Zimbabwean born, British raised: The influencer chef making Christmas dinner stretch further this year
Zimbabwean born, British raised – for influencer chef Caz Gundu, Christmas dinner involves the best of both.
But from bulking out meat with added chicken wings to spatchcocking poultry so it cooks faster and uses less energy, she has also been faced with making her festive food stretch further this year.
With just days to go until Christmas – and many Britons heading to the shops in the next few days for their big festive food haul – international money transfer organisation WorldRemit found Britons are set to spend £905 on Christmas in 2022.
This includes £146 for food, £168 for decorations, and £591 for gifts.
Caz shares advice on how to save cash
Caz shares food tips with her followers under Cooking With Caz, giving advice on how to save money and still add flavour.
Having now lived in the UK for twenty years after moving from Zimbabwe, she said “there is a lot more British influence involved with our typical Christmas dinner, but I am part of the community so I know how different people jazz it up”.
A typical Christmas dinner, she said, “involves a lot of fried meats”, from chicken to steak to sausage.
One money-saving tip she gives is to butterfly your chicken, so it takes less time to cook. As well as needing less time in the oven, because the chicken lies flatter on the tray, it means more food can fit in the oven.
“It makes a big difference if you are turning your oven on for two hours rather than four,” she said.
If you are hosting children, she suggests bulking out your chicken with extra wings – they are normally cheaper than leg or breast meat.
“If you have got a big family, you don’t need to get multiple turkeys,” she said. “Get one and get chicken wings to supplement it.”
Similarly, thinner cuts of meat are also cheaper and involve less time in the oven. One switch she recommends is using chuck steak – a kilogram, which will feed about nine people, and can cost less than £10.
‘I am cooking with wine – what is going on?’
Caz got into cooking almost by accident.
“I was randomly entered into a cooking competition when I was 14 to fill a space for someone who had dropped out,” she said.
At this point, she was already a fairly seasoned cook: “I moved here when I was nine years old, and being a first-generation immigrant, my parents worked a lot and I found myself helping out in the kitchen a lot.”
But “a lot of the recipes they asked me to make were British recipes, and obviously, I had grown up in an African household, and now I’m cooking with wine, like what is going on”.
But she went on to come a close second and has been blending British and Zimbabwean food ever since.
‘Really important to explore’
One of her favourite parts of Christmas dinner is roast potatoes – “I think that’s the best British thing ever, beautifully roasted potatoes and some duck fat” – but she swaps out maris piper potatoes for African sweet potatoes.
“I think it’s really important to explore, and I think trying out other cuisines, seeing how other countries do Christmas could make Christmas more interesting,” she said.
“I think the focus has been so much on the cost of living, and it doesn’t need to be so much on Christmas day.”
She added: “It’s about creating this mindset of abundance, even though it is evident what is happening.
“Everything is expensive, but there is so much more to gain with being able to gather with family and friends and create an experience from that.”
Most importantly, for Caz, there is no such thing as too much seasoning: “[Keep going] until the ancestors tell you to stop!”
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
Sky’s Beth Rigby running marathon in honour of ‘dearest friend’
Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform
Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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