Big News & 2023 Update
Jamie Oliver loves Africana & So do you!
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AKWAABA!
A big welcome to thousands of you, who have recently joined our community!
Akwaaba, meaning “welcome” in the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana, is a prominent sign at the airport once you arrive in the city of Accra. I have been excited to see that sign since I started visiting Ghana over 15 years ago. And this year, I have enjoyed this privilege twice. First in March, when I arrived for our very first cookery retreat, and just recently in April when I returned to plan more retreats. Now I am back home in Sussex and reflecting on what a fantastic year it has been so far, with so much I need to share with you. We feasted on the lushest of produce and wondrous spices at an organic farm in Devon. Africana was included in The Observer Food Monthly Best in Food list and my Suya Roasted Cauliflower was pronounced one of its 20 best recipes. I was invited to become a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet (3 episodes recorded so far) with the inimitable Jay Rayner before I zipped off to Morocco and planned our first North African cookery retreat. While doing all these, our community has grown larger and stronger and I am so blessed to have you all here. Upon my return from our inaugural retreat in Ghana, my next event was an Africana feast in Cornwall, Southwest England at one of my favourite hotels, Watergate Bay Hotel. While sitting by the fire in my beach-facing loft, a message dropped in from Jamie Oliver.
Watch Jamie’s introduction & review of Africana.
Africana as Jamie Oliver’s Cookbook of the Month of April
I knew he had chosen my book as the Cookbook of the Month for his over 60,000-member strong book club. But I was not expecting an announcement that day, and so I was in full hibernation mode after quite the feast hosting over 40 guests at the Beach Hut restaurant, with the stellar team at Watergate Bay. With such an amazing introduction and review from the man himself, we began a month-long adventure of cooking Africana that I could have never anticipated would be such a success. The amazing members of the club started cooking the book, and boy, did YOU cook! Many are now here as part of our community. Welcome!!! I was absolutely blown away by your incredible photos & adventures while you cooked through AFRICANA 📕. You have not only been so supportive, sharing your photos, and guiding one another, but also so inspiring, going beyond my pairing suggestions and making my recipes part of your repertoire, often alongside many other cuisines. This was my great dream for the diverse recipes and personal stories in Africana, that you would embrace, and enjoy them, wholeheartedly bringing the magic and flavours of the continent to your own kitchen. It was also eye-opening reading from those who previously had no knowledge and in some cases no interest at all in recipes from Africa, yet felt compelled and inspired to cook with us. What a wonderful group of people and one of the most memorable and enriching experiences I have enjoyed. I didn’t want it to stop, and so I have decided to start something rather exciting to keep the momentum. More to come.
Did you join me on any of our feasts this year? Cooking my recipes is included! haha
Recipes for Royalty
I love Waitrose as a customer and reader of their publications. It is uncanny that I was interviewed for this Coronation Special feature while in Ghana this March, and it came out a month after, while I was back in Ghana in April. You can read my ideas for recipes fit for royalty, all from Africana. Recipes for you, of course!
What’s to come!
In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting prompts for us to share what we are cooking, eating or any inspiration from our daily lives, travels, pets etc. And I have an amazing cook-a-long series that has been in the works for over a year. I’ll share more soon. I am also rounding up new dates for our cookery retreats and will share those with our paid members and those on the waiting list first. We have so much to discuss, so much to cook and enjoy together. I cannot wait to share more of what’s to come.
Now I just have to pack for my weekend in London. See you soon!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
PUB IN THE PARK
Wimbledon, Bath, Brighton (May, June, July)
I am thrilled to announce that I’ll be cooking live at Tom Kerridge’s Pub in the Park, the biggest food and music festival in the UK, and with legends like Ainsley Harriott! I’ll be in Wimbledon in London on Sat, 13th May 2023, in Bath this June and in Brighton in July. I hope to see you in London, as I’ll be cooking at 1 pm & 7.30 pm on the Chef’s demo stage. If you will be attending, drop me a line via email or Instagram and I will try to say hello. Once we know my schedule in the other cities, I will share that with you. See you!
Africana was published in the UK in September 2022 and is available online and in bookstores across the world. I am thrilled to announce that the American version is out and published by Amistad, HarperCollins.
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Amazing Lerato!!!
Such amazing news!! Congratulations on all the recent wins!! Rooting for you + Africana 💗✨