A doubly delicious cookbook to savour
Food Stories is a tasteful memoir
Mamelodi-born culinary duo Lebo and Tebo Ndala’s cookbook is a heartwarming glimpse into their lives. The book, titled Food Stories: Our favourite recipes, with love from the twins, boasts anecdotes from their lives. Each chapter and the recipes in it reflects a period in their lives.
The duo, who are twins, received their culinary qualifications from The Hurst School in Stellenbosch and have lived and worked in the US and Cape Town and travelled to countries such as Thailand. Those culinary experiences are reflected in the book too.
The first chapter is called Koko’s Kitchen. The twins say they have lived with their grandmother their entire lives and learnt how to cook in her kitchen. They also say her ting [fermented sour porridge] is the best they’ve ever tasted. This chapter explores easy-to-make recipes such as herb butter grilled corn.
The recipe book is infused with the chefs’ many memories and you, the reader, get to taste them. The SevenColour Sundays recipe is one they love to create.
“Definitely, our sevencolour Sunday lunches! We love to cook as a family on Sundays and experiment with a variety of foods. This is a tradition we will definitely pass down to our children one day,” they have said.
The book also has “South African American” dishes, which is their take on American dishes with a South African twist.
The Ndala twins even throw their hat in on the ongoing Jollof wars by introducing a South Africanbaked Jollof rice with chicken that I’m sure will provide some great dinner conversations with West African guests. This recipe was inspired by Lebo’s stay with a Nigerian family who lived in the US.
The cook book is the latest venture in their culinary journey – the twins also have a pop-up restaurant concept called With Love From The Twins. They host friends, family and paying patrons to intimate dinner experiences.
Most chefs are asked what their favourite food memory is at some point in their careers and the Ndala twins have answered with an easyto-use cookbook that leaves you feeling closer to the two.
The book is a great talking point that manages to give you a taste of their food traditions while inspiring you to approach your own in a refreshing way.
A chapter of the book is dedicated to all things involving tea. The twins love the health benefits of rooibos tea and talk about how visitors to their house are offered tea, no matter the weather.
There’s an apple, mint and green tea sorbet recipe you should look out for and a refreshing lemon green tea mojito as well as a cranberry and wild cherry gammon with rooibos glaze that will be perfect for the Christmas lunch.
The twins have provided two recipes for you to try at home.