We sat down with self-taught cook, wife, mother of two and social media influencer Mmule Setati (@feed_my_tribe) to find out more about her cooking journey and what it was like to write her first cookbook Feed My Tribe.
How did you get into cooking? Can you share some of your earliest food memories?
My food journey has been an interesting one. The seed was planted in me when I was 11 years old. I would rush back home after school and watch cooking shows back-to-back till my parents came home.
My love for food began when I was a little girl watching my grandmother cook and ‘feed her tribe’. Then I got older and was fortunate enough to travel and be exposed to different tastes and flavours. I decided to start documenting all the meals I made, restaurants I’d go to and countries I visited.
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I owned and ran a juice business called Frutal Juice for three-and-a-half years before dedicating all my time to feeding my tribe. Food was always my release after a stressful day. I’d make something at home and share it on the internet. The little community I had grew into the ‘tribe’ I have and love today.
Your Instagram page, @feed_my_tribe, currently has a whopping 51.1k followers. What motivated you to start sharing your recipes on Instagram and TikTok?
I was motivated by getting more and more messages from friends and family asking to help when they were in the kitchen or hosting, or needed to cook a meal for their families. This motivated me to create a page where all of their needs were met.
Congrats on publishing your first cookbook, Feed My Tribe. How did that come about and how did you find the recipe development and writing process?
Thank you. It was a really difficult process. I had just begun the process of liquidating my juice company and was speaking to my life coach about my ‘what next?’. I felt a huge sense of loss over the business and she suggested I turn my passion for food into a business.
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We then strategised and came up with a one-to-five-year plan. First up would be cooking classes, then merchandise, then in five years a cookbook. All of those things manifested (of course, with the hard work and dedication I put in) within two years.
What can people expect to learn from your book?
An insight into what making good food looks like. New fresh recipes, sexy salads, meals made for hosting, quick meals for moms that kids will enjoy, delicious date-night meals for you and your partner. All of that in one and a new-age glimpse into how we cook as modern moms. A balanced lifestyle.
How do you balance the demands of work and family life?
I don’t know! (laughs). It does get quite intense and I’ll drop a few balls but having a set routine helps. A typical day looks like waking up, praying, doing the school drop-off, gymming, working, picking the kids up from school and attending extramural activities. Then I go home to shoot content to post on social media for a client or random meals, before attending to the kids while cooking with them. Later it’s mommy and daddy time. But I don’t get it right all the time.
What is your favourite meal to prepare?
Anything made with love. I love cooking so it’s hard to pick one.
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What are three ingredients you always have in your fridge?
Cream, butter and baby spinach.
Can you share a bit about your current projects? Is there anything else in the pipeline?
Everyone will just have to follow me at @feed_my_tribe to see! My website is loading soon and more cooking classes are planned.
