Today’s guest, Murielle Banackissa is a 3 time guest on The Storied Recipe - well, technically 2x guest, but her first interview was so rich we split it into 2 episodes - Ep. 024 From Sunny Africa to Snowy Canada and Ep. 025 Going Vegan!
Murielle has been working on her debut cookbook for 4 years and last month, it was finally released to immediate acclaim. For the last 4 years, I’ve known, for sure that whatever Murielle produced would be well worth the wait. And indeed, her cookbook is visually stunning and full of vegan recipes that are inspired by her own global heritage - and that appeal to omnivores like me and my family. I’ve already given a copy of this book to a friend of mine, who excitedly texted me to say she had as many recipes dogeared as I have in my copy.
In today’s interview, Murielle is full of wisdom, discussing how she tackled this project while keeping intact a life that aligns with her values, her somewhat unorthodox approach to creating vegan recipes (which, by the way, is reflected in the Saka Saka, or Cassava Leaf Stew, recipe that she shares with us), her faith in what’s to come, and even, for us photographers, some technical expertise on how to print images with perfect colors - plus a lot more.
Although we’ve never met and our communication may be sporadic, I consider Murielle to be a true friend. While our personal and professional paths for the last 4 years have been markedly different, we both have a strong sense that they’ve been guided by God and support one another in all of our respective endeavors. It’s in that spirit that I am so honored to introduce Murielle to you today and thank you so, so much for being here!
Highlights
- The advice Murielle gives her brothers and all young people
- The feelings that Murielle seeks: peace, aligned, grounded, present, grateful
- Murielle’s mother’s reaction when she first saw the book
- Her mom’s support through the process.
- All about Saka Saka - the Congolese flavors she grew up with
- Cassava leaves = Pondu leaves
- How Murielle developed her Vegan Saka Saka recipe.
- Murielle’s approach to vegan recipes: NOT replicating non-vegan recipes
- Baked watermelon = tuna?!
- Why Murielle includes peanut recipes even though she’s sensitive to nuts (Spoiler alert: peanuts are not nuts)
- Follow-up on Murielle’s father’s healing after adopting Veganism (Great news!!)
- The four year process of writing and photographing her book
- How Murielle wrote and photographed a cookbook in a tiny kitchen without feeling overwhelmed
- What is next?
- Colors & printing - a technical conversation about how to get prints to show what you see on screen
- Murielle is married! Their story of 12 years together and finally getting married. 🙂
Where to Find Savoring
Visit Murielle's Website for buying options: www.muriellebanackissa.com
Listen to Murielle Now
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Murielle's Storied Recipe: Vegan Saka Saka
Connect with Murielle
Website: www.muriellebanackissa.com
Instagram: @muriellebanackissa
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