Nti celebrates SA dishes in new food TV show
Top chef joins the ranks of celeb cooks
When Chef Nti was signed as one of two new talents to join
The Food Channel, little did she know that she would be getting her own cooking show that will be broadcast across 142 countries.
Her show Celebrate with Chef Nti aims to give people a reason to celebrate using food while also introducing authentic SA dishes to the world.
Chef Nti, real name Nthabiseng Ramaboa, said when this opportunity landed in her lap, the hard Covid lockdowns had hit and all her plans were put on hold.
She recalls thinking “the world better not end because of the excitement and the opportunities that this partnership came with.
“Prior to me, The Food Channel only had Siba [Mtongana] and Jenny Morris as the South African chefs for 10 years. So, now they were looking for new talent for the channel and they signed myself and chef Katlego Mlambo as their new talent in Africa.
“So when you think about anything when it comes to food, this is the biggest channel. From research that was done, three of the top five chefs in the world can be found on this particular channel. So you can imagine what a big deal this is. So, I am very excited to expand my career in such a way,” she said.
Chef Nti hails from Tladi, Soweto, and started her career in 2014, when she sold everything to her name and moved to Los Angeles to learn all things food.
“Now I have a platform that can showcase my work and introduce me to the world – people will learn about our identity in food as South Africans. If you want to know a people, the best way is to know how they eat. South Africa is a bit diluted in terms of our food but that is because we are such a diverse rainbow people.
“But that is what I want to showcase. Also show the world how South Africans celebrate using food, because food is at the centre of any celebration,” she said.
Over the years, being a chef has gained prominence in SA.
Mzansi has had to catch up with the rest of the world where food entertainment has already gained prominence.
She believes that the term “celebrity chef ” is derived from her being celebrated for her craft in food.
“South Africa catching up with the rest of the world is because we are now forming part of the global community. They already had food entertainment, personalities like chef Gordon Ramsay, where here in Africa we only had chef Siba. So this shift has created an awareness on how big and important the food industry is.
“When I started my journey as a chef, people didn’t understand why I went as far as LA to learn the craft. But that is because I knew where I wanted to take this thing. I thought ‘if I want to see where the world is going and to follow that direction, I need to go there’. I remember even how my mother was hurt when I forsook everything for this dream. But everything is paying off now,” she said.
She adds that food entertainment is now centre stage in Mzansi and it is blowing up.
“I want to show people our food that has made us who we are because we are now at a place where we are proud of ourselves. The identity that I want to communicate to the rest of the world is that I am a girl from Soweto, a place that is more than just our politics but has food that speaks to our heritage as a people,” she said.