The culinary creative making vegan food fashionable.

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Bathandwa and her colorful personality. 

While vegan food might be considered dull and boring by some, this culinary creative has added more than just a pinch of color and uniqueness to her vegan dishes. Bathandwa Nkambule is a food blogger, food stylist, food editor,  yogi and an activist to name a few.

Bathandwa's creativity for youth day.

Born and  bred in Kwazulu Natal (Newcastle), the 32 year old self-taught vegan chef grew up in a family of six.  She stated that her mother and her sister were the reason she developed love for food. Bathandwa's relationship with her siblings has been a good impact in her life. Growing up in an environment filled with love enabled her to continue to radiate the same love on her vegan dishes. 

"When I first started as vegetarian in high school, I was probably only living on soy products. I had no clue what to cook and how to go about it." She said. She also elaborated on the mistakes she made on her journey of being a vegetarian. "I'd say avoid the internet, go back to basics and focus on the recipes that you grew up with and that you love."

A flavor some dish from chef Bathandwa. 

One of the things that stood out in the food she makes and her personality is that she was extra. She further highlighted the love she has for nature which she incorporates in her blog (theearthycook). Not only is this vegan chef passionate about spicing things up in the kitchen,  she also shares her views and tips about yoga on her blog.  "I also include the garden section which shows everything I do in the garden whether it's a thought that came to mind while laying down, floral arrangements or tips for growing veggies and herbs." She added.

Theearthycook blogger is inspired by women chefs of color who  occupy white and male dominated cooking space, as it was not an easy thing to attain. 

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@theearthycook creating content in the garden. 

The food blog she draws inspiration from is Butterfingers by Ming-Cheu, a Taiwanese blogger who expresses her passion for two cultures that blend so splendidly. She also added that Ming-Cheu's Just Add Rice was her favourite cookbook.

When Bathandwa is not in the kitchen or making appearances on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and in various online publications- she has a 9-5 job and runs an NGO called Sisterhood of Power.  "We create awareness campaigns, programmes, drives, community work and charity work around our town." This organization aims at educating the community about Gender-based violence, gender roles and all the oppression that women endure. 

The catering and events company that Bathandwa owns took a strain before covid-19 but that was a blessing in disguise as it gave her an opportunity to redirect.

Bathandwa keeping it colorful.

Bathandwa enjoys indulging in Middle Eastern flavors as they evoke a sense of adventure. She also went into depth about all the African food, from different countries not to forget the Italian food that was unbelievably flavorsome. Above all, she enjoys South African food such as samp, sugar beans, pap, ujeqe, dumplings and further expressed that they taste like love and give her warmth.