Chef Pierre Thiam: The best way to transcend borders is through food
My guest on today’s episode of Holding Up the Ladder is chef Pierre Thiam. Hailing from Dakar in Senegal, now residing in New York, Pierre is an author, restaurateur, social entrepreneur and culinary ambassador. He is the executive chef of awarding-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria; signature chef of the 5-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar; executive chef and co-owner of Teranga a fast-casual food chain in New York rooted in traditional African culinary traditions and founder of Yolélé Foods a company that advocates for small holder farmers in the Sahel, opening new markets for crops grown in Africa, particularly the super food Fonio which we talk about in detail in our interview. Chef Thiam also has a number of beautiful cookbooks celebrating Senegal and the rich culinary traditions of West Africa.
We talk about Pierre’s journey from a student of physics and chemistry in Dakar to the kitchens of New York. We talk about the politics of food; food justice and food deserts. We talk about sustainability, how lifestyle desires of people in the West can negatively impact farmers across the world. We talk about the far-reaching disruptive effects of colonialism on farming so that crops from as far afield as Vietnam have impacted the Senegalese diet.
We talk about how Pierre’s cultural heritage has shaped his work and what he values. And we attempt to settle the long-standing argument of which country in West Africa makes the best jollof rice, hint - it’s not Nigeria and it’s not Ghana! And we of course talk about music.