Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabeth Varondi.
Hi Elisabeth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up believing that everything you do with love has a positive impact on generations to come. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do, sharing what you have with love is what matters. My most precious memories begin with mornings with mandazi and being blessed with a unique mom who shared her love with us through the food she prepared and the loving, caring way she prepared it. Every Saturday, my mom would sit in her favorite kitchen chair with one of those silver bowls she used to mix her eggs, brown sugar, flour, and some of her favorite spices that form the beautiful mandazi dough. We would all sit around her while she worked her magic with the dough, anticipating the moment when she would begin frying her dough, and ah, that wonderful aroma would fill the air with its promise of the most wonderful Beignets we could imagine.
I remember thinking that it must be love that creates such a beautiful deliciousness, with only a few ingredients. I will always remember how the whole family would come together to enjoy that beautiful mandazi (African Beignets) and how mom would always send some to the Neighbors. In my family, mandazi is a generational food that will always remind me of the loving moments with grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends; and, even strangers. Mom would use the making and sharing of mandazi (African Beignets) as opportunities to not only feed us but to teach us love; to bring us together for smiles and unity that promote togetherness; and, as a reminder of the importance of family and forgiveness. I want you to take a journey with me as I honor my grandmom, my mom and all the beautiful, strong African women who make a few dollars a day selling mandazi to feed children and pay school fees. Mandazi is a mouthwatering old favorite African Beignet made with only the finest ingredients, each with a unique touch creating a love story of its own. I want you to experience my beautiful, delicious mandazi. My recipe comes from my grandmom. When she died, it was then I realized what a treasure she left us; a treasure that would take three years of an experiment to unlock. Finally, with the help and support of my husband and five wonderful boys, I was able to stay at home and have the time to experiment and recover her wonderful recipe through trial and error. We now want to share the love with others!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a beautiful and surprising road, Mandazi is a new product for most of our customers. We started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were not allowed to give samples to our customers, but the most amazing part of the time was to see how people were open to purchase and try our products. it has been exciting to see how in this pandemic, people are always ready to try and appreciate the beauty of a new culture.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Yatab Mandazi is the company name, Yatab means beautiful perfect and mandazi is Beignet in Swahili, which is my dialect Language. I make my grandmom mouthwatering African beignets from scratch, and strive to offer my customers the freshest beignet. I’m known for African Beignets. My Product is unique in taste and also representing a new culture that sets us apart. I’m so happy and excited to introduce Mandazi, which is a new product here I would like my readers to know that I make my grandmom recipe and thrive to offer the best ingredient in each beignet, I would like my readers to experience Africa from here while enjoying my beautiful African Beignets, also to purchase Mandazi you can find us in Dallas, Mckinney, and Coppell Farmers Market every weekend, we are online too.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I love sharing my culture through my African Beignets and seeing that big smile on faces while enjoying them, which always open a door to new friendships.
Pricing:
- 300 grams of Beignets (4 servings) for $11
Contact Info:
- Email: inquiry@yatabmandazi.com
- Website: www.yatabmandazi.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yatabmandazi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YatabMandazi/
