Chef Naledi Toona was all set for a corporate career when she realised she needed to put her family first. Now, she’s an accomplished chef, entrepreneur and the South African curator of the Marine Stewardship Council’s Ocean Cookbook 2024. Most importantly, she’s living a life she loves.
By Wanita Nicol
For Naledi Toona, food has always been an expression of love. It began as a little girl in the organised chaos of her grandmother’s kitchen, surrounded by her many cousins. “I come from a huge family. My grandmother had 13 children and you can imagine, all 13 children also had children,” she says. “So, during school holidays, we would gather at my grandmother’s house and different age groups would be tasked with cooking breakfast, and another lunch.”
While those early experiences of feeding large groups of people taught Naledi to enjoy cooking, she never thought of it as catering and certainly had no intention of pursuing it as a career. That would come later – as another act of love. “The culinary qualification is actually my second qualification,” says Naledi. Initially she studied a BA in Business Management, majoring in marketing, and worked in corporate. “But when I started my family, I realised I wanted to be more present,” she recalls. Cooking was the solution. “For me, I always say it’s an act of love. It was my love language for my children and my husband – going to work with packed lunches instead of having to go out and buy takeaways.” That started expanding into catering for small private functions, Naledi decided it was time to make it official and started studying towards becoming a chef.
The Business of Food
There’s a big difference between having a knack for cooking and becoming a qualified chef. “I don’t think a lot of people realise the importance, or exactly what happens in culinary school,” Naledi muses. “Many people have a perception that you’re going there to learn recipes. Actually, it’s learning the different parts of an animal; cooking methods, food storage and safety… it’s all science.”
The course was extensive and intense, but Naledi relished the opportunity to learn. There was also a big business component to her studies, which she immediately started putting into practice in her catering business. Soon it was thriving.
In addition to the catering business, Naledi has other entrepreneurial interests too, including a property portfolio and an interest in brand education. It was this interest that led her to partner with the MSC, not just as a brand collaborator but a brand educator.
Setting Boundaries
While the culinary business can be stressful and demanding in its own right, Naledi was determined to make time for her family. “I did it knowing that I’m not going to work for somebody else; I want to have control over my time.” She’s also strict about guarding her time – scheduling time off in advance and being uncompromising in honouring those commitments and makes herself unavailable between 6pm and 8am every day. “It’s difficult because, obviously, the economy isn’t very friendly to us right now, but I always say time lost is time that can never be retrieved. Imagine if I’m missing my kids’ awards ceremony because I’m cooking for somebody else who’s enjoying time with his/her family.”
These lessons have been learnt the hard way. In the past Naledi would push herself, sacrificing downtime for the sake of the hustle, and she paid the price with her health. “You cannot give your all if you are fatigued, and sometimes your body will tell you – it will shut you down. It’s done that before and I’m not going back to that point again,” she says.
Protecting The Oceans
Naledi’s collaboration with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), curating the South African edition of their digital Ocean Cookbook 2024, is another act of love – this time, for the environment. Dubbed The Whitefish Collection, it’s free to download and features 12 family-friendly recipes from chefs around the world (including Naledi’s own Creamy Coconut Hake with Grilled Seasonal Vegetables) that shine a spotlight on hake and haddock as versatile, healthy and sustainable seafood options.
“I am an educator at heart so becoming involved with the MSC was a no-brainer. The MSC’s mission is to use its program to contribute to the health of our oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practices and influencing the choices people make when buying seafood. For me, it was all about educating consumers on why it is important to choose sustainable seafood, how to recognise sustainably sourced seafood and, of course, how to cook delicious and nutritious meals”, says Naledi.
“I’m all about sustainability, I’m all about organic growth, and simply because I want my children’s children and generations to come to be able to enjoy what we are enjoying now,” she continues. As for the rest of the year, Naledi plans to focus on education – teaching children about healthy nutrition and how to look after their bodies by making healthy food choices and you can be sure it all comes from a place of love.
Healthy, Easy, Tasty
Naledi’s cooking style is all about convenience and simplicity – but without sacrificing health or flavour. We needed all the tips!
What meal-prepping tips can you share?
“Every time you plan your meals, think about how you can repurpose whatever you’re cooking into a lunchbox. For example, if you’re going to be cooking a whole chicken – even chicken pieces – put in that extra piece of chicken for the lunch box the next day. Or if you’re going to have meatballs or fishballs for dinner, make extra, but don’t cook them; put them in the fridge and in the morning, while you’re getting ready, they can be cooked in the oven.”
How can you make lunches more appealing for kids?
“I use meatballs and kebab sticks. Just cut the sharp part off the stick. So, it would be a meatball with a little tomato and a cucumber slice. It’s nice and colourful and attractive for children. You you can do the same with hake – make it into fish patties.”
Your kids are teenagers now, but how did you get them to help in the kitchen when they were younger?
“I think we underestimate the power of having them involved – from something as simple as writing down the grocery lists. Involve them in the planning and involve them in grocery shopping. When you come back home, they’re happy to unpack because they’ve written exciting things there. After that, it’s the actual cooking. At a younger age it’s quite difficult, but let them make that mess. There’s no way they can learn how to cook without making a mess.”
How do you get them to eat healthily?
“It’s important to be able to teach them from the word go so that you broaden their minds and also their palates. For example, we can’t have chocolates this week; we had chocolates last week. Sometimes you’ll find that they won’t enjoy a specific food cooked in a specific way, but they enjoy it cooked in another way. When they were younger, we had jars that would say things like, ‘I am good for your bones.’
Something that has dairy would have that label so you get to teach them the functions of the things that they’re eating and it makes it all the more fun. My son is a soccer player, so he is adamant about drinking milk because he knows milk is good for your bones and he needs strong bones for soccer.”
Home cooks are often intimidated by preparing and cooking fish. What are your tips for cooking with fish such as hake?
“It shouldn’t even be on that pan for more than eight minutes otherwise it’s going to be dry. Don’t squeeze out the water… you can squeeze out a little bit, but not all of it because again, it’s going to be very dry. Seasoning is quite important. I know we use fish spice a lot but explore natural herbs and spices. It’s nice with paprika. It’s also nice with Italian herbs. You also do not need to coat it with batter the entire time. Even dusting it with flour is good because it just gives that little bit of a rigid texture so that it doesn’t break easily.”
Grab ‘n Go
Naledi’s meal-prep staple: tinfoil containers. They’re lightweight, affordable and easy to stack in the fridge or freezer. They’re also great for steaming fish and making fish bakes.
UP YOUR SEAFOOD GAME SUSTAINABLY
Download the free cookbook at: MSC.org/saocean-
cookbook-2024
