Yummy Magazine Vol 2 - The Seafood Issue | Page 23

CHEF PROFILE TEXT YUMMY STAFF PHOTO HOME GROWN In Kenya’s burgeoning and successful restaurant industry, it’s pretty hard to come by homegrown talent especially when it comes to top tier chefs. Yummy seized the opportunity to speak to the charismatic, passionate and talented, Joseph Gacheru. How long have you been in the restaurant industry? Enjoy the best of what the sea has to offer with our famous Tamarind sea food platter of fresh giant prawns, sweet young crabs and juicy lobsters among other sea delicacies. Mobile: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: [phone] Wireless: 020 2435446/7/9 Mobile: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.tamarind.co.ke seasoned before it’s plated. What inspires your cooking? 24 years, which is over half my life (Laughs). Get hooked to the best seafood. French cuisine is considered as the ‘mother’ of continental cuisine but I am certainly moving towards simple cooking. Sourcing and using local indigenous ingredients and creating a sort of fusion – it’s something that I am exploring. For example, lacing sauces or consommés with lavender or aloe vera. The new Tamarind menu features a prawn and amaranth (terere seed) soup. When did your relationship with food begin? I grew up in a typical Kenyan family where the perception was that cooking was only for women. On