COOK LIKE SASHA
SOMETIMES WE are so impacted by a feeling that we try everything we can think of to recreate that moment in time. Our nostalgia becomes a time machine that allows us to pay a visit to a treasured memory and relive the experience. However, sometimes that same nostalgia can act as a springboard from which one can leap towards boundless potential and possibilities. For 29-year-old Sacheign Edwards, her love and passion for cooking started out as an attempt to recapture a feeling, and has since transformed into a passion she shares with the man she loves.
“My love for cooking started after my mom migrated. I felt the need to recreate all the nutritious meals that she would make, so that I could feel closer to her. When she left, no holiday would feel the same. Christmas wouldn’t feel the same, Easter wouldn’t feel the same, and I realised it was because the food was gone. So, I starting calling her to find out how to recreate the things she would make for me, and that’s how I developed the love for cooking,” she said.
Yes, at the time a 17-year-old, Sacheign, missing a mother’s home-cooked meals, decided to use cooking to fortify the bond with her mother, who had moved away. From there, she “blossomed” and developed her own style of cooking, and found that cooking was not only a way to stay close to her mother across borders, but that it helped her to cope with the restrictions on movement caused by COVID-19.
She said, “The name of my cooking brand is Cook Like Sasha … . It was born out of the pandemic, where I was stuck at home, unable to go out and eat at restaurants. I developed the need to cook at home the things that I would go to the restaurant and buy … . I took videos and pictures of everything and shared it with my friends on social media, and my husband Chris would share them on his WhatsApp as well.”
The pair began to receive an influx of positive feedback and inquiries about how she created her dishes. This prompted her to establish her own YouTube channel with the help of husband Christopher, who, as she puts it, is “a talented graphic designer, videographer, and photographer”.
Enter stage left Christopher Edwards, the man behind the camera, and who chooses to stand behind the spotlight fixing it squarely on his wife. He plays the role of support for their shared ambitions.
“For my wife, whatever it is that she is interested in, I am there for her and I support her. I enjoy her cooking and when she said, ‘Babe, I’m going to start a YouTube channel,’ I immediately started to think of ways in which I could help her. I started watching a whole lot of videos, learning what I needed to do to help her with it,” said the doting husband.
The desire to help his wife caused him to acquire the skills necessary for food photography and videography, so that Sacheign could focus on making magic in front of the camera. The duo has set up their own DIY recording studio in their kitchen, which they use to produce the content for the YouTube channel and Instagram page.
Although cooking has become a money earner for the two, with Sacheign making meals and baked items upon request, like Easter buns and Christmas cakes, it is still something she regularly enjoys outside of pictures and videos.
“I am proud of my red herring and ackee tostones. That’s number one for me, especially on Christmas morning, and I also do a killer ginger pork chop with lobster. It’s surf and turf with a twist on it, because people normally do surf and turf with beef and shrimp; but I decided to go large with pork and lobster,” she said.
The couple has used their foray into the world of food as a way to spend time together. Just like when her love affair with food began, Sacheign is once again using food to strengthen the relationship she has with a loved one. Her husband thinks their marriage has only benefited from her sharing her love for food with him.
“Having a wife with such passion and so much culture coming from a family that is incredibly driven by the way that they cook, it makes it such an experience for me. Every single meal becomes an experience as she tries new things and tells the stories about how her mom used to do it. I get to benefit from that, and spend a whole lot of time with her and share in that passion,” he said.
“My love for cooking started after my mom migrated. I felt the need to recreate all the nutritious meals that she would make, so that I could feel closer to her. When she left, no holiday would feel the same. Christmas wouldn’t feel the same, Easter wouldn’t feel the same, and I realised it was because the food was gone. “