Chef Mokgadi Itsweng is decided to disprove the delusion that healthful meals is pricey whilst showcasing indigenous South African elements and plant-forward dishes.
Itsweng – a protégé of the late, brilliant Dorah Sithole – has almost 20 years of journey in the neighborhood culinary enterprise as a chef, meals writer, posted author, entrepreneur, and activist.
According to Nwz reported that, she’s also one of the headline chefs at The Plant Powered Show, which takes place in Cape Town at the end of May as both a physical and online event, which will allow visitors from other parts of South Africa, the African continent and the rest of the world to join in.
Itsweng was also one of the guest chefs on the recently screened MasterChef SA, where she had the finalists cooking with indigenous ingredients such as foxtail millet, whole grain sorghum and Bambara groundnut.
“My MasterChef SA experience was incredible, and it was a wonderful opportunity to put indigenous ingredients on the map on a big stage. Many of the young chefs competing had never used some of the ingredients, yet their creative minds came up with fantastic dishes,” she said of her experience,
She will be reuniting at The Plant Powered Show with two of this year’s MasterChef SA top three, Andriette de la Harpe and Tarryn de Kock.
The trio will be highlighting indigenous ingredients at the expo and explaining how home cooks can make the best use of them in their kitchens.
‘A guide to adding delicious plants to your plate’
Last year Chef Mokgadi published her debut cookbook Veggielicious, highlighting plant-forward recipes from the tshemo (garden) of her dreams.
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“The book is basically a guide to adding delicious plants to your plate and demonstrates how easy it is to create amazing plant-inspired meals. Most of the ingredients in the recipes are affordable, easily accessible, and items you should have in your kitchen or at your local supermarket,” she explains.
So why is Itsweng such a vocal activist for a plant-forward food culture?
“I promote planetary health, which considers the health of humans and the environment. A plant-forward lifestyle confers both improved health and environmental benefits, so that’s a win-win situation for me.
