Smart Cooker expert Rudo Marasiro shares her love of cooking, her favourite appliance and one of her delectable recipes.
What is it about cooking you love — and is there a part you really dislike?
I love cooking because it brings the family together, especially at Christmas. Cooking is my way of showing love and bringing people closer because it sparks joy, conversation and togetherness and creates memories. The part I don’t enjoy as much is washing up afterwards!
Who inspired your love of cooking?
I was always in the kitchen from a young age, helping my mother and learning by her side. Baking was a constant in our home. The recipe that stands out most in my memory is vanilla cupcakes, which my mother baked often. No surprises then that my favourite TV show is The Great British Bake Off.
What dish did you master as a child?
A dish I learnt to master as a child ― and cook over and over again ― is how to make perfect pap. I serve it with my family’s special meal using three of my favourite ingredients: chicken, chomolia (African kale) and peanut butter. I make the peanut butter from scratch using fresh peanuts I buy at the market and grind them in my smart kitchen appliance, the Tokit, in minutes.
You talk about a Tokit — what is it?
It’s an all-in-one smart cooking machine making waves in the South African market. Described as a tabletop “cooking robot”, it comes with in-built smart technology that combines multiple features, meaning it can do the job of more than 20 traditional appliances. Apart from the ability to make almost any dish in the kitchen genie, it can whip up a sauce in minutes, prepare yeast dough, make spice pastes and stocks, and cook rice, and it can even make yoghurt. With its built-in library of more than 3,000 guided recipes to choose from at the flick of a switch, I consider the Tokit as my little kitchen helper I can’t live without.
Cooking for a family can become tedious. Is there a dish you can make for your family every day? They love it that much.
If I were a spice, I’d be garlic — bold, unapologetic and impossible to ignore. Garlic makes a confident entrance in every dish, transforming flavours and leaving a lasting impression. Like garlic, I don’t just add flavour, I bring character, depth and a touch of magic to everything I love.
As a great cook, what sweet dish do you make that is easy and impressive?
One of my family’s favourite dishes is a tuna and egg pizza with a pap base I make in a jiffy in the Tokit. My husband, who is obsessed with eggs, absolutely loves this pizza. The beauty of this dish is its simplicity; you can use leftover pap as the base or prepare a fresh batch.
TUNA AND EGG PIZZA WITH PAP BASE
Serves 4
- 750ml (3 cups) vegetable stock
- 375ml (1½ cups) braaipap
- 200g block cheddar cheese, grated
- salt and pepper
- ½ x 410g tin tomato puree
- 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
- ½ a white or red onion, thinly sliced
- 170g tin tuna flaked in oil, drained
- ½ x 100g packet kalamata olives
- 4 eggs
- avocado slices, optional
- handful fresh basil
Method
- To make the pap, heat the stock in a large saucepan and whisk in the braaipap. Bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Stir in half of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the pap into a 26cm x 30cm greased baking tray.
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Spread the pap base with tomato puree and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Top with onion, garlic, tuna and olives. Use the back of a spoon to make four wells in between the filling and break an egg into each. Season eggs with salt and pepper.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. If using, top with avocado slices and scatter over the basil and serve.
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