Today we are featuring popularly known Afrolems!!! I have always heard of Afrolems and followed the recipes on there, and so when i got the chance to feature the face behind it, i had to take it!!!!
What led to starting Afrolems?
Afrolems started as a way for me to make some extra money while I was in college using the talent I already had. I always cooked for all my friends prior to that and they simply loved it. I was the go-to person when it came to any questions about the kitchen or food so it was only natural that Afrolems got started.
- How did you come up with the name afrolems?
I was looking for something that would be catchy and relatable to my generation and I spoke with my mum and we bounced some names around and finally came up with Afrolems. Lems is a slang for food.
- Looking at your pictures, you are super creative both in cooking and presentation, how do you come up with the inspiration
I spend a lot of time reading recipes, studying presentations plus I guess a bit of my surroundings has influenced that. I happen to be the least creative person in my family but just watching the rest of them in their field helped me plus making the extra effort to study other people’s presentation skills has helped a lot.
- What do you see the future of the African food industry looking like and what are your future goals?
I definitely hope that African food would penetrate the mainstream food industry as I am finding that Africans themselves are not willing to let go of their food and try new things very often. So the hope is to get everyone else on board and enjoy our food. Afrolems would be doing that by reaching out to these other groups and providing them with educational material about African food.
- Can you share a few healthy African meal options with us?
Healthy meal options for African food is all about portion control. More vegetables, less carbs. The beans dishes are very good options, salads without all the salad cream, vegetable soups that can skip palm oil or add very little. Even stews but made without the oil as long as its properly seasoned, it is edible.
- If you had to cook a nice meal in 30 minutes, what would you cook?
I tend to be a bit adventurous with my cooking time but I would have to say Jollof Rice. I realize some people may not venture near this but I am pretty fast when it comes to cooking time.
- What is the longest you ever worked without a break in the kitchen?
I have worked approximately 6 hours without a break when I hosted a tasting session event.
- How do you stay healthy despite your love for cooking?
I regulate the amount of oils in my food, I serve smaller portions. I have had some of my fans complain that my pictured portions are too small for them. However, I would need to consume that amount so that I don’t overwork my system. Also the desserts I make, I use them on my cheat day.
- What do you love the most about Afrolems?
I love that it has changed lives; I have received numerous emails about how Afrolems has changed cooking habits, and inspired creativity. I love when people try out our recipes and provide great feedback.
- What is your worst kitchen disaster?
My worst kitchen disaster would have to be when I was supposed to make scotch eggs for a client and I bought the wrong sausage meat and decided to go ahead to make it last minute. Once I dropped it in the oil to fry, it formed this very weird looking ball and I was afraid it would explode. I had to cancel that order and refund the money luckily they ordered other items and those were successful.
- What would you say is your best masterpiece in the kitchen?
It is very hard to choose but I would have to say I was very proud of my Abacha presentation. I had a lot of great reviews on that.
- What advice do you have for others who aspire to be kitchen pros?
Don’t second guess yourself. Just go in with a recipe and try it out, if it fails, try again. It took me a loooong time to get fried rice right but I have it now. Don’t be afraid to reduce oils, your food would still taste just as awesome.
