About Hanlie Cooks

“I was 32 when I started cooking; until then, I just ate.”
— Julia Child

When I first read that quote, I smiled in recognition. Although my own journey began much later, I understood exactly what she meant.

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 began as necessity quickly became fascination.

Since then, I’ve thrown myself into learning everything I can. I’m not a trained chef, and I don’t pretend to be. I’m simply a curious home cook who loves discovering new techniques, experimenting with unfamiliar ingredients, and refining recipes until they’re worth sharing. Every recipe on Hanlie Cooks is one I’ve cooked, refined, and genuinely enjoyed before sharing it with you.

One of the greatest pleasures of this journey has been exploring flavours from around the world. I learn from talented chefs, passionate home cooks, books, television, and the wealth of knowledge generously shared online. My recipes are inspired by many different cuisines, but they are never intended to be authentic recreations. I cook with the ingredients available to me in South Africa, within my budget, and in a way that suits my keto lifestyle. They’re simply my own interpretations from a curious home kitchen.

Discovering a local Asian supermarket opened an entirely new chapter in my cooking. Suddenly, ingredients I’d only read about or seen on cooking shows — miso, black garlic, Sichuan pepper, kimchi, and so many others — were within reach. Exploring them has reminded me that learning to cook is a journey without a finish line, and that some of the greatest pleasures come from trying something unfamiliar for the very first time.

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.

One unexpected joy of starting this blog has been discovering the value of taking a little extra care when serving a meal. Not because every dinner needs to look like restaurant food, but because slowing down long enough to plate a meal thoughtfully somehow makes it feel more special. When time allows, I enjoy photographing my food simply and honestly — a celebration of the meal rather than an attempt to make it something it isn’t.

If you’re feeding a family between school runs, sports practice, laundry, work, and the everyday demands of life, getting a homemade meal on the table is an achievement in itself. There are plenty of days when presentation simply isn’t a priority, and that’s perfectly okay. But when I do have the time, I’ve found that serving a meal with care makes me appreciate it just a little more.

Hanlie Cooks isn’t about perfection, and it isn’t about authenticity for its own sake. It’s about learning, experimenting, respecting good ingredients, and sharing recipes that have earned a place on my own table.

I’m still learning. There are techniques I’d love to master, ingredients I’ve yet to discover, and cuisines I hope to understand more deeply. That’s part of the joy. If my curiosity encourages someone else to try a new ingredient, cook one more meal from scratch, or discover a flavour they’ve never experienced before, then this little corner of the internet has done exactly what I hoped it would.