Betalain

Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Stories are told in pigments, tones and hues; a kaleidoscope as diverse as the cultures and peoples of the continent. For the initiative Colours of Africa, a collaborative project with Google Arts & Culture, we asked 60 African creatives to capture the unique spirit of their country in a colour which represents home to them.

The projects they have created are personal and distinct stories of Africa, put into images, videos, texts and illustrations. Each artist has also attempted to articulate what being African means to their identity and view of the world.

Colour:Beet Betalain
Country:Morocco

Artwork Rationale:

My mother strongly believed in the magic of flowers, colours, aromas and flavours in sharing culture. Cook from your soul, she used to tell me. Cook from your soul to share your culture.

Beet is the most magical of culinary colours and comes in a wide array of hues. I am imagining a deep red/purple achieved by the beet's unique composition of betalain pigments.
The beet has tremendous energy and magical powers to transform food into art. It can be prepared on its own through a number of techniques, or processed for its sugars or its unique ink.
When you add just a drop of beet pigment to a sauce, for example, it gives a pink burst of feminine colour.
Beets can be pickled or sweetened and give unexpected flavours and textures regardless of the colour they present in their final plated form.

I see the beet, how it grows deep inside the earth and forms itself with rich metallic blood. Then it emerges when it’s harvested to give the light of life and vibrant colour. It inspires me to create and paint with its vivid stain. I love to tint sauces and paint various fish preparations with a brush laden with beet pigment.
With beets I am able to impart whatever emotion my imagination is trying to convey in a dish.

What it means to be African

It is the Africa in me that you hear in my animated conversation, which shakes my shoulders as I sob from my sorrows or deeply laugh from the inside out. It is Africa in me that keeps me finding out about my heritage and makes me suffer every time I read about how rich Africa was and what Africa is, but people look at Africa as poor and without a future. Africa has taught me to love.
In my voice you hear Africa; in my voice the talking drums, the drums and trumpets of their stories. You can smell the aromatic smoke of the barbecue of my people and if you listen closely you can hear the town crier shouting in the streets, 'you must come to see my cuisine, my music, and cultural dance'.

Biography

Born in San Sebastian, Spain to Moroccan parents, Najat Kaanache has enjoyed successful careers as a television actress and as a professional chef in 3-star Michelin restaurants across three countries. She was the first (and only) Moroccan chef to work at famed Spanish restaurant, El Bulli, where Ferran Adria extolled her virtues as a chef, stating 'Najat Kaanache represents the soul of Morocco through the language of the kitchen. Her passion for creativity & innovation should be a reference for the country'.

Kaanache is the host of AMC Network’s highest-rated new cooking series throughout Spain and 20 other Latin countries, "Cocina Marroqui”. She has been prominently featured as CNN’s Woman of the Week and in publications such as Vogue Magazine, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, London Times, Milenio, El Universal, Maghreb Arabe Presse, The Guardian, Huffington Post and LA Weekly.

A tireless advocate for women’s rights, Kaanache strives to inspire women of all ages to achieve their dreams. She is the founder of Six Ingredients, a global solutions-based organisation centred in the philosophy that every challenge can be overcome by utilising six main ingredients: the five chemical senses plus mindfulness. Six Ingredients unites community members through organising dining summits that generate awareness and empower attendees to become guardians of their community. In 2013, Najat was featured in the celebrated cookbook Share: The Cookbook that Celebrates Our Common Humanity, with 100 per cent profits donated to Women for Women International, a non-profit helping women in war-torn countries to rebuild their lives. In 2016 she presented a TED Talk in Marrakesh titled 'Coexistence of No Existence: The Uniting Power of Food'.
In 2016 Najat opened Nur Restaurant in Fez to shine a light on Moroccan gastronomy, serving local ingredients with her artistic touch. Each year since 2017, Nur has been named World’s Best Moroccan Restaurant and awarded global honours for Best Moroccan Cuisine at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards. Nur has been featured as one of the world’s most beautifully designed restaurants by Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and Bloomberg Business. Kaanache's first (eponymous) cookbook was published in Holland in 2019 and was immediately named a finalist for the prestigious national Golden Cookbook Award.