Sibalicious! An interview with Siba Mtongana

Siba Mtongana, host of Food Network’s Siba’s Table and mother of Lonwabo, nearly 3 and Linamandla, 7 months, cooks up simple food with a dash of va-va-voom. By Nia Magoulianiti-McGregor

Celebrity TV chef Siba Mtongana adds a secret ingredient to every dish she makes. She says it’s called the ‘wow-factor’.

‘I enjoy making simple, easy African food but I like to include some va-va-voom!’

Sibahle, known affectionately as Siba, also has a wow-factor. Her energy sizzles. So much so that her show Siba’s Table, which debuted in September 2013, is watched in over 128 countries (including SA), in 60 million US homes on The Cooking Channel and is now topping the charts in Poland and Russia.

‘I was drawn to cooking from a young age. It came naturally to me so I would swop doing chores around the house with my sister Zanele who disliked cooking but didn’t mind cleaning or washing up. Soon, I was making most of the evening meals,’ she says.

Siba grew up in Mdantsane near East London in a house where her mom Noliza, a teacher, kept a vegetable garden. ‘I would fetch blackberries and vegetables for her and watch as she – a diabetic who believed in eating healthily – turned ingredients into scrumptious dishes. I loved seeing my mom cook so passionately for our family.’

She taught Siba about cooking from the heart. ‘Once, I watched her take a pinch of salt, weigh it in her hand and add it to the dish she was making. “Is that a tablespoon or a teaspoon?” She looked at me and said: ‘‘You just feel it with your hand.”

Siba studied Food and Consumer Sciences at Cape Tech before becoming food editor at Drum magazine where she was given a show, Cooking with Siba, on MNet´s Mzansi Magic. But that’s not the secret of her success: ‘I think a big part is that I’m a visionary who sets both long and short term goals. I am also a believer and practice my faith. I am bold when I ask God for something.’

‘And then I work hard until the right people start to notice.’

Well, after a recommendation from South African celebrity chef Jenny Morris, aka the Giggling Gourmet, the UK Food Network noticed. Jenny had sent Siba’s details to Food Network with the caveat: ‘She’s beautiful, inside and out.’ After a few discussions, (and after interviewing 400 other candidates), Siba became the second South African after Jenny to host her own cooking show on the network featuring food with an African twist.

She invented pappizza – ‘a pizza with a pap base.’ And mfino fritters. ‘Mfino is a traditional dish made with spinach and maize meal. I turned it into a fritter and I usually top it with soya mayo and smoked salmon.’

Now, in winter, Siba’s favourite meal is beef goulash with dumplings. ‘I add Hungarian smoked paprika – from the tin not the bottle – which I use like saffron. It gives it a rich, pungent taste.’
For this and other stews, Siba says her Le Creuset pots work best because of their ‘thick base.’

‘For stews I usually use my blue Le Creuset casserole dish with the lid. I like that I can make a stew, even one with a thick meat like brisket, and after browning the meat and other ingredients in it, just place it straight in the oven and just forget about it because I know the heat will be evenly distributed.’
‘I have quite a few including one huge pot which I use for soups which I also love.’
Husband Brian  enjoys every meal he gets at home, as long as she cooks. ‘He would rather take me to any restaurant I choose than make anything himself!’ laughs Siba. Still, he has been eminently supportive. ‘He’s head of design at Woolworths, but he’s also the great engine and driver of all things related to my brand. I’m very blessed to have him as my best friend, soul mate and baby daddy.’
Her family is one of the reasons Siba’s Table, shot mainly in her kitchen in Cape Town is popular. ‘I get people from all over the world complimenting me on my beautiful family and supportive husband. But I also get stopped from people who say they just love the simple recipes using ingredients that they are familiar with so I think there’s something about the accessiblity that draws many.
‘Some just like watching me cook while still others just like learning about Cape Town!’
As for Siba, she has a new project in mind. ‘It’s a cook book!’ Watch this space.

Words that describe the way you cook?
Simple, and easy with a wow-factor that is not intimidating. I use accessible ingredients, locally sourced produce, that is seasonal and sustainable.

Your favourite comfort food/food growing up:
Mfino – that’s sautéed onions, green pepper and spinach with maize meal. My mom made it for us an after school snack. It still reminds me of home.

Your best foodie moment:
Showcasing some of my traditional recipes in London, Belgium, Portugal and Dubai last year was beyond amazing! And going to Russia for The Taste of Moscow and Poland for a live food event a few weeks ago.

Your cooking motto:
Test recipes over and over until you’re100% happy.

Any mishaps in the kitchen?
Just that when I test recipes, I get dismayed if it doesn’t work out the first or second time – although that knowledge empowers me to teach others how not to do it!

Your favourite cuisine?
It’s first Asian followed closely by French.

Your life motto:
Do your best and God will do the rest!

Are people too intimidated to invite you over for dinner?
I think some people generally feel a little anxious when I’m on the dinner party list – which should not be the case as I’m one of the most easy-going people around. I’m only strict when I’m judging a competition or working – never socially!

What do you enjoy about Le Creuset cookware:
That nothing ever sticks and they’re easy to clean. And the heavy base holds the heat well!

Are you leaning towards any particular Le Creuset colour?
I love creams and the light blue pot is absolutely my fave!

What would you save in a fire?
My family and others in the house. My phone, laptop, some clothes but it’s hard to choose …

What Superpower would you want most of all?
To be able to control time. To slow it down, fast forward it and to rewind it – especially when I watch too much Disney Junior with my sons.

How has parenting changed you?
When you become a mom, it hits home to think of a hungry child. I have become involved with the Food Bank Foundation, an NGO that helps fight malnutrition in Africa and the Etafeni Centre for mom and children affected by HIV/ AIDS in Nyanga.

Your favourite fantasy guests would be:
Disney Junior’s Sophia the First! She is so sweet. I never got to meet Tat’u Madiba in person so that would be lovely. And Oprah Winfrey as I followed her work for years. And Paul from the Bible – he had so much wisdom but was still so humble.

On the menu would be…

It would be brunch so I’d serve homemade granola with natural yoghurt and homemade preserves like pomegranate and then lots of greens like asparagus and broccolini with sliced radishes, goats milk cheese and poached eggs. For desserts, we’d have Florentines and dainty tarts and min cheese cakes.

And wine?
I’ll get my sommelier friend to recommend something but probably a chenin blanc.

Favourite music:
Urban gospel and old school soul music.

Culinary role models: Dorah Sitole. Jenny Morris. Jamie Oliver and yes, Nigella Lawson who made cooking sexy.’

What’s on your bedside table?
My iPad, my Bible, my notebook for ideas I think of in the night and a whole lot of cookbooks.

Your guilty food pleasure
Bread and ice cream

Five things that are always in your fridge:
Milk, cheese, butter, chorizo, basil pesto

One cooking tip:
For slow cooking, its important to bring something to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmer gently as your food will be more flavourful than if you rapidly boil it. Also, practice makes perfect

What is next for you?
Brand extension like merchandise, restaurant, culinary school, my cookbook and more seasons of Siba’s Table.

Good advice you have received?
My mom taught me education is key. She said do what you love and you’ll never feel like you’re working and you’ll grow faster.

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