"Food is a Gift" - How a recipe creator cooked through the tough times

Yewande Komolafe has spent her life telling stories through food. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, she was immersed in the magic of the kitchen, watching her mother create recipes for Cadbury and learning how food could carry memory and belonging. But it was science she chose to pursue, moving to the United States as a teenager to study biochemistry. Her plans took an unexpected turn when her older brother died following a sickle cell crisis. In the wake of his death, she left her studies behind and found a new purpose in professional kitchens, a path that would lead her to become a celebrated recipe developer, cookbook author and New York Times food writer. Shortly after the publication of her cookbook, My Everyday Lagos, Yewande experienced a severe sickle cell crisis that left her in a coma for six weeks and led to the amputation of both legs and most of her fingers. After months of recovery, she had to rediscover her relationship with cooking.

Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Marcia Veiga

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(Photo: Yewande Komolafe looks directly into the camera. She is seated in her wheelchair with her left hand resting beneath her chin. A grey brace covers her fingers, leaving only her thumb visible. Her background is her kitchen with personal objects of everyday life. She wears her hair in dreadlocks, dark lipstick and a loose-fitting black robe decorated with an artistic pattern. Credit: Lanna Apisukh )