Chloe Leal
A look into South Africa’s celebrity Chef Siba Mtongana rise to international fame!
Sibhale Mtongana was brought up in East London, where she fell in love with cooking watching her mom make delicious breakfast and lunches at home. Siba started to cook the evening meals consisting of meet, veg and rice or samp. So this is where her journey of food began.
Siba then left home to study her degree in Food and Consumer Science at Cape Thenikon, her dream there after was to become a food buyer for Woolworths, but destiny move in and was given the role of Assistant Food Editor at the Drum Magazine, where she later became the Food Editor for the publication.
With all the great knowledge of food media Siba’s career in food began to take off. She landed her first TV series called, Cooking With Siba, that aired in 2010 on the African Channel . She would provide viewers with her own recipes, offering traditional meals with an international twist!
The Food Network started to see her redeeming cooking qualities and could see her star quality. Before Siba started her show at the Food Network, she was pregnant with her son. After her sons birth Siba began her new series Siba’s Table, you can currently view it on DSTVS Food network Channel 175.
Siba is ebullient, super-friendly, creative, down-to-earth celebrity chef and every dish she creates on her show is made with love and passion. What is especially unique about her and her TV show, recorded in the Cape Town; it allows the viewers an insight into childhood by presenting many of her family dishes with a modern twist of Siba!
Want to try what is on Siba Table, well this dish is a crowd pleaser – so give it a try simple and delicious!
Sibas Baked and Topped Salmon:
Ingredients
- 3 kg whole Norwegian salmon, filleted and pinboned, skin left on
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Seafood rub, to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 6 tbsp butter
- 3-4 small onions, thinly sliced
- 1 green pepper, cored and sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, cored and sliced
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- A handful of fresh dill or oregano, roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
- Place each half of the fish on a layer of tin foil. Rub each half with garlic and dot with half the butter. Sprinkle over the seafood rub.
- Layer both sides with the onions and peppers and tomatoes. Dot over the remaining butter and scatter with dill. Season with salt and pepper, if you wish.
- Wrap both halves tightly in tinfoil. Place them in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until pressed in the thickest part of the salmon it begins to flake. The salmon should still be pink inside.
- Place onto a serving plate and serve on the table still wrapped in the tin foil.
Finally Enjoy around the table with family and friends the way Siba does it!
Recipe from: Food Network, Siba’s Table
