Recipe for Àkàrà & Africana on US National Radio with The Splendid Table

Listen to this joyous interview with Francis Lam & cook this West African black eyed bean/pea treat turned transatlantic wonder

May 16, 2023

Welcome to COOK WITH LERATO! My letters to you with ravishing recipes, stories & a good dose of African magic. Subscribe to travel with me one delicious dish at a time.

I BRING YOU GREAT NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND, WITH THE PROMISE OF SUNSHINE ON YOUR PLATES.

Welcome to our new members, many of whom have popped in after listening to my interview, which was broadcast across the airwaves in the U.S. and also online across your favourite channels. Africana was chosen as one of the top cookbooks this spring on The Splendid Table, and I was interviewed by Francis Lam, the former Eat Columnist at The New York Times Magazine and judge on Bravo’s hit show, Top Chef Masters.

Celebrating the spring cookbooks of 2023 with Lara Lee, Niki Segnit & myself

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…all that sharing is only worth doing if people are really going to cook the food!

We discuss why I identify as African and how it has shaped me as a writer. We dispel some myths about Modern African cooking and discuss iconic foods and recipes like Àkàrà and black-eyed beans that travelled with our enslaved ancestors to influence world cooking from the U.S. to the Caribbean and beyond.

COOK THE RECIPE

LISTEN HERE

Listen to our interview via the link below, where I come in at 35 minutes into the conversation. can do so with the link below. I hope you enjoy our chat, my cackling, and afterwards or even while listening, I hope you enjoy my recipe for Akàrà with Ginger & Spring Onions from Africana.

Don’t miss what’s to come!

Africana Extra - A new series where I share exciting book news, variations of your favourite recipes from Africana and new recipes in development. In the first of the series, I’ll be sharing a new Brazilian-inspired recipe for Àkàrà exclusively for paid members.

Previous posts to catch up on

Allow me to re-introduce myself

Lerato Umah-Shaylor

March 1, 2023

SINCE YOU ARE HERE, YOU MUST LOVE FOOD TOO! Cooking it, eating it or both. You may have just acquired a copy of my cookbook Africana, read or heard about it, or we may have met on my book tour. You may have seen me on live television feeding a spice girl

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