The Art Of Healing

After taking a break from the Jozi pace, Khanya Mzongwana is back with her own e-book, Sh*t’s Real, Let’s Heal. Created in lockdown, it takes the mission out of meal planning and celebrates cooking good food as the ultimate act of self-care

- Ilana Sharlin Stone

On the surface it may seem that Khanya Mzongwana has broken a Guinness World Record for the fastest cookbook ever written – her new self-published e-book, called Sh*t’s Real, Let’s Heal, was a two-week lockdown project. But most of the bright and comforting recipes in the book have, in fact, been simmering for quite some time.

For years, Khanya has pushed boundaries as a creative recipe developer and stylist with her signature vibrant, healthy-ish dishes, from Xhosa classics to flavour-intense, modern mash-ups, while juggling a career as a chef, event planner and brand ambassador. In late 2019, after several intense years of running pop-up dining events in Pretoria and Johannesburg, Khanya moved back to her mom’s home in Port Elizabeth. She was recovering from a low point in her long battle with chronic depression and needed the safety, stability and love of home.

Then came the global pandemic. Khanya’s cookbook was the outcome of an early lockdown lightbulb moment that came while she was addressing the urgent need to earn income over the uncertain months ahead. Early in the process, it became clear that this was also a blessed period of creative revitalisation. Working with friend and graphic designer Willow Tucker, Khanya put together a collection of 30 dishes that pop: pulling concepts and images from her Instagram feed (@undignifiedza) and packaging them into no-stress recipes, accompanied by her funny and 100% judgment-free prose.