesta of Flavours Food Fairs, Tiyan was the Pioneer curator for Masterclasses at the GTBank Food and Drink Fair, She participated at the Mzansi Culinary Festival (South Africa) and taught a Culinary masterclass at the Central Johannesburg College.

Tiyan has been featured as a Forbes Africa Woman, on the BBC, CNBC Entrepreneur of the week, in CuisineNoir. She recently published her first cookbook, “Tale in a Pie” and is currently working on her second book, when Tiyan is not stirring a pot or penning her thoughts she can be found in silence practicing yoga, tapping her feet to jazz, doing humanitarian work with the Rotary Club or scoring a hole in one on the golf course.