Kamini Pather (born 20 April 1983) is a South African

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

food blogger Food blogging is a feature of food journalism that interlinks a gourmet interest in food, blog writing, and food photography. Food blogs are generally written by food enthusiasts, often referred to as "foodies," and can be used commercially by th ...

, and television and radio personality. She won the second season of ''

MasterChef South Africa ''MasterChef South Africa'' is the South African version of the television cooking game show franchise ''MasterChef''. It was originally filmed on the Nederburg Wine Estate in Paarl, Western Cape and judged by Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng ...

'' in 2013 and hosted the food travel series ''Girl Eat World''.

Early life and education

A fifth-generation South African of South Indian origin, Pather was born in Mobeni Heights, a suburb of

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

to parents Rajen and Anitha and grew up in Glenwood. She has a younger brother, Neelan. She attended

Durban Girls' College Durban Girls' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls, with weekly boarding facilities for high school pupils, located on the Berea, overlooking the city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Notable alumnae * Lara L ...

and went on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

in Marketing and Management from the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

. She holds a diploma from the Red and Yellow Creative School of Business and has a qualification in yoga.

Career

After writing for ''Aficionado'', Pather started her own food blog, then titled ''Deelishuss'', in 2008. In 2012, she worked for the online food magazine ''CRUSH'' and in 2013, worked as a food assistant for Siba Mtongana. Pather's radio gigs have included 2oceansvibe Radio,

Good Hope FM Good Hope FM is Cape Town's leading music focused interactive lifestyle radio station, whose contemporary hit radio format provides a music mix of R&B, pop, hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that ...

, and Heart 104.9 FM. Pather won the second season of ''

'' in 2013. Pather hosted and produced the food travel series ''Girl Eat World'' with Lucky Bean Media. Filming for the series took place in 2014 over the course of 9 weeks, taking place in 10 difference cities around the world and involving said cities' local food bloggers. It premiered on

SABC 3 SABC 3, also branded as S3, is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Since March 2024, it carries programming in English and Afrikaans only. History On 1 January 1982, two tel ...

in May 2015. It was also broadcast in other countries. The series won a 2016 SAFTA for Best Magazine Show. She ran the 2016

Cape Town Marathon The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is a City Marathon (42.2 km) held in Cape Town, South Africa, first held in its current form in 2007. Available distances include the marathon, a 10K, a 5K, and two trail runs of length 22 km and 12 km. The m ...

. She appeared as a guest judge on ''Top Chef South Africa''. In 2017, Pather released a kitchenware line, Kitchen Kulture. In 2018, she collaborated with South African meal kit service UCOOK and went on to launch Füdy, her own plant-based dark kitchen via

UberEats Uber Eats is an online food ordering and delivery platform launched by the company Uber in 2014. It is operational in over 6,000 cities in 45 countries as of 2021. History Uber Eats' parent company Uber was founded in 2009 by Garrett ...

SA. Pather released ''Eat Glocal'', an e-book on Indian South African cooking, in January 2021.

Bibliography

*''Eat Glocal'' (2021) * ''All Dhal'd Up'' (2025)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pather, Kamini Living people 1983 births People from Durban MasterChef winners South African bloggers South African women bloggers South African chefs South African cookbook writers South African people of Indian descent South African radio presenters South African women radio presenters South African television presenters South African women television presenters University of KwaZulu-Natal alumni Women chefs Women food writers