Chronicles of a self-made chef

 

Hidden in the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of talent scouts is Gloria Ipeleng Gasimodimo, a chef at Vumbura Plains Premier Camp in the Okavango Delta.

Gasimodimo, is a native of Seronga, a self made and naturally gifted chef with 37 years of experience. Like any other girl child, she learned most of her skills from her grandmother, especially on preparing indigenous food. However, since she is serving the international market, she has attended some upgrading courses organised by her employer.

She is currently head chef at the premier camp. Despite her low educational background, she remains one of the celebrated chefs of modern times and has given tourists who tasted flavours of her dishes a reason to come back for more.

Not only is Gasimodimo a chef, but, a great weaver, whose artefacts form part of those in display at the reception area and are on sale with the proceeds benefitting the community. Amongst her crafts is a "tlotlwana" named Tears of the giraffe.

She is adventurous, daring and enthusiastic. She is not afraid to try new dishes or flavours and incorporate those flavours into dishes that she prepares. There is no waste in her kitchen, she thinks outside the box and experiments by putting ingredients together. That is how she came up with her delicacy, Tswii Pasta. “Anybody who claims the Tswii pasta recipe will be economic with the truth. I have taught many people many recipes including making salads from traditional mabele."

She was discovered by someone who dreamt of creating a business that would allow visitors from around the world to access some of the planet’s most pristine wilderness without harming the wilderness. Collen Bill then founded the Okavango Wilderness Safari (OWS).

Since establishment 40 years ago, OWS has always had the ability to identify and develop talent amongst Batswana. Of late, they launched a programme called “Dinaledi” based on scouting and nurturing talent. When narrating her story, she says she failed PLSE, but still her success was of no use as her parents told her they did not have the means to further her education.

"Being the eldest in a family of six, I had to quickly adjust by entering the harsh reality of looking for employment. By then I was aged 16 years old. There was only one baker in the village, I approached him and he agreed to engage me for two years without pay, instead I used to get a daily ration of bread," she says. In 1984, the baker decided to employ her on a salary of P70 per month. She subsequently embarked on a saving spree and started brewing traditional alcoholic beverages such as Khadi. "I also collected wild berries since they are a good ingredient for Khadi brewing. I quit my job and went to live with my uncle who was popular amongst many white visitors to his village, Xakao.

Since I had saved enough, I started to buy all the baking ingredients before leaving for Xakao, using Mokoro and Nkashi, in a trip that lasted for two weeks." Collen Bells who had her uncle as his guide in the delta brought with him a group of 16 tourists. "My uncle informed him about the daily baking of fresh bread because he had noticed that he always brought dozens of loaves of bread with him from Maun. He invited him and his visitors to visit our place for inspection and upon their arrival they were impressed with what they saw."

Gasimodimo further adds that Bells recruited her. After saving enough money, she decided to go back to Seronga at the end of 1995, but it did not take long before Collins discovered yet another camp named Xigera, which was known as Paradise because of its beautiful surrounding.

"This is when Bells once again felt that he needed my services and employed me once again as head of housekeeping and kitchen staff at a salary of P105 per month. I proved myself to be an asset and moved with him from one camp to the next with the last camp being at Mombo."

While Gasimodimo was good with her hands in the culinary world, she confessed to her employer that she could not prepare some meals, including salads and beacon. This is when he began to teach her how to make certain dishes, and she reciprocated by teaching him how to prepare some of the local dishes.

Gasimodimo was later transferred to Vumbura where she became part of the history in the making when communities of surrounding villages formed a Conservation Trust working with OWS.

Her signature dish, Tswii pasta all started when an elderly tourist asked her what it was. After explaining to him how it was first harvested from river, she took her guests to the river to demonstrate how it was harvested and prepared with meat.

Gasimodimo has prepared dishes for many guests of different backgrounds amongst them, President of United States, George W. Bush and his family. This made her the happiest employee as President Bush himself acknowledged her services by shaking her hand.