Our Story

 I grew up with my mother’s family in the early years of my childhood. Her lineage hail from the Oroko tribe in Ndian division of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. At home, we often cooked Ekwang; a traditional meal originating from her tribe. It is an arduous dish -consisting of several steps including the peeling, grating, and wrapping of Cocoyams into cocoyam leaves. Nonetheless, the reward of such a sumptuous and satisfying dish always outweighed the hard work. It was the first meal I ever learned how to cook.

As the seasons passed from childhood into adolescence, I developed a passion for baking. Our home was full of bakers, both from my mother and father’s families. During festive seasons, the sweet aroma of chin chin and scones (classic West African pastries) would linger in the kitchen. As I grew up , my aunties and my grandmother taught me how to cook dishes more native to Cameroonians.

 Most of these meals, like Ekwang, were beautifully complex and required a family of hands to make but an even larger family of mouths to enjoy the meal. My neighborhood was full of foodies. We often gathered together to showcase what we each prepared that day. Over passionate stories and jovial laughter, we shared many meals under the African stars. 

I continued my cooking journey at Presbyterian Comprehensive Secondary School Buea where I studied Food and Nutrition. There, I learned advanced cooking techniques. However, it was my Aunt that imparted onto me the true art of culinary. She is a professional chef. Whenever she cooked she would always tell us why she used certain cooking techniques, ingredients, and quantities. Watching her ignited my passion for Culinary Arts.

When I came to America at the age of 16, I continued my culinary journey exploring and experimenting with herbs and traditional spices and mixing it in with Western spices. I went on to complete my Bachelors in Biology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and my Ph.D. in Human Genetics at Howard University. During those college days, a warm plate of Jollof rice reminded me of home and the family that I would see again soon. 

     I am so fortunate to be in a country where I can cook almost anything as if I were back in Cameroon. The ability to have access to your culture through food feeds your identity and sense of belonging. My forefathers knew this when they sought to pass down these traditional dishes as a way of protecting tribal history from extinction. Since then, our pursuit for better/different opportunities birthed a generation of Afropolitans that have ignited an ongoing conversation about the relationship between identity and individuality. Food is a vital participant in this conversation as it is a mirror into one’s culture, and one’s culture is a mirror into his/her identity. 

 Many of us struggle with understanding our positioning in this world as we do not have “labels or identities” and are too far away from our birth homes to connect as one normally would. It is this generation that inspires me to continue to cook and to share my knowledge in Culinary Arts. My desire is the same as my forefathers - to contribute to the preservation and passing down of our Cameroon culture to the next generation. Societal and technological advances have changed drastically since the time of my forefathers and have influenced the way we cook and experience food today. There is much more to discover, taste, experience, and understand about the relationship between food and culture now more than ever. I invite you to embark on this journey of discovery with me. As we cook together, we will revisit the past, rediscover the present, and re-envision the future of 240 Cameroonian tribes using the best food possible. See you in the kitchen!

Lead Chef - Dr. Sylvia Keng Dasi