Samantha is a holistic chef, recipe developer, photographer, writer and yoga instructor. After majoring in English and Photojournalism, she travelled the world for 10 years and now calls The Garden Route, South Africa, home. 

She is the author of the newly published The Wanderlust Kitchen for which she wrote, styled and photographed all of the recipes, journal entries and travel photographs, making her the single contributor to this food and travel journal, which documents her plant-based food journey. 

Sam spends her days creating. Inspired by nature, elemental living and the healing power of plants, she dreams of owning her own piece of land upon which to grow food and medicine and to welcome others to heal in nature. 

Kat: I met you at Sterreokopje where you were guest chefing for the day. My husband and I were having lunch there, and we had the immense privilege of eating the dishes which you had prepared and have stayed imprinted in ours minds. The dishes were not only a feast for the eyes, but they also felt so good in our body. I’m curious, what is your cooking philosophy?

Sammy: I remember meeting you and your husband very clearly, I was actually doing a residency at Sterreokopje at the time. Everything you said about eating my food is what brings me so much joy - the pleasure and healing my food brings others. Cooking has always been my meditation - and yes, very much a creative and healing outlet for me and then to have the ability to share that creativity and healing with others is what really light me up. 

My process in creating recipes begins with the inspiration I receive from the garden - seasonal, colourful, organic produce is where the process starts… by walking through the garden and spending time with what is growing and flourishing - the ideas begin to flow through me.

Just like an artist collects inspiration from a myriad of places - so do I - maybe something I ate somewhere that stuck with me, a smell, a poem, a feeling - and then I allow the process to unfold very organically.

I enjoy celebrating a few simple, seasonal ingredients or even a single vegetable in many different forms to create a magical dish. For me texture and layering is so important and I am obsessed with sauces - colourfully ripped over dishes like paints on an artist’s palette. My favourite ingredients to use are seasonal, organic or (to take it a step further)  foraged  as this fosters a deeper connection with the produce and ultimately the dishes I create. 

Kat: Your new book has just come out The Wanderlust Kitchen, which is so dreamy and delicious. How did it come about and how long has it taken to compile? What have been the best and hardest parts of the process? Do you have any advice for someone with a similar dream? 

Sammy: It took me about 6 years to compile and longer if you consider the travel images in the book which span about 10 years. I’ve always been a writer, I studied photojournalism, travelled the world, during which time food and healing through food became a big part of my life. I had many requests from friends and family to share recipes and write a book and when I found myself in Mexico after managing a medicinal cannabis farm in California for 4 years - it felt like the right time to start photographing and writing the recipes.

I took on the mammoth task of doing everything for the book myself - from the cooking, recipe writing, food styling, photographing and design as I didn’t have a budget to work with.

I sent the manuscript out to pretty much every South African publishing house and received rejection after rejection so I decided to self-publish. I printed 500 copies and sold them mainly through Instagram and word of mouth and a year later I woke up one day and thought “I should send my book to international publishers.” It was a very serendipitous day as I sent out my book to around 20 international publishers expecting to only hear back months later. The very same day I received a message back from my publisher saying they would like to set up a meeting and 2 weeks later they offered me an International publishing deal with worldwide distribution.

Watkins and Nourish focus on cookbooks and mindfulness and wellbeing books so it was a perfect fit and the publishing house I had really hoped would take me on. The hardest parts of the process for me were definitely the finer editing as I am an ideas person and very creative, so minute editing details and converting measurements into different units is not so enjoyable for me.

There were many times throughout the process where imposter syndrome came up and I thought “What the fuck am I doing? Who is going to read this anyway?” and I almost threw in the towel many times.

In hindsight doing everything myself also made the process a lot harder, but it was born out of necessity and I truly believe that limitation is one of the most powerful drivers of creativity.

I definitely always dreamed I would write a book, but I didn’t really think about what it entailed and how I would get it published, I just knew it was something I had to do. My advice is to trust your intuition and just to start and do it your way, don’t let other people’s opinions or publisher’s rejections stop you, be bold, take risks and believe in your dream no matter what. 

Kat: You talk about your healing journey to wholeness, and some of the unfortunate events that took place along this journey. What are the tools that have most helped you through this process and where do you find yourself now? 

Sammy: A deep connection with nature - foraging, surfing, hiking, gardening with my hands in the earth, beach and forest walks, time in the sun and under the moon, a daily yoga and meditation practice and nourishing myself with high vibrational, healing foods. Also creativity - in whichever shape or form - painting, mosaicing, writing poetry, journaling, drawing, decorating, picking flowers, photography and music.

I have found tools like human design, astrology and tarot to be incredible for getting to know myself and understanding my purpose. I am a serial studier - so always learning and reading about things that light me up. 

My dad passed just over a year ago after a year long struggle with cancer during which my sister and I nursed him - so this year has been an intense one - full of grief and also very powerful and beautiful. I started acupuncture for PTSD and have focused on healing my nervous system after living in fight or flight for a year. My journey to wholeness is exactly that, a journey and it ebbs and flows and I am so grateful I have the tools to navigate it. 

Kat: Do you have any daily rituals or spiritual practices? How do you bring ritual into your every day? 

Sammy: I practise yoga most days - it really is my medicine and it grounds me in such a profound way. I find it so powerful to be able to somatically move through emotions stored in the body and it serves as both therapy and exercise for me.

I bring ritual into my day by being intentional -  a delicious cup of coffee in the garden in the morning while the birds wake up and the first rays touch the plants, a beautiful nourishing home cooked meal, a candlelit bath with music and incense. I do things like dry brushing, self massage and gua sha when I feel called and I love picking herbs from the garden to make a delicious pot of tea or to use as a yoni steam. Recently, through my dad’s death and discovering the work of Perdita Finn, I have created an altar to honour the dead and my ancestors and I try to connect with them on a daily basis.

In my first astrology session about 6 years ago - my astrologer said “the universe wants you to be a famous author” and I had already started writing my book so it gave me incredible confirmation that I was on the right path. 

I have been studying astrology ever since and a couple years after, I discovered human design which was life changing. I did a course in tarot a few years ago and I use my cards daily to connect with my intuition. Tarot is directly linked to numerology and astrology so I love the seamless integration of all of these powerful tools. I have crystals around my house and on my windowsill next to my bath and I wear different crystal rings and pendants as talismans. 

Kat: You are also a photographer and writer. Can you share some of your favourite images with us? 

Sammy: I have always loved photographing people, landscapes and nature and I was so inspired to do so while travelling and seeing new places. After settling down in South Africa I began photographing families and motherhood as an extra stream of income. I have really enjoyed photographing the profound journey from maiden to mother and have been particularly moved by this process. I love using natural light and capturing subjects in their natural habitat.

My style is a mix of fine art and documentary with a focus on capturing a feeling or a moment as it happens. At present, I find myself wanting to focus on personal projects that reflect my own journey as an artist and so I have begun a photo  project on grief. My writing is a creative and cathartic process - sometimes stream of consciousness, sometimes poetry or story telling. The images I have shared which were selected by vogue as part of my online portfolio are some of my favourites : the movement, the feeling, the magical way in which the light hits the water, the reflection, the essence of the moment shining through…

Kat: What’s your greatest learning of late and what are your aspirations for the year ahead? 

Sammy: To trust in divine timing and to soften into the feminine flow. To get The Wanderlust Kitchen into 333333 kitchens (!), start a podcast and start a family. 

Kat: Are there any words that have helped guide you and form your life philosophy? 

Sammy:

The wound is the place the light enters you ~ Rumi

 

To the mind that is still the whole universe surrenders ~ Lao Tzu 

 

The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief I will bend towards cynicism and despair. ~ Francis Weller

 

Kat: And lastly, some last quick fire questions! Favourite time of the day and why?

Sammy: Sunset…. the light makes for beautiful images…. And it’s a wonderful time for gratitude for the day that’s just been….

Kat: What brings you joy, what brings you peace, what brings you pride, what brings you turbulence?

Sammy: Joy - laughing with friends. Peace - time in nature. Pride - putting my soul’s work out into the world for others to benefit from. Turbulence - a messy space haha 

Kat: Love it. Thank you Sammy! 

Follow Samantha Dormehl via @sammydormehl and order The Wanderlust Kitchen here.