In the kitchen of a dead-normal Northern Cape house, Herman Lensing got to know life from behind his mother’s apron. There, an omnipresent love for food, but also storytelling, began to flow through his heart.
Today this love flows not only through Herman’s own Cape house and kitchen, but also through every aspect of his life and career.
“I have seen so many beautiful things unfold around a table. I have seen how people forgive each other, how they love each other again. There are few things that South Africans celebrate without food,” Herman tells RNews.
“Whether it’s a braai or a funeral – we always think about the food that will be served.”
It is precisely his love for food and storytelling that led to the latest installment in his recipe book trilogy, Nostalgia. This book follows It tastes like homewhich he describes as an ode to his mother, and Home foodan ode to his readers.
Like these two books, bring Nostalgia tribute to an irreplaceable part in Herman’s life – his friends.
“This is the last deep dive in my history. The book consists of food we all know, with ingredients we can all cook with. It’s food that warms your heart,” says Herman, who has been doing this for a year and a half Nostalgia wrote.
“Normally I only write six months to a year on a recipe book. With Nostalgia, I worked on the book for a long time. ‘Friends’ is a big word, it embraces a big group of people.”
Herman has been a lover of stories since childhood, and considers every recipe, every moment in the kitchen as part of one big story. He is proud that his work is not a mere “Google search”, but a story carefully woven together with food as the center.
“My books are stories where food is the main character,” he says.
He cannot remember when his childhood love for stories and cooking turned into a career choice. As a young boy, he realized that one day he would make a difference in people’s lives with food, but exactly how this would happen was unknown to him for a long time.
Over the years, Herman has scrubbed his way into the South African food world, and has quite a few titles to his name. He is not only a renowned food writer, but has also repeatedly tested the waters of the entertainment industry in programs such as Minki and Herman and the ladies. He has also served as an administrator for several years Saree ‘s food editor.
Although today he is proud of all the outgrowths of his career and love of food, he never expected that this would be the direction his life would take.
“There is a plan for each of our lives. If you are willing to listen to that plan, it will manifest in your life.”
- Nostalgia is on the shelves now. Buy your copy here.
