Meet the chefs who are bringing African food to the global stage.

We spoke to three award-winning chefs about the ingredients, traditions, and places that inspire them.

Meza Malongas tasting menu is designed around the restaurants three-acre farm.

Six of the 10 course meal at Meza Malonga restaurant in Kigali, Rwanda

Credit:Courtesy of Dieuveil Malonga Group

Ultimately, Malonga wants to elevate African cuisine to the global level.

Food doesnt have borders, Malonga says.

Food is education, food is sharing.

A man poses in tall grass on a farm in Kigali, Rwanda

Chef Dieuveil Malonga on his farm in Kigali, Rwanda.Courtesy of Dieuveil Malonga

Everything was done from scratch, Binta says.

We farmed, we composted.

It makes you value food so much.

A group of women sit together and paint calabashes in a village; a woman poses in a wooden structure

Chef Fatmata Binta paints calabashes that will be used during Dine on a Mat meals.Courtesy of Fatmata Binta

Binta was the first African chef to win.

Its a labor of love, she says.

Our feasts were always created from humble ingredients but made with care.

A restaurant exterior in the desert; a man poses in the door of a restaurant

Chef Jan Hendrik at Klein Jan, his restaurant in the Kalahari Desert.Hanru Marais Photography/Courtesy of Klein Jan (2)

In just three years, he became the first South African chef with a Michelin-starred restaurant.

For his most recent act, Hendrik went back to the source.

My heritage is so important to me, Hendrik says.

A woman poses for a photograph; a book cover for a cookbook

My Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora by Yewande Komolafe.Kelly Marshall/Courtesy of Yewande Komolafe; COURTESY OF YEWANDE KOMOLAFE

It will always be like a golden thread throughout my journey.

Bring a Taste of Africa Into Your Kitchen

Want to try African recipes at home?