Adejoké Bakare: A celebrity chef in London

DW (English)

British-Nigerian Adejoké Bakare is the first Black female chef in the United Kingdom to be awarded a Michelin star.

Transcript

00:00Nigerian-born British chef Adechoke Bakare was awarded the Michelin star for her modern

00:07West African cuisine.

00:09How did she do it?

00:15Her London restaurant, Chichuru, serves culinary masterpieces like guinea fowl with caramelized

00:20onions and lemon sauce.

00:22But how is it different?

00:24The spices are different, the ingredients are different, and the styles and techniques

00:29are different.

00:31As a black woman, Bakare is still an exception in the white, male-dominated world of Michelin.

00:36How does she feel about the award?

00:38We're not cooking to attract Michelin, but I think it puts West African food on the map.

00:46Adechoke Bakare opened Chichuru in 2020, originally as a pop-up restaurant.

00:52Four years later, the untrained chef has reached star status.

00:57It's like a Cinderella story.

01:01Gourmet African cuisine, Chichuru's fine dining is making waves.

01:06You hardly see people like me in high-end kitchens, especially in this country, if nowhere

01:12else.

01:13I think with what is happening now, more people that look like me will want to say, OK, maybe

01:20there's a space for me.

01:23Born in Nigeria, Adechoke Bakare has had very different jobs in London over the years.

01:28For a long time, she only cooked for friends.

01:31Her biggest role model?

01:32Her grandmother.

01:33She used to sell street food.

01:35Whenever I'd go to my grandma's place, I'd sit with her, just watching her make the street

01:40food.

01:41So maybe that's part of it, maybe something else.

01:44I've always been interested in cooking, right from when I was little.

01:50Smoked eel with sweet potato cream, or crispy bean fritters with okra and candied chilies.

01:55For Bakare, there is no typical Nigerian cuisine.

01:59Culinary traditions in West Africa transcend the borders of today.

02:03Before we became nation-states, we were mainly empires, which cut across the present nation-states.

02:15And because of that, loads of us have cultures that are similar, that have been influenced

02:20by religion, influenced by trade, and all of that.

02:23And you see that similarity in our food.

02:26Bakare's menus are bringing a new audience to West African cuisine.

02:31She's a role model for others, too.

02:33There have been people trying to do it, but doing it with leaning on the established cuisines,

02:43I think now more and more people are being more unapologetic and putting West Africa

02:50on a plate and presenting it.

02:53The word Chichuru stems from the Hausa language, and refers to that silence that spreads around

02:58the table when a meal is simply delicious.

03:01Bon appétit!

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