South African celebrity chef Siba Mtongana is going international. Her show has been picked up by the USA’s Cooking Channel. Siba’s Table was the first talent commission outside of the United States and Mtongana will be one of the first South African chefs to host a series on a USA TV network.
“I am ecstatic about this wonderful news and really honoured to join the Cooking Channel in the US,” says Mtongana. “This is great news for me, but more so for my beloved country, South Africa as it will once again place the ‘rainbow nation’ on the map.”
Launching on 5 April 2014, the 10×30 programme will air weekly at 10:30am on the Cooking Channel, which reaches an audience in the USA of more than 60 million homes.
“I was immediately bowled over when I met with Siba; from that first meeting, to launching the series on Food Network in South Africa, our excitement was infectious. I shared Siba’s Table with our colleagues stateside and we are thrilled for Siba that Cooking Channel will be premiering the series in April for American audiences to enjoy,” says Scripps Networks International‘s Nick Thorogood, senior vice president of content and marketing, for the UK and EMEA.
Siba’s Table, which was first commissioned in 2012, has already been aired throughout Africa, Europ, the Middle East and the United Kingdom of Scripps Network’s Food Network, premiering in South Africa in September last year.
It is set in Cape Town, a city renowned for its vibrant food scene. In each episode, Mtongana creates dishes for her family and friends, recreating chapters from her life in the city. The series also features local artisan producers and is showcases the local, cutting edge restaurant scene.
Mtongana’s Cooking With Siba launched on M-Net’s Mzansi Magic and catapaulted the young food editor into the realms of the celebrity chef. She holds a degree in Food and Consumer Sciences, majoring in Food and Food Science as well as Nutrition. She specialises in recipe development, food writing and styling and has won three prestigious Galliova Awards for her food journalism and involvement in the South African food arena.
Mtongana doesn’t just host a popular cooking show. She also develops food supplements/booklets for clients, judges food-related events and gives food workshops and demonstrations, as well as food and nutrition talks at conferences throughout the country. She hosts TV and radio talks on food themed programmes and related topics and also inspires students studying food-related courses at universities and colleges, by showcasing food media as a career of choice.
