The 'ambassador' of Angolan cuisine, Mama Kuiba, still cooks up a storm

Mama Kuiba is a world-famous Angolan chef who uses the country's traditional flavours and products to make mouth-watering dishes. She is very loved and appreciated in Angola. This is reflected in her being awarded 'personality of the year' three times thanks to popular vote.

At 83 years old, Mama Kuiba starts her day like many other shoppers in the capital, Luanda: she heads to the market to pick out the right ingredients to make her magic, signature food. However, unlike other shoppers on the market, she is greeted as culinary royalty with much applause and esteem. Why? Her food has won over hearts, minds and taste buds throughout the country. Everyone knows her name.

Her culinary career began on the market. She opened a stall there where she first started selling fizzy drinks and juices. This escalated to her cooking meals to sell. Her original reason for cooking this food on her make-shift stall which included a wooden table and stove, that she bought from the very same market, was to feed her young children coming in from school and her husband.

It was around this time she was given the nickname Mama Kuiba, which means "ugly" in Kimbundu. She explains that at that time she was 38 years old and a lot of the other women working on the market were in their 20s. They were "young, pretty with nice hairdos and make-up", she adds. She was the oldest and wore a headscarf. She eventually gave in, she would be known as the ugliest and started the Mama Kuiba stall.

Her real name is Catarina Verissimo da Costa. She is also known as Natalia because she was born on Christmas Day.

Whilst making the food for her small children and husband on the market, her fellow market workers would revel in the aromas of her creations. They wanted her