Moshe Ndiki adds sparkle to new TV food show
East Londoner delivers a stream of witty repartee and slapstick buffoonery
Sampling bizarre food pairings such as canned beef with grapes or prawns with wine gums is all part of former East Londoner Moshe Ndiki’s new TV gig.
As the zany host of S3’s (formerly SABC3) vibrant new show Ready Steady Cook, Ndiki’s job is to make sure contestants and the celebrity chefs assigned to them produce edible, beautifully plated dishes in just 20 minutes, with much mayhem and laughter during the recording.
As a member of the audience at Primedia’s new Sandton studios, the Weekender watched as Ndiki, 32, zipped from the red tomato kitchen team to the green pepper kitchen team, asking questions, stirring pots and plugging in bungling blenders, all the while delivering a stream of witty repartee and slapstick buffoonery.
Once the audience had voted for the dishes produced by the favourite contestant and chef pairing, Ndiki was gleaming with sweat and in need of hydration, but his energy levels barely faltered.
“Ready Steady Cook is unlike anything I’ve done in terms of the pressure, energy and demands. Four episodes a day is a lot to churn out. I don’t drink energy drinks. I don’t like coffee, but on set they know all I want is cold water. It can be almost frozen. I don’t care if it’s raining outside! Also if I’ve had a beautiful breakfast of spinach and any kind of egg and half a slice of bread with butter I have good energy.”
Also keeping his energy up are the dishes he tastes at the end of every lively show, not all of them traditionally palate pleasing.
“The list of the worst ingredients I’ve seen so far is long. Weetbix with Marmite, canned beef with grapes, tinned fish with jelly.
“The most beautiful thing is how the chefs make the dishes because they are so creative. They made hummus out of baked beans and it was absolutely mind-blowing. I’m learning so much because I also come from a cooking background. I have my own brand of spices — Moshe’s Kitchen Spices which are MSG-free, halaal and kosher.”
Because some contestants are more reticent in front of the camera than others, Ndiki’s job is to bring them out of their shells with personal questions and reminders that their cooking time is running out.
“I try not to make them nervous but I have to get answers out of them.”
So how do they make a trifle if someone is busy in their ear asking about their favourite childhood meals and so forth.
“It’s a beautiful combination of heartfelt entertainment, nervousness and anxiousness in the kitchen but ultimately it is all done with love and to strengthen their relationships.”
Ready Steady Cook is based on the BBC show of the same name which ran from 1994 to 2010. Many viewers may remember the show’s larger than life host chef, Ainslie Harriott.
“I started watching [his shows] in 2023 and I wondered how I was going to get his energy but thought I now had a point of reference in the kinds of questions he asked and how he got people out of their shell. But I’m doing it my own way; the Ready Steady Cook SA way.
“When they approached me to do the show, I thought it was very wordy. Chef Ainslie was always commenting about something. But I didn’t realise how much I talk and how much I enjoy talking — either getting to know the contestants or asking the chefs what they are cooking and also making them feel like they have more time than they actually have.”
Ndiki has hosted shows such as Promise to Marry Me, starred in his own reality show, Life with Moshe and appeared in Selimathunzi, Gomora and a few films.
After matriculating at Cambridge High School and studying drama at Afda and City Varsity, he got his first break on MTV Base.
Ndiki credits his high school and the Guild Theatre for nurturing his love of acting.
“I did drama as an extramural but I really got to hone my craft at the Xhosa Cultural Society, where they gave me free rein to write, direct and produce plays and I’ll forever be grateful for that stage at Cambridge High.”
“In grade 7, I played a thief in Oliver Twist and in matric I was one of the monks in The
King and I.
“I was also in pantomimes directed by Amanda Bothma such as Peter Pan and Aladdin at the Guild. I was never the lead in any of them besides the ones I used to write in high school, but look where we are now!”
When Ndiki gets home, he immediately cuddles his seven-month-old twin boys Ntaba and Thalanda who were conceived via surrogate.
“I live 10 minutes from the studios in Sandton so when I get home, before I even remove my makeup, I play with them for 30 minutes and then I shower and have a balanced supper and put the babies to bed. Sometimes I think I am putting them to sleep but they put me to sleep!
“I live with my partner, Mzi Mtyide and two nannies, so I have a whole lot of support at home.”
Now that the babies have moved on to solids, Ndiki has been producing purées.
“I’ve been blending vegetables, adding avocado oil... I don’t want to be in a rush to start them with sugar so when I blend a peach I use plain yoghurt.”
Being part of a cooking show is right up his alley because Ndiki loves being in the kitchen and first picked up culinary skills from his mother, Lilana Ndiki who lives in Gonubie.
“A lot came from my mom because she absolutely loves cooking and hosting. The first thing she taught me to make was mushrooms with herbs, garlic and butter for breakfast. She was always on some sort of diet. She is a single mom and I am the only child so when she was on a diet I’d ask her what she was having for supper and she would say a vienna, broccoli and beetroot and I would say, ‘cool, I love that ’ .
“I cook a list of different things. I’m selftaught. If you want a pasta I’ll take you to Italy. I’ll even make you the most beautiful pizza. I’ll make you the best traditional food and if you want a beautiful steak, I can definitely make that for you. I love healthy eating.” Ndiki says his mother is his biggest fan. “My mom definitely watches Ready Steady Cook. I don’t think I’d be where I am without her support. Coming from a small town when you want to be an actor or a presenter, people say, ‘no, go be a doctor’.
“I did think about being a doctor or social want worker to solve but realised them and in I can the’ t last save months the world. of matric that I’m too much of an empath. I would take people’s problems with me and Also, I’m very scared of blood.”