Deborah is a content marketing specialist, with a passion for the food niche, she writes engaging content that celebrates the joy of food and its power to bring people together. Having worked on different projects. Her curiosity and creativity shines through in her writing.
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Shanazi Chanda, a 32-year-old who grew up in Zambia shared how she transitioned from a marketing background to the culinary world.
AFN:Tell us about yourself!
Shanazi: My names are Shanazi Chanda, but I do go by the name Nazi The Foodie I am a 32-year-old who grew up in Zambia and later moved to South Africa after completing high school.
I am an Entrepreneur, Caterer, Recipe/Product developer, and Food content creator. I come from a Marketing background. For over 5 years, I worked in the industry for corporate events in Johannesburg, South Africa.
My culinary journey started rather late in 2017, South Africans were really good cooks. This was an opportunity to learn and upgrade my cooking skills after I worked on developing my recipes and decided to start my catering business in 2018 called Shanazi Kitchen Bar. During Covid, in 2021, I relocated back to Zambia and continued my food business under a different name called Nazi Cook Studio.
AFN:Why do you cook?
Shanazi: I was always interested in food and started cooking at a young age. It started with watching cooking shows and reading food magazines. I was compelled to recreate those recipes, even though I had never heard of most of the ingredients mentioned in those recipes and had no idea what words like braise and sauté meant, and I later grew to enjoy cooking.
AFN:What is your favorite memory in the kitchen?
Shanazi: It’s difficult to single one out, but my favorite memory was when we were young; on that day, my older sister and I were left alone with my late Father, and he had to cook for us. I remember how exciting it was because it was his first time cooking for us, and it was so much fun, even though the food turned out tasteless and overcooked. It has been and will always be a moment I will forever treasure.
AFN:What is your biggest cooking fail?
Shanazi: Lol. Burns and cuts are regular features in our lives as chefs. I think the most important thing a chef can do is pay attention to whatever is happening in the kitchen; I have learned from countless mistakes, from overcooking food, choosing the poor quality of ingredients, the list goes on, and the most annoying thing is to clean up by the way and mishaps like breaking and losing multiple pieces of equipment.
AFN:What kitchen equipment do you use more and can’t do without?
Shanazi: I would say my knives. Preparation is the most important step in cooking, and a good knife makes prep a joy.
AFN: What are your favorite foods to cook and why?
Shanazi: I am a big fan of slow cooking and slow roasting and enjoy making comfort foods like stews, curries, Grilled meat, old-fashioned salads with twists, etc.
AFN: What would you like to share with our audience?
Shanazi: I wouldn’t say I have succeeded; I have started to bring awareness to what Nazi Cook Studio is about and what we are trying to achieve, but we are just getting started. That being said, I am hopeful for the future. I would say to someone starting up that no good thing will come easy.
My recipe for success is hard work, never losing sight of your vision, staying focused on your goals, learning from your and others’ mistakes regardless of the industries they are in because certain principles run across, and just allowing God to do the rest!
Deborah is a content marketing specialist, with a passion for the food niche, she writes engaging content that celebrates the joy of food and its power to bring people together. Having worked on different projects. Her curiosity and creativity shines through in her writing.
