Yommmilicious

Well, it finally happened. It took ten years, and it was only because my persistent sister-in-law Bunny never gave up. Let’s start at the beginning. Way back, I was interviewing for the position of Head Chef for Angama Mara when in strolled Collins Randiga (fondly known as Collo), as cool, calm and collected as can be. In short order, I asked him: 

'Have you cooked for well-travelled guests before?'
'Have you run a kitchen that is strictly à la carte?'
'Have you managed a team of 17 Chefs preparing three meals a day for 60 guests?'
'Have you heard of Ottolenghi?

The answer to all of these was a cheery 'no'.

I had OTTOLENGHI The Cookbook with me, showed Collo the pictures and asked if he could cook like that 'Of course' was the answer. Then he read the recipes and blanched, graciously admitting that he had never heard of za’atar, sumac, pomegranates, preserved lemons, tamarind, miso, and black garlic, to name but a few.  

And so began the grand (one-sided) love affair between the Angama kitchen and Chef O. To our all-Kenyan kitchen team, Ottolenghi is the only Chef outside Angama that matters.

Our website promises that our guests will enjoy ‘classical safari food’, simple yet delicious, fresh and filling, with more than a nod to local Kenyan cuisine (and a bit of Yotam Ottolenghi). And we have stayed true to that promise to this day.  

A few years ago, after dining at Nopi in London, I returned bearing the handsome Nopi recipe book. I challenged the chefs to choose any recipe from the book, and we would have a competition. The pristine Nopi cookbook took on a truly well-worn, scruffy and smudged character in no time at all. You can read all about it here. Looking back, I must admit that not only was I a judge and contestant, but I also think I declared myself the winner, along with my cooking partner, Chef Elias. Disgraceful.  

Rolling forward to late September, I had the immense joy of meeting Yotam in his lovely new Richmond deli. I don’t think I breathed for the full 90 minutes I spent with him. The experience was a 'pinch-me, is this real?' kind of magic. I thanked him for the confidence and joy he has unwittingly brought into our kitchens and onto our guests’ plates. I couldn’t resist presenting him with a signed copy of our Angama cookbook, courtesy of the Chefs. What irony, I am sure he needs another cookbook like a hole in the head. But true to his reputation, he was charming, warm and oh so self-effacing.  

If you receive Ottolenghi’s newsletter, you would have seen this – if not, please read it. Here, Yotam celebrates a 45,000-strong Facebook group of devotees called The Ottolenghi-inspired Cooking Housewives. To quote YO in this newsletter:  What I love most is the spirit of it: encouragement, curiosity, and people cooking something good and wanting to share it. The members look after the space, too - no adverts, no self-promotion, just generosity and respect. So this is a note of gratitude to all the members - the cooks, the students, the retirees, the busy parents sneaking in a tray of tahini brownies before school pick-up. To everyone who has joined this group and kept it kind, generous, and delicious. You've built something I could never have imagined. 

This pretty much says it all about a remarkable man whose philosophy of ‘Simply put, we are very serious about making people happy through our food’ inspires us to do the same each day for our guests.