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Congolese star chef brings secrets of Africa to the dining table
Congolese chef Dieuveil Malonga learned his craft in Europe's top restaurants, but says he owes his success to grandmothers across Africa.
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30-year-old Congolese chef Dieuveil Malonga poses inside his restaurant 'Meza Malonga' in Rwanda's capital Kigali, on October 27, 2021. (AFP/Simon Maina)
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ongolese chef Dieuveil Malonga learned his craft in Europe's top restaurants, but says he owes his success to grandmothers across Africa, who passed on the gastronomic secrets that underpin his celebrated Afro-fusion cuisine.
"I travel (to) different countries... to learn from the grandmothers. Then I get these old recipes and I bring it to my laboratory here and we try with my chefs to give it something of a modern touch," he said.
The 30-year-old from Congo-Brazzaville has visited 38 of Africa's 54 countries, bringing back fermentation and other techniques, as well as ingredients that add texture and flavour to the dishes served at his restaurant in Rwanda's capital Kigali.
The treasures sourced during his trips are everywhere in Meza Malonga ("Malonga's Table" in Kiswahili).
Bins holding tiny chilli peppers from the Ivory Coast, pebe nuts from Cameroon and dried mbinzo caterpillars from the Congo fill an entire wall of the establishment.
Food experts have largely ignored the continent's culinary heritage, with not a single Michelin-starred restaurant to be found on the continent.
But that may soon change, thanks to the efforts of chefs like Malonga, who co-founded Chefs in Africa -- a website devoted to promoting the region's rising stars.
