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What started with a food blogger's home passion has turned into a successful catering company, Vanilla Scented Kisses. Vanessa Dossi (left) pictured with participants at a cooking class at the Blackcurrant Cooking Studio in Maboneng, Johannesburg.

Self-taught cook turns her food blog into a viable business

4th Oct 2019
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Self-taught cook turns her food blog into a viable business

by Chantélle Hartebeest
4th Oct 2019
in African Food, Catering Company, Cooking Classes, Lifestyle, Mzansi Flavour, Recipes, South African Food
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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What started with a food blogger's home passion has turned into a successful catering company, Vanilla Scented Kisses. Vanessa Dossi (left) pictured with participants at a cooking class at the Blackcurrant Cooking Studio in Maboneng, Johannesburg.

What started with a food blogger's home passion has turned into a successful catering company, Vanilla Scented Kisses. Vanessa Dossi (left) pictured with participants at a cooking class at the Blackcurrant Cooking Studio in Maboneng, Johannesburg.

Food blogger and self-taught cook Vanessa Dossi was sceptical when her followers encouraged her to host cooking classes and cater. This nudge was just what she needed, however, and today the 28-year-old digital marketer hosts cooking classes and runs her own catering business, Vanilla Scented Kisses.

Dossi was born and raised in Lilongwe in Malawi, with her two brothers and sister. One of her fondest childhood memories was pretending to cook for her mom, Thandikile. As a young girl she spent hours cooking with friends from the neighbourhood where she was raised.

RECIPE: Slow Cooked Tripe

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Dossi says she first felt the joy of cooking as a young girl.

“All the girls in my neighbourhood would ask for ingredients from home to come together and cook in empty cans on open fires. We call it masanje. That is the first time I experienced the joy of cooking for people,” says Dossi.

When she was nine years old her family moved to Botswana, when her father, Willy, got a job there. In 2008, she matriculated from Rainbow High School in Gaborone and from there Dossi relocated to Mzansi, where she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in financial accounting and economics from Rhodes University in 2014.

“I worked in the financial industry after graduating in 2014 until June 2018 when I changed careers to work in marketing.” Today she works for a digital marketing agency as a social media manager and content creator in Johannesburg.

Five years ago, she started her food blog, Vanilla Scented Kisses. She says the name of her blog bests describes her personality.

“I chose vanilla, because it is vibrant, warm and inviting. A vanilla scented kiss is what I think I give out to people with my recipes, food and blog posts. It’s a piece of me.” – Vanessa Dossi

In 2016 she started receiving several requests to host cooking classes and cater. “I couldn’t understand why people wanted classes and catering from me. I was merely a home cook who enjoyed cooking,” she adds.

This is when she decided to turn her food blog into a profitable business. “I started accepting the orders slowly until I became confident. The classes took longer to start up, but I organised my first group class and it was fully booked.”

Besides being an exceptional cook, Dossi loves gardening in her free time.

Today, Dossi caters for small private events for up to 50 people. She hosts social and special group cooking classes, and private sessions.

Although she is a great cook, Dossi says she absolutely hates baking, because it is so rigid. “I have the utmost respect for bakers because it is a science and you have to be meticulous to bake.” Away from the kitchen she loves gardening and has a small garden outside her flat in Randburg, Johannesburg, where she grows vegetables and a few herbs.

Dossi aspires to share her passion and food knowledge with more people. “I am very passionate about teaching people that cooking good food does not have to be difficult, time consuming or expensive. I hope to expand my cooking classes to include larger groups in the near future.”

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Self-taught cook Vanessa Dossi has turned her food blog Vanilla Scented Kisses into a profitable catering business. She’s prepared a Mzansi’s favourite: slow cooked tripe.

Tags: Mzansi FlavourRecipeSelf-taught CookSlow Cooked TripeVanessa Dossi
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Chantélle Hartebeest

Chantélle Hartebeest

CHANTÉLLE HARTEBEEST is a young journalist who has a fiery passion for storytelling. She is eager to be the voice of the voiceless and has worked in both radio and print media before joining Food For Mzansi.

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