Your food is as good as your ingredients

By Amaka Agwuegbo
In recent years, a lot of Nigerians have resulted to eating unhealthy foods or develop irregular eating habits due to their busy schedules, which could partly be blamed for the increase in weight and other health related issues. Some totally miss out on the home made food.

FOOD

Now, all that seems to be in the past as a culinary services provider can be engaged to serve you home cooked meals. One of such is Wott to Eat, a culinary services outfit that is passionate about food and its presentation.

Though cooking to entertain guests or take to parties has always been her hubby, Mrs. Oladunni Akinrele, MD/CEO, Wott to Eat, decided to set up an outfit so as to educate people on healthy eating.

“Cooking has been my hobby and I love to cook for people or take some food when going to parties or visiting. I have a passion for food and anytime I see ingredients, I see food, so I went into the cooking business not because it was a business idea, but as a hubby. This hubby grew to become a passion and later metamorphosed into a viable business, and it is said that if you do food properly, it would always sell.

“I started cooking from my house and was using the oven, burners and domestic staff but as time went by, it happened that there was little money here and there and I felt it was time I got an office.

“Our menus vary and range from Nigerian to continental, Asian, pastries, desserts, finger foods, etc. But if a client orders something that we have not prepared before and it sounds interesting, I’ll let the person know that I don’t know much about such menu, but would research it. I might even come up with a new menu for it. But if it is something that is not in line with our products or policy, I’ll have to decline it.”

So much is Dunni in love with cooking that she took some culinary courses abroad to grow her knowledge and skills about cooking and food preservation and presentation.

“My initial training is from my mother because I don’t think anyone can grow up in her house without knowing how to cook or have a passion for food. She instilled the very basics in culinary skills from choosing the freshest of your produce to combining ingredients, food preservation and presentation, and not cutting corners on quality.

“I further developed these skills by attending a few culinary courses in England. I also have a stack of cook books that I read and anytime I travel or have the opportunity to buy books, I buy lots of cook books as this helps to broaden my knowledge. I also browse the internet a lot to be abreast of what is happening in the international menus.”

Though Dunni admits that food business is profitable, but she stressed that she didn’t go into it just because of the profit accruable from it but basically because she enjoys cooking and wants to add value to food by educating people on the benefits of healthy eating.

She pointed out that what distinguishes Wott to Eat from competition is the number of clients she caters for at a time and the variety in the menu prepared.

“Wott to Eat offers out-door-catering services, but our unique selling point is that we can cater to one person as well as about 700 people by providing the food where and when needed by our clients who are from both public and private sectors. The food could be anything – it could be breakfast, lunch or dinner for one or for the family, it could be food for parties, weddings, corporate luncheons, end of year parties and AGMs. We equally pride ourselves in our theme parties and we create menus to suit the occasions.

“Culinary artists are responsible for skillfully preparing meals that are as pleasing to the palate as to the eye. As a culinary services provider, you have to be very careful with the ingredients you use because your food is as good as the ingredients you use and the human resources that back it up.

“I have been in this business for over 10 years when I started cooking from my house as a hubby. Wott to Eat was incorporated in 2001, but I started professionally about 4 years ago.

“The culinary services business is profitable but has its ups and downs due to the obvious challenges of infrastructure, financial and human resources and lack of public power supply which is a big issue because we deal with food and without electricity, we have to invest heavily in generators and diesel which increases our cost of production.

“So, when you want to sell a product for a particular price, you are forced to increase it due to other factors that have to be in place for the food to turn out as you want it.

“Another big challenge is human resources because since you can’t do everything by yourself, you’ll need people around you who have a good understanding of the food business and buy into the vision of what you are trying to accomplish.

“This is very important because culinary service is not just about cooking, but offering the creative and artistic part of food presentation itself.”

Dunni, in love with what she is doing, has different pleasant memories of her clients.
“My high points are when Wott to Eat wows the clients. I’ve enjoyed working with most of my customers for different reasons.

“One I’ll not forget in a hurry was when a client called in to order continental breakfast for two to be delivered in her office because, according to her, she and her friend wanted to spoil themselves.

“We truly wowed her because we prepared the breakfast complete with fresh linen table cloths, we took a table to her office and had a waiter to serve them. Throughout the meal, they were just giggling to themselves and she later told me she had a memorable experience and she has been a client since then.”