By Karla Cloete
Edited by Imaan Moosa
Cariema Isaacs is the author of three cookbooks, a chef, a food stylist and writer, mother and recipe developer.
Big decisions often feel overwhelming because they seem permanent. Poet Robert Frost’s two roads are always diverging and we never quite feel out of the woods. Cariema Isaacs is a perfect example of how weird and wonderful the paths we walk are, how the choices we make open new journeys and create seasons we never would have imagined.
Isaacs (48) is a South African chef who now lives in Dubai with her two sons. She’s also a food stylist, recipe developer and author of three cookbooks.
Photo: Facebook.
Becoming a chef and cookbook author was never part of the plan. Yes, she loved food and has catered events, but she did not consider turning this passion into a full-time career.
Isaacs received her Sales and Marketing Diploma at Peninsula and Cape Technikon in 1995. She loved the scope of the corporate-sphere, personal branding, market research and business economics.
At the time, she was working for a multinational oil company and, as you can imagine, had no expectations of her career taking the twists and turns it would, or that she would use the knowledge and skills she learned from marketing in her new culinary career.
“My life is constantly evolving, and I will never be stuck in one place because I yearn for movement! I guess one can say, this is my life in motion,” Isaacs told To EmpowHER.
Isaacs, born in Schotcheskloof in Bo-Kaap, grew up in Cape Town. Her childhood is peppered with vivid memories of family and Cape Malay heritage and the food she grew up with:
“The smell of warm aromatic spices when koeksisters are being fried on a Sunday morning in Bo-Kaap. The koeksisters are then dunked in glistening sugar syrup and sprinkled with beautiful snow-white flakes of desiccated coconut.”
Photo: Facebook.
Her family had a hand in shaping the woman she is today, even down to her name – Cariema, the Arabic word for ‘generous and giving’. From a tender age, her mother and grandmother instilled in her the love, passion and discipline that are integral to cooking.
“The women in my family have always stood together. I’ve seen amazing things being accomplished by women. I am in awe of women coming into their own, harnessing their talents and not being afraid to own their innate beauty.
For most of my life, I have worked in male-dominated environments and have sat at boardroom tables led by men, until I started using my voice to ensure that I had a seat at the table. Our struggle to be a part of the conversation has been long due and so when I make it to places that were a struggle in the past, my duty becomes opening the path to other women. How else will we move forward?”
Her father taught her that all cooking must be done with great love and that one should never eat alone.
“To me, eating is the finale to the cooking process, which, in most cases, satisfies a need or a craving and if we are fortunate, we get to do it with our loved ones.”
After a traumatic separation from her husband, the oil company she was working for at the time offered her a job in Dubai. In 2010, after 14 years of marriage, she emigrated. She wanted to build a new life for herself and her sons in a new country.
While alone in the Middle East trying to get settled before her sons came, she and her husband reconnected across time zones in what she describes as a long-distance love affair. After six weeks she was reunited with her family and has never looked back.
When visiting his daughter in Dubai, her father suggested she write a cookbook to keep the family’s cultural recipes alive, however, it seemed impossible to Isaacs with two kids and a full-time job.
When her father passed away, it seemed like the only thing she could do in her grief was to honour his memory of the story of her family, the food she and her father made together in the last month of his life and the heritage he had passed down to her. Everything began to fall into place.
“This would end up being a story about us, him and me, told through food and culture.”
She had the burning seed of desire to share their story. All she needed now was boldness.
Fortunately for her, Isaacs has that in spades and then some.
After doing research, she emailed Penguin Random House South Africa, – of course, she felt this story had to be told at home – thus, her first cookbook ‘Cooking for My Father in My Cape Malay Kitchen’ began to take root.
Photo: Facebook.
There is no recipe for writing. She had to quickly learn about publishing, design and photography in the process longing for her father and grappling with grief and depression.
The toughest part was choosing the photos. She had been avoiding looking at images of her father since his death, but during the design phase she was forced to face them. Writing their story helped her work through the grief. The creation of their book became a source of unexpected catharsis and healing. It was a journey into her hurt, but also one that jump started her career into the culinary world.
Support from her family came in droves, enabling her to devote her time to this project. Every free moment, weekends and holidays, were spent writing.
“It is simply impossible for my stories to be told without the acknowledgement that I have been influenced by other cultures and people – especially where cooking techniques, ingredients and more specifically, spices from the countries I have travelled to, have inspired dishes that have now become staples in my home.”
After her first cookbook, Isaacs found herself both in the public eye and the depths of the culinary world. She had to decide if her love for cooking was going to become a fully fledged career and if she was going to nurture her newfound talent for food writing. She would be required to gather all the tools she could to make space for herself in the industry.
Not long after, she enrolled in an Emirati culinary school on weekends for 18 months while continuing her day job. This would open her life to even more adventures and two more cookbooks!
Across her career, Isaacs still champions the tenacity and talent of homecooks. In her books they are:
“Underestimated because they have a high level of skill and experience, as they have perfected the dishes they cook at home. However, they are often not aware of how valuable their skill is and that it doesn’t come naturally to others.
Underappreciated because they are often in service of everyone they cook for and so the family might normalise the experience of ‘mom’s cooking’ – not quite understanding that she needs to be revered for the feasts she creates. This appreciation must come through their expression of gratitude and love when meals are served!
Understated – To all the moms and home cooks out there, YOU ARE DOMESTIC GODDESSES in your own right! You have immense stamina to create dish upon dish, upon dish and to keep the family united, nurtured and cared for. To unite the tribe by breaking bread together remains the humblest act of kindness. I salute you! Own your superpower!”
Isaac’s life and career has been full of plot twists and plot holes. She never could have guessed how her life would have turned out. From boardrooms to worldwide travel and discovering new tastes. She’s excited to continue to be a way-maker:
“I do feel I am a voice to the girls who haven’t made it, the girls who still want to make it and the women who have come before me. I am a voice now because I can be. Being from Cape Town and ultimately from South Africa was a training ground for me to become resilient, resourceful and driven! Whatever I have acquired thus far, especially knowledge, is meant to be paid forward!”
Photo: Facebook.
Follow Cariema Isaacs on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cariema.isaacs/
Website: https://www.cariemaisaacs.com/
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