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By Christy Anyanwu
She is suave, sophisticated and soft-spoken. As she introduced herself at the conference held to kick-start the 2024 “She Awards” in Accra, Ghana, she exuded confidence of a go-getter.
As one of the recipients at the ‘She Awards ‘ in April, she took out time to talk to Sunday Sun about her sojourn as a chef, and lots more.
Could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Princess Bashirah Busola Giwa. I am a chef, an hospitality and tourism consultant and a cook book author.
Could you share your journey into cooking with us?
I never thought I would be a chef. I am a graduate of chemistry, and you’ll get the April edition of Lady in Business, which features a full interview with me about my journey. I have a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Ilorin, but I’ve always been into catering and training people in catering since I was in SS1. I was empowering women, training housewives to make pastries and sell them, to earn money and support their families, so they wouldn’t have to wait for their husbands to come home before they could pay small bills. That’s how I started. I got my culinary experience from my family. My dad had two wives, and you know, in the olden days, food and nutrition were a must. My stepmum is a food and nutrition teacher, and my mum, though an Arabic teacher, is also good in food and nutrition. My mum taught me pastry while my stepmum taught me cooking. Now, I’m a fusion chef. I can bake, make desserts, decorate cakes, and cook any intercontinental meals. My love for cooking and the ideals from home made me realize it was my calling. I often had visions of myself cooking, and these visions guided me towards this path. So, I started studying on my own, creating menus, and training myself. I attended summer schools and gradually found myself here.
You mentioned catering for VVIPs at the conference?
I now cater for VVIPs in the culinary industry. I decided to create an image for myself by not going with the bandwagon. There are common party meals like jollof rice, fried rice, moimoi, coleslaw, plantain, chicken, and fish. However, I noticed that most of my clients do not employ me to cook those dishes. They hire me to prepare special meals for them. For instance, they might ask me to come up with something unusual, such as mashed potatoes and steak for a party or a pasta live station with bolognese, spaghetti meatballs, penne, and penette. I started designing menus based on the age of the people at the party. That was how I was able to create an image for myself. I felt that what I was bringing to the table made my clients start saying, “I want you to just cater for my VIP guests.” Now, I am basically just focusing on my VIP guests, and I have invested a lot into this. While some people spend their profits on buying gold or property, I reinvest mine into my business. I purchase up-to-date serving wares and dishes and never stop buying. Last year, my children had to stop me, saying, “Mummy, it’s enough, you don’t have any savings.” It’s just like that because I am a perfectionist, and I want to provide perfect service.
When you informed your parents of your desire to become a chef or cook in the past, as it was referred to as “cook” back then, how did they react? Were they concerned that you weren’t taking things seriously?
No, they were the ones telling me every day that I really needed to take this seriously because I always catered for my parties, and everybody wanted me to cook for them. Even my younger siblings used to say, “Aunty, when I get married, I want you to cook for me. I can’t let anyone else make my food.” People kept asking me if I was sure I didn’t want to go into this business, saying it was my calling. When I got into the business, no one was surprised because they already knew I loved hosting people and cooking. I don’t get tired in the kitchen, I love designing meals, and, as you said, nobody ever called me a cook because there’s a difference between a cook and a chef. A cook is a person who cooks, while a chef is someone who teaches the cook. I’ve taught many cooks, which qualifies me as a chef. Another difference between a cook and a chef is that a chef designs meals and recipes. I just come up with things, put them together, and they become something delicious.
Where are you from?
I am from Kwara State.
Do you encounter any challenges as a chef?
Yes, one of the challenges I faced was what I mentioned in the live session. I encountered difficulties because I was beautiful, and people did not want to give me jobs. They felt, “She’s too pretty, she’ll snatch my husband,” or “She’s too pretty, I can’t give her a job, I don’t want her around me,” and all that. It was very sad for me because I had to prove myself every time. I had to show that I am good at what I do. If you employ me, I am a very professional person. Now, I am at a point where, when we’re catering for three hundred people or fewer, I do not have to be there. My staff will say, “It’s not necessary for you to be there, ma’am.” We’ve reached that level, and we thank God for that.
How do you feel when you believe that women, due to your attractiveness, don’t offer you job opportunities?
I understand them and their insecurities. I just pray to God to change their minds and help me because I need to feed my family, and I’ve chosen this career. I need to make something out of it.
Could you confirm the number of books you’ve written?
I’ve published just one. I’ve written three, but I’ve published only one. I’m working on fine-tuning the other two.
What time do you have to write?
Whenever I am bored and there’s downtime in the business, that’s when I write. I’ve not been able to fine-tune my books yet because there’s no downtime in the business. I am thinking of making some changes in my business; I am trying to transform it in a massive way. I am working to create an image for myself in hospitality and tourism consulting, which has attracted a lot of clients.
Aside being a chef, what else do you do?
For instance, if you want to open a hotel, you inform us before you start. We create your customer experience, design your services, develop the menu for your kitchen, train your staff, and help with recruitment. We also get you an architect for designs and environmental impact assessment experts to provide an EIA for the area where you’re opening your hotel, lounge, or resort. Our goal is to design things for you to maximize your profit.
