Dorah Sitole death ‘leaves huge gap in South African culinary world’

Mam’ Dorah, as she was affectionately known, died on Monday at the age of 67.

She was the first Black food editor in South Africa, serving at the helm of True Love magazine.

Samery joined the many South Africans in paying tribute to Sitole.

“This is a very sad day in the South African culinary world, Mam’ Dorah was a massive icon in our South African food industry, she has opened so many doors for our young and upcoming chefs. I was never ready for this, she actually became such a dear friend to me, she was like my second mother.

“She is an icon, a remarkable woman and today South Africa especially the culinary world has lost a fantastic lady.”

Samery worked with Sitole on her recently published recipe book ‘40 Years of Iconic Food’, which tells the story of her life through food.

“I am so happy that I got a chance to work with her and to publish her book. I know that her book was her highlight for 2020 and she always told me that she wants to leave her legacy behind, she was always so passionate about  the food and when we were busy with the book she told me there is still a lot of books within her heart.

“I was hoping and praying that we could still  be able to do books together but unfortunately her time was taken by Covid-19.”

She says Sitole’s passing is a huge loss to aspiring African culinary stars.

“Mam’ Dorah always said that the next thing she wants to do is to open a cooking school and I know that it was on her bucket list for 2021. We definitely we lost a huge icon in this culinary world.”