Better known as The Lazy Chef, she lives her dream daily creating mouth-watering dishes. Her culinary skills ignite a spark in you to get in front of the stove and try out her delicious recipes, which are sure to put you in a good mood…
Cooking has always been Makhiba Modupe’s first love. From a young age she did not see herself doing anything not food-related. “I always knew I wanted to be a chef; I even told everyone so since primary school days.”
Today 26-year-old Makhiba is a private chef, content creator as well as a photographer. She was born in Botshabelo, 45 km east of Bloemfontein and matriculated at Brebner High School in 2012, from where she went to the Central University of Technology (CUT) to complete her Hospitality Management Diploma and BTech in Hospitality Management.
After leaving her job, Makhiba officially started operating as a private chef, content creator and photographer. Later on, she became known as The Lazy Chef when starting her social media pages which were meant to help “lazy people” who do not have hours to spend in the kitchen make good tasting meals. “The name stuck, people started calling me that, so I just went with it.”
She describes cooking as creating connections, experiences and memories with her loved ones and her food community.
“What always inspires me, is my love for food and the drive and excitement I have to always try and find different and quicker ways of doing things around the kitchen. Whenever I come across whatever ingredient, my brain just starts wondering how to use it or what meal I can try it in.”
She loves the process of transforming ingredients into something that tastes and looks good. Making someone’s day by preparing them a nice meal is what Makhiba is known for and in the process she also loves educating and giving people new experiences of ingredients that they always use at home, but in a different way. Makhiba’s go-to dish is pasta, “a dish that you can make with almost anything and it will taste good”.
Her passion for cooking has opened many doors. She has been part of the Macufe Cup as a host for one of their suites. She has been a guest on Lesedi FM and was headhunted by one of her favourite brands she daily uses in her kitchen.
Makhiba has bigger dreams for her career and would love to one day be the owner of a food truck franchise. She also has plans to publish her own recipe.
Text and main photo: PIERCE VAN HEERDEN.
