There is a saying that goes, "The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, and this means women have won a man’s love by cooking delicious meals for him. Going by this, 24-year-old Sabine Rudasingwa Umutoniwase, a chef, decided to offer culinary lessons to women that are preparing to get married. This, she says, is a good way to strengthen their marriages.

Having completed a course in culinary art at the University of Tourism, Technology, and Business in 2020, the chef decided to share her skills and experience with others.

She started a YouTube channel in 2020 that offers Rwandans easy tips to make and enjoy tasty cuisines.

Umutoniwase also noticed that most cuisine YouTubers aren’t Rwandans, and lessons are in English—a thing she says is a hindrance to some Rwandans, hence deciding to use Kinyarwanda.

This year, she opened her kitchen at her home in Kimihurura for women to learn how to cook. This started with one or two friends, and through word of mouth, some women signed up.

"Before I decided to offer private lessons, most of my friends would come to me to ask for recipes for breakfast, lunch or special dinners. A thought crossed my mind that with my skills, I could do something beneficial. At that point, I wasn’t looking for means to earn money, but to offer a free service.

"Since I didn’t have enough capital to rent a place, I invited them home where we have classes in my kitchen for four hours, two times a week,” she says.

The chef hasn’t made this a business yet, the people she teaches only contribute some money to buy the cooking ingredients, however, she anticipates starting a culinary school.

She explains that her lessons are not fixed on a specific time period, her learners decide to learn for as long as they wish. She finds out how much they know, then according to that, she plans recipes.

Depending on the period one wants to learn, she makes sure they have all the skills necessary to cook diverse meals.

Love for cooking

Rudasingwa has always been curious about cuisine, ever since she was little. She says, she would sit next to the house-help, and take notes of how she was cooking. She asked as many questions as possible. The kitchen was a place she loved whenever she was home.

When pursuing IT in secondary school, she notes that her laptop was full of recipes. Her curiosity of making both local and international cuisines escalated. YouTube became her inspiration. 

For her, cuisine is something she loves, it’s a hobby that she hopes to turn into a career. She loves seeing people happy, and food is one of the things that she has noticed makes people happy.

 "There is something so satisfying about seeing someone eating your food and enjoying it at the same time,” she says.

The chef enjoys preparing eggs benedict, because it’s a simple but really great recipe. For her, being a great cook requires passion, patience, consistence, and learning from mistakes. Some of her favourite dishes are beef curry, poulet yassa, aroz con pollo, among others.

The cook explores with food, whether it’s cultural or international. Her role model is British chef Gordon James Ramsay because of his passion for cuisine. 

She says YouTube is an expensive investment as she needs to hire a videographer to shoot and edit. She will have to wait for 1000 subscribers to earn from her channel, a thing she says takes time. And so she is spending money but not earning yet. So far, she has about 281 subscribers, but she is persistent and hopeful.

You can reach Sabine Rudasingwa Umutoniwase on 0788892515