Stock Of Ages

Since embarking on a plant-based food pilgrimage to the country of her birth, British Sierra-Leonean chef Betty Vandy has been reminded of her mother’s love with every bite

- Bianca Strydom

Cooking and sharing food is my personal love language, and preparing African food is a deeply gratifying and nurturing process, passed down by the now-late women elders of my family, who guarded their kitchen time together fiercely. As a child, young teen, an adult, the family kitchen was always much more than just a space to cook; rather, a place to gather among my aunties and cousins, listening to their grown-folk, unabridged conversations and debates over the peeling and chopping of Spanish onions, slicing of freshly washed imported sweet potato leaves, and making of aromatic, bubbling, hearty green stews in large, well-seasoned cast-iron pots. Each stage a ritual integral to the cooking and completion of the meal and its sharing.

My mother is a mindful cook. Without writing anything down, she knows to judge by eye, taste, and timings. Only when I left home did I truly appreciate her traditional culinary skills and longed for her comforting Sierra Leonean home cooking. Leaving home and moving to London as a young adult was exciting, but navigating my way through a new life also had its challenges. All Mum had to say during our checking-in phone calls was, “Come home this weekend, rest, I’ll cook your favourite groundnut soup.”