Yummy Tasty Meals! Dig Into this “Doing Life With” Edition with Ify’s Kitchen

Doing Life With… is a new BellaNaija Features series that aims to showcase how people are living, working, travelling, journalling, taking care of their families and… everything in between. We aim to document the lives of all people and ensure everyone is well-represented at BN through storytelling. 

Last week, we had a conversation with The Celebrity Danfo Driver. Did you miss it? Read it here.

Today, we’re doing life with Ify Mogekwu (Ify’s Kitchen), a multi-award-winning culinary expert, TV cooking show host, and content creator who is also part of Youtube’s 2023 Black Class.

Get your forks and knives ready and dig into this yummy interview!

Hi Ify, how are you today?

Hello BellaNaija, I am well.

Great! Walk us through a typical day in your life 

I am usually awake every day at about 5 am. I do my morning devotions and plan the day’s activities. By 6 am, I am out for an hour of brisk walking or jogging. When I get back, I assist in getting the kids ready for school and then I do school runs.

From 9 am to 2:30 pm, I am in my studio kitchen creating food or brand content, reviewing videos with my team for my YouTube Channel, reviewing contracts or attending to emails. I have a meal before dashing out at 2:30 pm for school runs. I thereafter spend some time with the kids, ensuring they are fed and have done their homework.

Around 4 pm, I continue with editing and posting videos on IG, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. After that, I spend about 2 hours engaging in the comments sections on all platforms as I like to personally engage with my audience. By this time, it’s about 7 pm and I help get the kids fed and ready for bed. Hubby and I have dinner and chat about the day.

The day ends for me at about 9:30 pm when I get on my bed responding to DMs, and replying to comments on all platforms till I fall asleep.

It looks like you’ve got your 24 hours well planned. Let’s talk about Ify’s Kitchen and the magic you’ve created with it. Tell us how this culinary journey started

My culinary journey started in 2016 and has been a very interesting and rewarding one. It was very stressful when I first started as I pioneered recipe videos on IG in Nigeria. I wasn’t sure about what I was doing but I kept going and receiving clarity as I progressed. After several months of creating food content, I started having brand deals and collaborations. That was also stressful for me as I had no clue what to charge for my services. I also started my online cookery course where I empower people to become better cooks at home and to start their food business. After a few years, I became a brand ambassador for a popular brand and received several awards as a food content creator. I went on to become selected as part of the YouTube Black Class of 2023 and that was major for me. Ify’s Kitchen also started airing on African Magic on DSTV in 2022. We are currently in the process of producing our cooking paste which will change the way people cook and also enhance their food.

You seem to do a lot around food and it’s impressive. What role does food play in your life, family and culture?

Food is important in celebrations, entertainment, and so on but it plays a super important role in my life. It is how I let my family and people know I care about them. It is how I nourish my body and mind. In my family, food is a medium of bonding.

For me, food is also a way to identify someone’s cultural heritage. If I go into a gathering and I see people serving Abacha and all its yummy accompaniment, then I know those people are most likely from the Eastern part of Nigeria. One food tradition that has passed from several generations in my family is during the new yam festival – which happens around September annually – that we must make pounded yam and delicious Ofe Nsala with fresh chicken and fish. I now make that dish in my own home during the new yam festival and hopefully, my kids will do the same.

Interesting! The hike in prices of food has become quite concerning. How have you been able to work through this?

Although the hike in food prices is a major problem and a rather disheartening one at that, it has not affected the way I cook or what I cook. What I (may) do now is consider an alternative ingredient or brand if it is of good quality but more affordable.

Want to share a memorable kitchen experience you cannot forget?

That’ll be when I was at a friend’s kitchen prepping to cook and bake. We had laid out all the ingredients and left the kitchen for a minute. When we returned, we saw the kitchen in a mess and 2 monkeys slipping out through the torn kitchen net. It was a major disaster. I strongly believe it was the bunch of ripe plantains that attracted the monkeys.

Ha! Okay, we’re not laughing. Tell us the little things that bring you joy, get you excited or make you feel alive as a culinary expert

Cooking with very fresh ingredients – oh, they make me come so alive! Or when I cook outside my home or studio and I discover the knife is very sharp, I am happy.

One last thing, cooking in a clean and beautiful environment can make me cook all day.

BNers, there’s one way to attract Ify, make your environment clean! What’s that one meal you think every Nigerian must try out?

Seafood Alfredo pasta.

Haha, tell us why

it is so so creamy and delicious, oh my gosh! And oh, please make it a little spicy to enjoy it better. Absolute yum.

Last question, one trick for any kitchen hazard?

Always turn your pot handles (especially if it is a long one) towards the back of the burner so that anyone passing by will not accidentally hit the handle and spill the content on themselves. Also, when bleaching palm oil for your Ofada sauce, cover the pot and bleach on low heat. Do not open for a while even after turning off the gas. This will help prevent your kitchen from a lot of smoke.

Great hacks! Thank you, Ify, for being a part of Doing Life With series

Thank you, BellaNaija, for having me.

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All photos from Ifys.kitchen/Instagram. Many thanks to Ify Mogekwu for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!

Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’ll love to read from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]