Lockdown Food Inspo at The Humble Plate

Comfort food. Just a few weeks ago, those words may have simply referred to the mincefilled junkie or the succulent helping of dunked wings we’d grab on our way home after a bad day. Amidst the incessant stress of a global pandemic, however, the comfort of preparing, eating and even having food has reached startling new levels.

Into this frantic banquet of banana bread, vetkoek and elaborate essays on poultry ambles application analyst and self-taught cook Iyaloo Ashikoto.

The local proprietor of The Humble Plate, a drool worthy Instagram account teasing his own versions of chicken soup, double chocolate brownies, baked hake, slow braised beef ribs and bolognese, Ashikoto creates, plates and photographs his dishes with style.

Fresh from judging the second round of the Nedbank Swakopmund Food Fest which took place online last week, Ashikoto grew up in a home of skilled cooks and is inspired by Michel Roux Jr and Heston Blumenthal internationally and by local chef Jovan ‘JJ’ Greyton, who is the head chef at Isabel’s Table.

A cooking show enthusiast and after learning and building on the basics from his family, Ashikoto elevated his cooking through experimentation.

“All the recipes that I post are my own. Having watched a ton of videos and shows on different cooking methods for different produce, I have a fairly good idea on how to cook various products. I then take that knowledge and add my own flair to it and introduce flavours that I like and enjoy,” says Ashikoto, who aspires to own and work in a small restaurant one day.

“What I enjoy most about cooking is seeing how people react when they see the food that I have prepared and even more when they finally taste it. There is a great sense of satisfaction that comes from seeing people really enjoying my food and answering any questions that they may have regarding either the ingredients used or the method employed in preparing the dishes.”

On Instagram, Ashikoto posts short, tantalising recipes in The Humble Plate’s photo captions and has done so since May 2019.

“I felt that a lot of recipes that were available on social media were from international cooks and chefs. Seeing that I had a good amount of ideas and skill in the kitchen and my friends had been encouraging me to try it, I thought to myself ‘Why not?’,” says Ashikoto on sharing his talent online.

“In addition to that, I felt that the local audience would perhaps be able to relate to a local sharing recipes and push them to try some of them.”

Recommending his slow braised oxtail as a recipe to try and thyme as the one ingredient that can always liven up a meal, Ashikoto hopes to encourage people to attempt something different during and post-lockdown.

“Cooking, like running, is one of my favourite pastimes,” he says.

“With the lockdown, cooking allows me to really immerse myself into the task at hand. By doing so, I forget about being confined to home and I get to try out various recipes that I previously couldn’t due to time restrictions.”

Certainly finding space for some culinary creativity during quarantine, the young cook concludes with the details behind his account’s name.

“The idea behind the name The Humble Plate is to simply showcase the different results one can achieve with everyday produce. To show that as ‘intimidating’ as the end result may seem, it is still just a simple and humble plate of food,” he says.

“Cooking is not as difficult as it may seem. Once you have the basics covered, you can simply start playing around with any and everything. As they say, practice makes ‘perfect’.”

Follow The Humble Plate on Instagram for recipes.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

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