Cola Kagoro went from dishwasher to head chef, and was executive chef for an all-woman anti-poaching team in Zimbabwe. Here is how she cooks an African-inspired veggie soul food platter.
Throughout October, Brut and EAT Foundation are sharing examples of the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet from around the world.
Throughout October, Brut and EAT Foundation are sharing examples of the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet from around the world.
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00:00There's this connotation in Africa that meat equals wealth. I don't believe that.
00:04Our ancestors, yes, they did eat meat to celebrate the birth of a child, to bring in the rain.
00:10We ate meat for a reason. That is why I like to say I am going back to my roots,
00:15soul food style, of course.
00:22About five years ago, I used to work for the Akashinga Rangers. The world only
00:27armed female vegan rangers. They actually go out into the bush and they protect the animals.
00:33My job was to be the executive chef. This was actually one of the dishes that they loved,
00:37and we ate every single day.
00:57So this dish is all about the planetary health diet, something that everyone on the planet can
01:07attain, and they're sustainable and affordable. With a little bit of soul food. So I want to show
01:12you what ingredients you need to use. We have our tomatoes, onion, cauliflower, carrots, beans,
01:18and broccoli. Have some baby marrows, butternut and sugar beans, peanut butter, baby spinach,
01:23a mixture of different spices. We have some water and oil, and one of our key ingredients
01:29is our Samp. Your mixture of Samp is what we're going to get most of our protein from,
01:34and it's also filling.
01:53Samp takes a really long time to cook, so if you're planning on having it for a meal,
02:00you need to plan in advance. Don't be afraid to reduce your heat. You don't want to just
02:05sear your food, smelling the food, and just not burning the food. You don't... All right,
02:11so speaking of burning, when it comes to plant-based diets, a lot of people shy away
02:17sometimes because they think that there's a lack of protein, and that's actually not true.
02:21In the African culture, it's very family-style elements of eating, especially when it comes
02:27to kids. So sometimes you get that one kid who doesn't like to eat, so what the parents
02:32would do, they literally serve the kids on one plate, and everyone has to eat because
02:38it brings people together. Look how colorful this plate is. This is yummy, guys. I'm talking
02:43about recipes that represent my culture, my African culture. I'm talking about recipes
02:49that are sustainable, that are filling, that my indigenous ancestors used to eat,
02:54and things that we highly enjoy. So that's what I'm talking about.