Shi Tamafor, Cameroonian Chef Extraordinaire
Von
At some point after I returned from working on the first installment of this food series, I thought it would be a good idea to officially introduce the project to the Berlin public. The idea was to spread the word, which would hopefully – eventually lead to some funding interest.
Through some serendipitous occurrence, the founder and art director of Savvy Contemporary, Dr. Bonaventure S. B. Ndikung offered their space for the first My African Food Map (MAFM) event.
I thought it was a perfect jump-off point because what they do there is not the run-of-the-mill „gallery stuff.“ Besides being a space for art exhibitions and for performance (which includes dance and music), Savvy is a place which is open to other forms of expression too, which support/reflect its principal objectives. Seeing MAFM in the context of being introduced in a gallery space allowed me to become more aware of how layered a project like MAFM is (or could be) and what I could do with it in future.
So we did it and it was a great experience! Having the possibility to serve soup, which everybody enjoyed, was an added bonus.
Since then, Savvy has moved and last night I was invited to attend the inaugural event. It was a nice evening, with music and exciting conversation, accented with a heavy „everything-is-possible-in-the-new-space!“ vibe. But for me a definite perk was the Cameroonian food on offer. There was some jollof rice with shrimps, beans (Cameroonian-style), fried plantain, skewers of beef with peppers, roasted, spicy chicken, puff puff (which are a type of doughnut, almost exactly like South African amagwinyas) and skewers of summery fruit. I absolutely loved it. (In many ways it was a lot like Ghanaian food and I suppose like many other West African dishes). I could have eaten all night, but it was all devoured within 20-30 minutes.
After some enquiry, I found out that the mastermind behind the delicious buffet was Shi Tamafor. Apparently this feast was prepared under quite limited circumstances (both space and budget-wise), which made me want to applaud the chef more. It’s difficult enough to cook for so many people without also having to manoeuvre around physical and financial restrictions. If Shi, like my other favourite West African cooks (Aicy & Mimi), delivered, I would be their most frequent customer. In fact, I hope one day it will become a reality…
Imagine that: various African dishes as widely accessible as Asian, European or North American food. Because some days I don’t feel like pizza, burgers or Thai curry. Sometimes I don’t feel like pho, pommes or sag paneer. Sometimes I feel like beans and plantain – with a side of salad.