Test Kitchen Hong Kong 158A Connaught Road West - Shop 3 - Sa Ying Pun 999077 Hong Kong
Global Top 50 Chef Selassie Atadika from Midunu to Feature in Next Test Kitchen Pop-up:
Plant-Forward Menu will Explore how Cuisine, Community and Culture Intersect with Environment, Sustainability and Economy
Dates: 21 August – 24 August, 2019
Location: 158A Connaught Road West, Shop 3, Sai Ying Pun
8-Course Tasting Menu: $980 | Wine Pairing: $480
Chef Selassie Atadika of Midunu, a nomadic and private dining enterprise in Accra, Ghana, will bring her unique brand of new African cuisine to Hong Kong this August.
For four nights from 21-24 August, the acclaimed chef will serve up a plant-forward nine-course menu (HK$980 with optional wine pairing for HK$480) which will showcase African flavours whilst highlighting the best of local Hong Kong produce.
Each guest will be taken on a tour of the African continent through her series of beautifully-crafted plates. Carefully selected fresh local ingredients will feature in dishes like the north African-inspired GREENS – parsley, coriander, razor clams, chilli, garlic, olive oil and preserved lemon, while the TROPICAL STAPLE TREES and NUTS AND SEED courses nod to Atadika’s Ghanaian heritage. As the meal progresses, guests will journey to southern Africa and sample Ethiopian delicacies such as spiced butter and teff, as well as drought-tolerant African produce imported especially for the series of dinners.
“I’m really looking forward to sharing my culinary philosophy with a Hong Kong audience,” says Chef Atadika.
“I plan to share my brand of cuisine, community and culture, and how that intersects with the environment, sustainability and economy through this carefully-thought-out menu of locally-grown and African ingredients. Guests will recognise plenty of the items on their plates, but may be surprised by the preparation. I expect we’ll have a lot of fun with this event.”
After over a decade spent engaged in humanitarian work with the United Nations and years of self-teaching in the culinary arts, Selassie Atadika completed course work at the Culinary Institute of America. She is a founding member of Trio Toque, the first nomadic restaurant in Dakar, Senegal. Atadika brought her innovative approach to African cuisine back home in 2014. Her food enterprise is Midunu, a nomadic and private dining enterprise in Accra which embodies ‘New African Cuisine’.
More about Midunu:
It is a culinary lifestyle company that celebrates Africa’s cultural and culinary heritage. Its goal is to create experiences where culture, community and cuisine intersect.
Midunu employs local, seasonal, and underutilised ingredients including traditional grains and proteins to deliver Africa’s bounty to the table. With an eye towards biodiversity and sustainability, it curates white-linen nomadic events, private dining, retail and lifestyle products, and a bespoke event space. Midunu’s Nomadic Dinners have attracted attention with diners from five continents.
A favored part of the Midunu dining experience is its final course- their delectable handcrafted chocolate truffles.
Chef Selassie Atadika has been sought for her thought leadership by CNN African Voices, The Financial Times, The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), OmVärlden, as well as mentioned in Vogue, National Geographic’s The Plate, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Ebony.
Her cuisine has been featured at a State Dinner and the prestigious James Beard Foundation in the US. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography modified with Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.
Eat Dinner Photo: Linus Sundahl-Djerf Chef Selassie Atadika is in the process of launching the Midunu Institute. The pilot project of the institute will undertake documentation of existing culinary practices in 3 of the 10 regions of Ghana by youth ambassadors to kick off a national conversation among youth and middle-class consumers about food, agriculture and culture.
This research will be combined with a multi-media behavior change campaign showcasing challenges and successes in local food systems as well as exhibiting the culinary uses of regional ingredients, while contributing to the protection of culture and heritage.