Cape sisters cook with a smile
FOR the newest TV cooks, cooking is more than just ingredients and step-bystep recipes; it’s their passion and the way they aim to change the world.
Fatima Sydow and her twin sister Gadija Sydow Noordien never set out to become celebrity chefs, they really just wanted to share their passion for food.
The sisters have wrapped the first season of their show Kaap, kerrie en koesisters, which is just part of their cooking journey.
They learnt to cook side by side in their mother’s kitchen and for them the joy of food must be shared with the younger generation.
Fatima said: “We believe because we grew up sitting around the table and having that bond and connection with our mother and father, looking back now we realise that that bond played a significant role in keeping us off the street.”
She adds that her mom was instrumental in their lives because of what she taught them in the kitchen: “In turn she didn’t just teach us a skill, she taught us that commitment to family, to not be lazy.
“If you were called to the kitchen you had to get up and go and that taught you discipline as well.”
Cooking is at the heart of everything these sisters do and they use it as a tool to help people in their community of Mitchells Plain.
Gadija is a librarian and started a programme with adult learners, who were committed to finishing Grade 12.
During her tutoring sessions, she would often cook and bake and share a meal with the students.
“I was an adult learner and I was 27/28 when I did my matric,” said Gadija. “And a lady approached me and she said she needed help with her work, and then word spread and we soon became a group of 20 (that I tutored).”
Both sisters are keen on cooking and community work, but most fans first met Fatima, or saw her recipes on Facebook because that’s how she started her Cape Malay cooking journey.
Fatima said that over the years women who needed her help, who were depressed and even suicidal, reached out to her on social media and she assisted them.
“In my five years on Facebook, I’ve had a few (people I’ve helped) and I can safely say now these people are happier.
“And there’s a lot of people who have come back to me and said because of my Facebook page, our stories and our recipes they have started their own little businesses.
“Just in their home and from having absolutely nothing.”
The sisters are as comfortable volunteering in a soup kitchen as they are in a TV kitchen set.
The school library where Gadija works is part of their outreach project to encourage young pupils to read both books and poetry.
Both sisters have a passion for reading and writing and Fatima has self-published her own cookbook, Cape Malay Cooking with Fatima Sydow.
“We never thought of doing a TV show, it wasn’t even in our vision,” said Fatima.
“Our passion is books, we’re more in love with books.
“The TV show is a connection to our lives, it’s our Facebook page (recipes) on TV.”
On the cooking show the sisters were keen to not have any staged interactions and cooking set-ups, so it was filmed as they ordinarily cook at home.
This is what their fans loved and although people have been asking about whether a season 2 of the show is being planned, both cooks are tight lipped.
“This is why we have the Facebook page, where the recipes we share are freely available, any time.”