NEW: Ask me anything!
Got a burning question for me? About food, travel, the weather, my lipstick, you name it!
Welcome to COOK WITH LERATO! Letters for you with ravishing recipes, stories & a good dose of African magic. This is the free newsletter for all, subscribers & paid members. If you haven’t joined our community, what are you waiting for? Click below to subscribe or upgrade.
Ask me anything!
Do you have a burning question for me? Perhaps about plantains or peppers, that irresistible Smoky tomato & date jam from my cookbook or the one you saw in a newspaper or magazine. You might have a question about why my dog’s hair is so shiny. Yes, he has hair! Questions about what to cook, what to do with leftovers, over ripe plantains, the weather in Sussex, London, Ghana or wherever you think I might be at any given moment. In our new weekly ASK ME ANYTHING open thread I will share a letter like this one, with a story or a prompt, and you can ask me anything in the comments. As many questions as possible will be answered weekly, via the newsletter, with priority given to questions from our paid club members. I love receiving your messages, and I thank you for taking the time to send them. Sometimes I am able to answer immediately, sometimes it takes me a week or even months later. Believe me when I say, I dream about your questions and those left unanswered haunt me. I wish I could answer them all, but it can be a lot, with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter now Threads, oh there's Tiktok which I only remember when someone asks “are you on Tiktok?” Readers and cooks in our community send me questions via email, social media posts and direct messages, and I believe a lot of the answers and conversations between us will be most beneficial if shared with the majority.
A question about fresh versus frozen fruit for my Strawberry & Scotch Bonnet Jam with Nigella Seeds recipe from The Guardian?
Thankfully our team is growing, and it’s no longer me, there is a real ‘we’ keeping the wheels turning to make sure this dream is brought to life. However, I love personally answering as many of your questions as I can. I love getting stuck in with my cooks and readers, but I need a better way for us to do it without all the distractions of social media. Somewhere we can learn and share, together.
Several pressing questions have been on my mind for years.
How can I communicate with you more efficiently and effectively? This newsletter is one of the answers to that, and I am thrilled you are here reading this now.
How can you communicate with me, how can we communicate with each other more efficiently? By sharing your questions here! Your questions, my answers and your answers to the questions of others in our community will help us thrive.
Sound good?
Now, ask me anything!
I’ll go first by asking you something deliciously controversial as seen below. It’s a British thing. Sort of similar to the Nigerian and Ghanaian Jollof wars. The scandal! Enjoy.
AFRICANA ~ Treasured recipes & stories from across the continent by HQ, HarperCollins (UK) & Amistad (USA)
AFRICANA - The modern classic book on African Cookery.
This is inspiring writing that works! - Jamie Oliver
Telegraph's Best Books of Autumn 2022 - The Telegraph
"There isn't a recipe I don't want to cook." - Diana Henry
"An outstanding new book. Lerato is a genius with flavour" - Delicious Magazine
Thank you for your reviews!
Many of you have cooked the book and shared your creations online. Many of you have also left heartwarming 5 star reviews. Thank you for spending a few minutes. Your kind words are important and appreciated. They contribute substantially to the success of Africana and ensure more people enjoy the wonders of the African continent. I would be grateful if you shared your experience of reading and cooking the book by leaving a five-star review. You can also leave a review on your local stores.
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Hi Lerato! I'm new here but wondering about peppers. As someone who loves the various tastes of peppers but struggles with the heat, what do you recommend for me to incorporate them into cooking while not killing my tongue?