When her former student asked her to address an East London audience about how she became South Africa’s ‘spice girl’, Ina Paarman agreed immediately and will be jetting into the city this afternoon.
Paarman’s range of seasonings, sauces, stocks, salad dressings and a chocolate cake-mix, was first developed in her Cape Town kitchen and is now exported to 14 countries.
This evening she will deliver a talk in a sold-out event at Stirling High School’s auditorium in aid of the Childhood Cancer foundation (CHOC) and to mark September as childhood cancer awareness month.
The event was organised by CHOC’s Eastern Cape regional manager Debbie Kleinenberg, who was lectured by Paarman in the late 1970s when she was a home economics student in Cape Town.
“I have come to East London before, but only to see supermarket buyers; which is not the most pleasant experience, so I’m really looking forward to coming,” said Paarman, author of eight recipe books.
“I could not say no to an old student, plus it is for such a wonderful cause.”
Paarman began giving cooking classes from her Constantia garage and moved into product development because her son Kevin was allergic to MSG and food colourants.
“I had to make things from scratch for him so I thought there must be many who have the same problems.”
Her factory produces her extensive range and her development kitchen is no longer part of her living space.
“We have moved to a larger home in Constantia and my development kitchen is still on my property, but not inside my house, because that phone used to ring day and night.”
Decades ago, in an era when imported foods were seen to be superior to local produce, Paarman had confidence in South African flavours, and this was the cornerstone of her success.
“I think there is such a thing as a real South African taste. Our basic ingredients like fruit and vegetables are so good, and you can’t beat our Karoo lamb.”
Asked which of her products have become iconic grocery basket staples, Paarman singled out her braai and grill seasoning salt and her chocolate cake mix.
“We did our homework very thoroughly and went through a whole lot of herbs and spices to see which ones reacted to heat. Most of them became bitter so we chose ones that were heat resistant and went well with braai meat.
For the chocolate cake mix, I baked 150 cakes before I made the perfect one and that recipe is now carved in stone.”
Also key to her success is her collaboration with son Graham, who egged her on to start her business about 25 years ago.
“He did an accounting degree and said ‘you can cook and I can count’. Now he’s my boss,” said Paarman.
As someone whose family is at the heart of her business, Paarman will talk about the pros and cons of a family business.
“It’s not easy, but there are also a lot of laughs, so I'm going to keep it humorous,” she said. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
SA’s spice guru still cooking up a storm
Paarman’s range of seasonings, sauces, stocks, salad dressings and a chocolate cake-mix, was first developed in her Cape Town kitchen and is now exported to 14 countries.
This evening she will deliver a talk in a sold-out event at Stirling High School’s auditorium in aid of the Childhood Cancer foundation (CHOC) and to mark September as childhood cancer awareness month.
The event was organised by CHOC’s Eastern Cape regional manager Debbie Kleinenberg, who was lectured by Paarman in the late 1970s when she was a home economics student in Cape Town.
“I have come to East London before, but only to see supermarket buyers; which is not the most pleasant experience, so I’m really looking forward to coming,” said Paarman, author of eight recipe books.
“I could not say no to an old student, plus it is for such a wonderful cause.”
Paarman began giving cooking classes from her Constantia garage and moved into product development because her son Kevin was allergic to MSG and food colourants.
“I had to make things from scratch for him so I thought there must be many who have the same problems.”
Her factory produces her extensive range and her development kitchen is no longer part of her living space.
“We have moved to a larger home in Constantia and my development kitchen is still on my property, but not inside my house, because that phone used to ring day and night.”
Decades ago, in an era when imported foods were seen to be superior to local produce, Paarman had confidence in South African flavours, and this was the cornerstone of her success.
“I think there is such a thing as a real South African taste. Our basic ingredients like fruit and vegetables are so good, and you can’t beat our Karoo lamb.”
Asked which of her products have become iconic grocery basket staples, Paarman singled out her braai and grill seasoning salt and her chocolate cake mix.
“We did our homework very thoroughly and went through a whole lot of herbs and spices to see which ones reacted to heat. Most of them became bitter so we chose ones that were heat resistant and went well with braai meat.
For the chocolate cake mix, I baked 150 cakes before I made the perfect one and that recipe is now carved in stone.”
Also key to her success is her collaboration with son Graham, who egged her on to start her business about 25 years ago.
“He did an accounting degree and said ‘you can cook and I can count’. Now he’s my boss,” said Paarman.
As someone whose family is at the heart of her business, Paarman will talk about the pros and cons of a family business.
“It’s not easy, but there are also a lot of laughs, so I'm going to keep it humorous,” she said. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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