Chef Fatmata Binta has won the Basque Culinary World Prize 2022, the award is described to be the Nobel Prize of Gastronomy. She is the first African to receive the award, and she won it for her campaign for sustainable eating and upholding traditional methods of Fulani culinary.
The Basque Culinary World Prize is an annual global prize that stands out by focusing on the initiatives of cooks who put themselves at the service of society or the environment — like the project helmed by Fatmata Binta, winner of this year’s prize.
Originally from Sierra Leone, Fatmata Binta was born into the Fulani, the largest nomadic tribe in Africa. After a career in international relations, the young woman decided to devote herself fully to the recognition of her culture. She created Fulani Kitchen, a concept of pop-up restaurants that invite customers to take off their shoes and eat with their fingers to discover the customs of the Fulani people.
On the menu are West African ingredients such as millet, dawadawa, egusi, okra and baobab. Fatmata Binta has also launched a foundation in Ghana that gives women the opportunity to own land. They can also grow and sell fonio, a herbaceous plant common in West Africa.
The Basque World Culinary Prize also highlights the urgent need to reduce the carbon footprint our food consumption leaves on the planet. In this sense, the 2019 award saluted the work of the Californian chef Anthony Myint, who is behind the “ZeroFoodPrint” initiative.
This involves collecting 1% from diners’ checks in restaurants adhering to the system. The funds are donated to farmers to help them implement environmentally friendly practices — the goal is to encourage the deployment of regenerative agriculture, an agricultural concept echoing permaculture that encourages producers to prefer farming and grazing practices that allow the carbon dioxide contained in the atmosphere to be stored in the soil.
Source : MSN
