Food People, Parent Picks: Clara's Favorite Things
The Founder of Black Garlic Zambia Shares Her Real-Life Food Storytelling Tips and How to Learn More About Zambian Food
Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
🥔 One Potato is a reader-supported newsletter - paid subscribers have access to the full archive of Recipes and Specials Interviews and Community Voices for $5/month or $45/year.
In her Order Up! interview, Clara Kapelembe Bwali shared with us her mission to bring Zambian food onto the global stage. It’s these deep roots, and her connection to food and family, that is exactly aligned with our mission here at One Potato.
Clara’s whole approach with content creation is about connection, not perfection. She reminds us that you don’t need fancy gear to share something meaningful (she started with an iPhone and an entry-level camera); what matters is knowing the story you want your dish to tell. Is it the glossy drip on a burger? The bright crunch of a salad? The feeling of a family-style platter that invites everyone in? Once you understand that story, everything else — the setup, the colors, the plate, the mood — falls into place. For anyone starting a career in food, use what you have, tell your story, be relatable, and be grateful. If you eat every day, you have something to share — that’s the beauty of food.
For our Food People, Parent Picks segment, Clara shared with us her favorite kitchen tools, spices, and cookbooks that she reaches for again and again.
What’s one cooking skill you think every home cook should practice?
Turning leftovers into magic. Everyone should know how to take yesterday’s dry grilled chicken and transform it into something completely new — a stir-fry, a wrap, anything. With a few spices and a little creativity, what would’ve been tossed becomes a whole new meal for your family. No waste, lots of flavor.
Do you have a favorite cookbook?
I love so many. One of my favorites is the initiative led by Chef Alexander [read our Order Up! interview with Chef Alexander Smalls right here!] that brought chefs from across Africa and America together. It’s titled, The Contemporary African Kitchen: Home Cooking Recipes from the Leading Chefs of Africa [Bookshop, Amazon] I also love books by Lazy Makoti, Chef Zanele, and Cooking with Jaz from Kenya. Sadly, there are very few Zambian cookbooks on the market, something I hope changes as our food scene grows.
Is there a meal that always brings your family together?
We love chicken — at this point we probably have feathers in our stomachs! A simple breadcrumb-coated chicken served with vegetable fried rice and coleslaw is a family favorite. And if we’re going traditional, nothing beats beef stew with vegetables cooked the Zambian way and Nshima. That combo makes everyone happy.
What’s the best piece of cooking advice you’ve ever received?
My mom cooked a lot, so impressing my dad was nearly impossible. When he visited me in university, I cooked a feast for him. He told me my cooking had become so good he couldn’t tell if it was mine or my mother’s, and I’ve held onto that forever, especially since he’s passed. It felt like being told I could cook as well as my superhero.
What’s one kitchen tool you can’t live without?
A cooking stick — the one we use to cook Nshima. As a Zambian, that’s essential.
What spice or ingredient do you reach for most?
Garlic and ginger, always.
If we opened your fridge right now, what would we always find?
Fresh herbs, carrots, green beans — fresh vegetables are a must.
And what about your pantry staples?
Maize meal for Nshima, plus sorghum meal, cassava meal, and millet — the way our grandmothers used to make it, with a blend of grains. And of course, rice. Those are always in my pantry.
For someone curious about Zambian food, where should they start? Who should they follow?
Follow The Wood Kitchen — I collaborate with them often, and they create beautiful, family-oriented content. Bibo’s Kitchen, Chico Vs Food (who also teaches about food sustainability), Hungry AF, and Emma Kukopala are all amazing Zambian creators. Everyone brings something different, but we share the same mission: pushing Zambian food to the world.