Two skilled chefs grace Glo-sponsored African Voices Playmakers

By KEMIKAYODE

Two renowned chefs from the Republic of Benin and Mauritius are showcasing their culinary skills this week  on CNN International’s half-hour magazine program, African Voices Playmakers, sponsored by Globacom.

The two creative chefs are Benin Republic-born Georgiana Viou, 46, who is renowned for fusing the taste of her Beninese roots to make exquisite cuisines in France, where she resides. The other is Ayushi “Chef Yu” Gooroochurn, who, at 34, is the youngest executive chef in Mauritius, who creates distinctive culinary identities using an inventive palette of tastes and flavours.

Viou left the Republic of Benin to live in Paris, France, with the intention of becoming an interpreter. By chance, though, she ended up in the restaurant industry. Her culinary abilities were so well-known by March of this year that Michelin Guide, the cooking industry reference guide in gourmet and taste, honoured her for her cooking at “Rouge,” a restaurant in the southwestern French city of Nimes.  In honour of her “unique cuisine… celebrating her Mediterranean environment and Benin roots,” she was awarded a Michelin star.

After competing as a candidate on the well-known TV program, Master Chef, the mother of three and self-taught chef was invited to join the jury. 

Cooking comes easy to Ayushi Gooroochurn, often called ‘Chef Yu’. At the Constance Belle Mare Plage Hotel in Mauritius, where she and her crew have received awards of praise for their culinary masterpieces, he is the Executive Chef.  

This Saturday at 8.30 a.m., both chefs will share with viewers their tales of success on African Voices Playmakers. Reruns of that episode will air the same day at 2.00 p.m. and on Sunday at 4.30 a.m., 7.00 p.m. and Monday at 4.00 a.m. The same edition will be repeated on Saturday, next week at  8.30 a.m., 12 noon, on Sunday at 4.30 a.m., 7.00 p.m. and on Monday at 4.00 a.m.