“I was 32 when I started cooking; until then, I just ate.”
— Julia Child
Until a few years ago, cooking was something I did out of necessity — quickly, impatiently, and without much thought for flavour, technique, or presentation. Long hours in a stressful job left me relying on fast food, takeaways, and convenience meals, and my main goal in the kitchen was to use as few dishes as possible.
Then life slowed me down.
After moving to the countryside near Cape Town, South Africa, I found myself surrounded by people who truly loved food — and by ingredients that reminded me what real cooking could be: homegrown vegetables, fresh eggs from nearby farms, local dairy, and meals shared around a table. For the first time, cooking began to feel less like a chore and more like a pleasure.
I’ll never forget the first time I cooked for our group of friends. Nervous but determined, I made a simple baked pasta with roasted tomatoes. To my astonishment, it was a success — and that meal sparked something in me.
Not long afterwards, I adopted a ketogenic way of eating and realised that if I wanted delicious food that truly suited me, I would have to learn to cook it myself. What started as necessity quickly became fascination.
Since then, I’ve thrown myself into learning everything I can. I follow chefs and home cooks for inspiration, experiment constantly, and adapt recipes to fit my own whole-food, flavour-first approach to cooking. My food may not be plated with tweezers, but I care deeply about making it satisfying, beautiful, and full of flavour.
I focus on real ingredients, homemade cooking, and food that feels nourishing as well as joyful. I’m especially interested in fresh, minimally processed foods, fermented and probiotic ingredients, and the kinds of everyday meals that help people feel well without feeling restricted. I also believe good food should be approachable and budget-friendly whenever possible — comforting, generous, and made to be shared.
These days, my kitchen feels a bit like a test kitchen — full of experiments, discoveries, and the occasional spectacular failure. But every dish teaches me something new.
Along the way, my palate evolved too. What started as a focus on staying within my carb goals gradually became a fascination with flavour itself. I began to notice how acidity can brighten a rich dish, how texture adds interest, and how a small adjustment to seasoning can transform a meal. These days, I’m just as interested in balance as I am in ingredients, and I’m always learning something new every time I cook.
“It’s about food, it’s about eating, it’s about indulging, it’s about living life. It’s not about being prissy and fussy and boring.”
— Marco Pierre White
For me, cooking keto isn’t about perfection or rigid rules. It’s about creativity, curiosity, and the quiet satisfaction of making something truly delicious from real, whole ingredients — one recipe at a time.