What’s Cooking: An interview with Knorr Taste Quest’s Kunbi Dixon
Fresh from being crowned winner of Knorr Taste Quest Season 2, Lagos-based Office Administrator Kunbi Dixon has proven herself to be a masterchef. Having won a whopping N2m, a brand new SUV and luxury kitchen equipments, Dixon talks to TWMagazine.net about how she caught the cooking bug, her experience on the show and what her culinary future holds.
Interview by Ope L. Akinyemi
TW: How has winning ‘Knorr Taste Quest’ changed your life?
Kunbi Dixon: Winning the show has definitely been a boost to my morale. Even just the idea of setting out to show that I can cook on National television has proven to me that I can be all and more in life if I make a conscious effort working at it. In terms of changing my life I am not too sure. However in terms of impact, it has been a phenomenally positive one.
TW: What was growing up like for you?
KD: I want to believe I was a well-behaved child growing up and performed above average academically. Growing up was exciting; going to my grandma’s for the whole end of term holiday and being with my cousins, kneeling to greet a minimum of 20 guests in the family house, which I thought then was so much work, waking up in Ikorodu on Christmas morning, attending church in Lagos Island amidst the high-rise buildings in Marina, heading to “Iya Onidiri’s” (local hairdresser) to have my hair plaited and being super excited when I walk into a proper salon to have my hair washed and woven.
TW: When and how did you become interested in cooking?
KD: I grew up watching my mum cook, followed her to Iddo, Mile 12 and Mushin markets. My mum would make moi-moi in tins (forgive her generation’s ignorance) and beef patties for burger. However, the most embarrassing at the time was when my mum would bake birthday cakes for us to take to Primary School with no icing on it!
Apart from my mum, I remember watching my Dad’s sister who was a caterer cook all sorts. As I grew up, I became fascinated by cooking shows, food preparation and presentation. The exposure to my mum’s cooking, food channels and the internet spiked my interest in cooking.
TW: How early do you think children can be introduced to cooking and what two dishes would you teach your child at a young age?
KD: Once a child can identify items and is old enough to run house errands, then the child is ripe enough to be introduced to cooking. Cooking is more than rice and stew; it is a balance of textures, right portions, balance of nutrients and correct ratios. Cooking is a science and an art, which is therapeutic and one of the ways to win anybody’s heart. Besides, people who can cook never lack friends; their skills attract.
Knowing how to cook is a progressive act. However if you are Nigerian, I strongly believe everybody should be able to make peppered stew and their favorite meal; one should endeavor to know what goes into their best meal and know how it is prepared.
TW: Being on the show, what was the experience like for you?”
KD: That saying about being in your father’s compound thinking his is the biggest never sounded so true till I entered the competition. Every single contestant had tremendous skills with specialty in different courses and techniques.
The greatest challenge in the competition was not so much the ingredients, which at a first glance seemed like strange bedfellows but the time allocated to preparing the meals, coupled with not having an idea what you will be asked to prepare in advance. By and large, the experience was wonderful and one I would never forget.
TW: What’s a traditional weekend meal on your family table like?
KD: Now that we (my siblings and I) are grown and out of the house, there’s not much of a traditional meal or family table setting going on. Growing up, Saturday would have been along the lines of ogi (prepared with a dash of lime juice for a tinge of sour) and akara or moi-moi for breakfast, lunch would have to be ikokore (a native South-West Nigerian meal) and dinner would be eba and efo elegusi (egusi soup with leafy vegetables.)
TW: What’s next for you?
KD: I hope to go into television production; maybe present a cooking show or produce one. Partner with organizations who are interested in raising awareness about food vis-a-vis wellness.
TW: What advice would you give aspiring chefs?
KD: I am not a chef so I do not know if I really am in a position to give advice to aspiring chefs. But as a person whose interest lies in food, I will say get knowledge, keep practicing, and get people to taste your food, develop on their criticism, commercialize your passion, think outside the box and remember the sky is wide enough for every bird to fly without touching each other.