African food from all over the continent is making big waves in the UK lately, and you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to try some.
Cameroon-born founder and chief of gwafuvegan Ngwafu Tansie spreads the word of vegan African food from Manchester, where her plant-based cooking has been a smash with marketgoers and café visitors alike.
pan-African caught up with Ngwafu to discover the story so far, what it’s like to be spearheading African vegan food in England’s northwest, and what’s coming up in 2022 for gwafuvegan.
Read on to find out more!
You sold out of food in just four hours at Levenshulme Market in November – how do you feel about northwest England embracing African and Cameroonian food in the way it has?
Ecstatic! I didn’t think it would take off so quickly, or that people would embrace our food and culture so openly.
When that happened, I was completely shocked that is sold out so quickly, because we had the intention to try and sell as much of our food as possible, but we weren’t ready for how much love would come our way!
How has your background and experience in food manufacturing and hospitality played a part in gwafuvegan’s success so far?
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Without that, I don’t think I would have done this. I started in manufacturing, which is all about the recipe you create in the kitchen and creating it en-masse. During that process, I learnt that in taking a recipe from the kitchen, you have to be able to tweak it, and that in a restaurant setting, you also have to learn how to create, write, and read recipes.
I also learned about running a kitchen and all the health and safety admin side of it, so with those two experiences combined, I was able to create recipes that I knew would work in a market setting rather than creating a kitchen recipe and trying to mass-produce it, because I already knew what can and can’t happen.
I skipped quite a lot of steps and went straight into the testing side of the business, which saved a lot of money because I didn’t have to go through all the testing and practising. That really helped get gwafuvegan off the ground.
The rise in reputation of African food in the UK – and of international street food in general – over the past few years is certainly worth noting. How does it feel to be part of it?
It feels amazing – it’s an honour to be able to represent our culture at a time where everyone is interested to learn about it.
It’s quite a lot of pressure as well, because I’ve got to uphold the recipes to make sure they do my culture justice, but it’s humbling to be able to be part of the process, especially during a pandemic where people are trying to get to know about and embrace different cultures.
Many African dishes contain no meat, dairy, or eggs – what would you say to someone who believes African food might not cater to a plant-based diet or lifestyle?
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With African food, there are two sides to it: there are recipes that are plant-based already, and recipes that are meat-heavy, so I think what you might see in the media is a lot of African food that isn’t plant-based. People tend to show the meat-heavy side because it’s depicted as a luxury.
I would say don’t be afraid to try something new, and try to embrace a range of dishes as well as the culture as a whole, to understand what the culture provides and especially within the Cameroonian community of what and how we eat, and how you really can eat very well on a vegan diet.
What advice do you have for Black and African-owned start-ups with a passion for cooking up and showcasing the cuisine of their homeland in the UK?
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People want to get to know the person and the culture behind the food and learn about what significance ingredients hold within the culture, so whenever you’re cooking at a market, try to put your personality and culture out there too.
Showcase yourself as a person, and your food. I think that gets people feeling connected to food, and street food especially. They like to come and experience you as well as the food.
You’ve collaborated with Manchester’s Milk & Honey Cafe to hold a special ‘gwafuvegan Cook School’ event, and you’ve been featured in Vegan Food & Living Magazine this year – what’s next?
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More markets! We’re busy up until December now, and we’d love to do more collaborations with café and brick-and-mortars as well because we want to be able to expand on what we can provide.
Our market range is quite limited in terms of what we can do based on a mass-scale format approach, so if we’re in cafes and restaurants, we can provide a wider range of what we offer to more people. We’re also doing more interviews, we’re looking into doing podcasts, more in-person events, and more cook-alongs. We also want to put Cameroonian culture first by speaking about that as well as making our food.
And not forgetting our puff-puff boxes! That’s one of our unique offerings that we’re really pushing to be UK-wide, because we want to provide something that can be delivered direct to your home.
Which West African or Cameroonian dish would be your go-to comfort food on a chilly, drizzly Mancunian evening?
That’s a tough one! I’m torn between jollof rice, or puff-puff and beans. I think it depends whether I want dessert afterwards… if I want to feel full up from deep within my soul, I’d definitely go for puff-puff and beans.
Lastly, what’s the best thing about being from Africa?
I love the culture! Everyone is so open and friendly, and always positive. In the media, a lot of Africans are depicted as being smiley, almost glowing, and it’s incredible to be part of that. I always strive to be that kind of person.
I love how much passion is in African culture, whether it’s food, music, or fashion, there is so much personality. I’m very proud to be African, and want to continue to showcase that.
Visit gwafuvegan’s website to order their delicious puff-puff, and to follow them on social media, you can go to their Instagram @gwafuvegan
