In The Kitchen With Abigail Mbalo

This MasterChef SA competitor and former dental technologist is one inspiring woman. At her Khayelitsha restaurant, 4Roomed eKasi Culture, she’s making a strong case for connecting South Africans through food

When I was a kid, I was the problem child. I didn’t want to eat, but I loved being around my mom in the kitchen. In the house where we grew up – a shared four-roomed house in Gugulethu – there was always lots of cooking. When we ate, everyone sat together, the kids on the floor. That’s the memory that made me embrace food.

I was the last born, so I never cooked until I was at varsity and lived on my own. In my second year, my mom died. Most of the dishes I made were influenced by what she cooked. My favourite was similar to jollof rice. For slow-cooked foods, like samp and umnqusho, she would start the pot on the gas, take it offand cover it with blankets to continue cooking.

I loved working as a dental technologist. But on weekends I enjoyed visiting markets, finding interesting ingredients and developing recipes. My husband and kids would have to taste everything!

When MasterChef SA started, my husband and the boys said, “We’re done being your guinea pigs.” They pestered me to enter until I thought, okay, just to get them offmy back, I’ll do this thing. I didn’t think I’d go very far.

When I made it to the top 36, it dawned on me that to stay in the competition, I had to have a real purpose. So my purpose became to use food as a tool to make a difference in the township space.

By the time I completed my studies, I was already out of the township. For many young black professionals, a degree is a ticket out of the ‘hood. But what we don’t realise is that by moving out, we actually deprive the township economy. My husband and I knew in the back of our minds that we were not playing our part.

While MasterChef was still airing, we decided to start something in the township.