2 days ago
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- Daily Maverick
More than a Meal: Buy, feast and connect at the CoCreate Hub
Victoria Street in Stellenbosch marks a mission of community, development and hope. Stellenbosch isn't just home to boutiques, cafés, and a university campus — it's a space where black and locally owned food vendors turn their culinary visions into full-time ventures.
I know what you might be thinking — how did Daily Maverick convince a retired supermodel to write an introductory piece. Tony Jackman must be quite the negotiator.
Unfortunately, I am not a famous British model. I sometimes wonder if she would ask me to change my surname, but being named after a supermodel has carried me quite far in life. Of course, that's not why I am here, but it does cause the occasional eyebrow raise, smile, and introductory icebreaker.
Naomi Campbell, if you happen to read this piece, I promise that my parents' motivation was out of admiration, more than imitation.
Food was always more than a meal to me. I was born to chefs without a traditional culinary background. Turning scraps into signature dishes is tradition in my household. Spices and sugar are found in every cabinet, but most importantly, love for the food and family and friends is released from the person preparing the meal to the plate. From the South to the North Atlantic, cooking in my household blended cultures to meet not just cravings, but needs.
Both of my parents were born on the island of Trinidad, yet my father grew up in Jamaica, a story for another day. I sometimes joke — half seriously — that I wish I'd been raised in Trinidad. Perhaps my privileges would have been revoked and my introduction to cooking wouldn't have been an option between the elders, parents, and the dreaded home economics.
Listening to my mom recall the memories of late-night food projects and examination scores made me laugh, but also afraid, knowing I might have failed those assignments even though I believe cooking is in my veins. Hence, I wish my parents had let me experience some parts of my childhood in Trinidad.
My palate for culture and diversity stayed consistent throughout my life. Growing up in Jersey City, New Jersey, was a melting hub, as clichéd as that might sound. Race was never a concept to me until I experienced it, but that is also a conversation for another day.
Before coming to South Africa I completed my Master's programme in journalism, and before that I was a schoolteacher. I often find myself sharing my teaching background because everything leads back to education — a tool that can both empower and oppress. Two truths can coexist. I find the act of cooking to have similar ways of resistance through the lens of black and locally owned restaurants.
The CoCreate Hub feeds entrepreneurs and satisfies cravings — for food, fashion, and even knowledge. The Ranyanka Community Transformation Business model that the CoCreate Hub follows allows small businesses owners the opportunity to build their socioeconomic capital. Ranyanka, 'to pursue', is to support business owners from marginalised communities.
Wamkelekile. Welkom. Welcome. The hub is a home. My first week in Stellenbosch has been nothing short of immersion. I'm blessed to say that I have experienced more in 10 days than most tourists might have experienced, and I don't mean wining and dining, I mean true immersion.
Immersion with the cuisine, locals, and township. I was given the opportunity to stay with a host family in a township. While some people might have shied away from this experience, I saw a chance to challenge my biases and reshape township narratives through storytelling.
As a black girl from the States with Trinidadian and Jamaican roots, culture and diversity are familiar to me. My mom is a beautiful dark-skinned woman and my father is a fair-skinned man whose mother is Jamaican, yet half white. Growing up, going to the homes of my father's siblings wasn't shocking as I'd see complexions ranging from brown to beige. I see the same diversity in South Africa.
Two things make me stand out
Though I experience this same diversity quite familiarly, there are two things that make me stand out: my height and my race, two parts of my identity that cannot be changed. At 5 '11, I get stares wherever I go — whether for my height, race, or both. In South Africa, I tower over most people, as in the States, but in South Africa I get different stares. I can tell South Africans know I am not from here. Is it my dress code? Is it my height? I won't mention my accent as the clear giveaway.
In 10 days, I have decided to leave my introversion in the suitcase and mask myself in extroversion. I have found a strange sense of social safety in South Africa. Yet despite this net of comfort, I still have more questions that desperately need answers, but might be too complex to solve in an introductory column.
How do I insert myself into a country with a deep history of colonialism from a black American perspective? How do I arrive in a country with little to no understanding of Afrikaans or Xhosa, let alone stumble to imitate the ancestral clicks of the Bantu ethnic group? How do I create genuine relationships in less than three months while reporting on the culinary industry and spaza shops? How do I experience privilege as a black American in a country where some Black South Africans are struggling to exist?
My dad is a retired veteran of both the Trinidad and United States armies. He prides himself in also being a scholar. For each deployment, my dad preps not just his suitcase and the conversation around the dinner table to tell his family he will be on civic leave, but his mind and heart. Deployments weren't just destinations for my dad, but a desire to immerse himself in the country, and most importantly the community he and his team would be stationed at. He would sit on his laptop for hours scrolling and researching the history of the country. My father isn't one to ask if you know something — rather he will tell you as if is his obligation to educate you, as a teacher himself.
Leading up to my trip, I decided to follow in my father's footsteps. The tasks of tourists should be beyond checking visa requirements or vaccination requests, and should include historical awareness and cultural sensitivity. Kindness shouldn't only come from locals; tourists leave their economic and social footprint too. It is our civil duty to be mindful of our postures abroad.
The oil from her hands drips onto the pan
In the hub, a culinary experience is awaiting not just for the locals, but for tourists.
A woman with a black hijab wipes her brow. The oil from her hands drips onto the pan, just missing the cloth over her hair. She dries her hand on a napkin before grabbing the batter in a glass bottle. She is preparing pancakes for the hungry university students at her Creamy Creations stand.
Comfort meets coffee, a coffee company, Coffee MM, provides the best of both worlds for the coffee lover or fan of the traditional rooibos tea, especially during the winter months.
At Mother India, curry spices simmer in a pot in the far right corner outside the hub. The brisk air surrounds the chef, yet he cooks with a smile on his face. On the opposite side, a man cracks his knuckles before turning on the stove. He grabs two pieces of toast to start preparing an egg and steak order for a regular customer at Lux Caters.
Buy, feast, and connect local to build businesses is the slogan for CoCreate Hub. The spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and thriving at the hub, but support is still needed whether that is on the local, national or even international level from tourists like myself.
I think of my uncle who often dreams of having his own restaurant more than I realise, and when I walk through the doors of the CoCreate Hub I think about how such spaces in the States can be created. We all have dreams and visions waiting to be supported despite the centuries of oppression that attempted to block such buildings.
Serendipitous encounters brought me to South Africa
I am what society calls a 'foodie'. But I am also a pescatarian. How does a pescatarian review food? Am I true a foodie if I do not cook as much as a traditional chef? Growing up in a Trinidadian household, my palate welcomes spices, my nostrils absorb strong aromas, and my stomach appreciates a filling yet appetising meal. From this perspective, I can find the wow factor in any meal despite the absence of poultry on the plate.
Serendipitous encounters brought me to South Africa, specifically Stellenbosch. I'll be interning with iKapa Impact, a mutual benefit experience founded by Dee Moskoff that will allow me to highlight black and locally owned restaurants at the hub and beyond. I'll also be working closely with Tony Jackman to dive into traditional African cuisine.
A term I have started to use since I have been in Stellenbosch is intentional investment. I have asked myself at least once a day where I should spend my dollar. When my coworker told me that we were going to a traditional African restaurant, my invitation to immersion was unlocked again. Located in Strand is a Zimbabwean-owned restaurant called Pap Mama. Traditional dishes like sadza (pap) and maguru (tripe) are offered on the menu. Impatient to try it all, I grabbed the flaky fish, seasoned spinach and the pap and popped them in my mouth. The thickness of the pap allowed me to absorb the different textures and tastes. Needless to say, I will be returning there before I return to the States.
In Trinidad, locals and tourists create long lines across the savannah to indulge in different food like doubles and bake and shark for the long weekend fêtes such as cultural celebrations like carnival. But people, especially tourists, shouldn't wait until there are cultural gatherings to support local businesses. Street vendors are a small yet essential part of the economy.
That's the essence of Diasporic Dinner Dialogues, to dine locally while digesting different topics. It is to explore cuisines while embracing cultures and customs.
These are the faces that cook the food of grit, diversity and love for food at the CoCreate Hub where food is more than a meal — a comforting culinary experience.
The country of history and hope has embraced me — I hope to return the favour through storytelling.
