Episode 318: Being a Cookbook Author: African Food as Everyday Food with Kiano Moju

Welcome to another episode of the podcast! Today, I’m joined by Kiano Moju. Kiano is a Kenyan-Nigerian American recipe developer, producer, director, video host, and the author of her new book, Afri Cali: Recipes from My Jikoni.

Kiano’s culinary identity is a unique fusion of her Kenyan and Nigerian heritage, her upbringing in California’s diverse food culture, and her experiences traveling abroad. You may recognize Kiano from her time as a creative video producer at BuzzFeed’s Tasty, where her recipe videos garnered over 100 million views. Since departing from BuzzFeed in 2019, Kiano has launched her own media company and founded The Jikoni Recipe Archive, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and celebrating the diverse cuisine of Africa and its diaspora.

In this episode, Kiano and I discuss:

• African food as everyday food: How to incorporate African cuisine into your regular cooking routine, making it both accessible and enjoyable.
• 3rd Culture Cooking: Kiano shares her perspective on blending cultural influences from different backgrounds into a unique culinary identity.
• Accessible global flavors: We talk about making African recipes approachable for home cooks, even when certain ingredients may be hard to find.
• Capturing family recipes: Kiano explains her process for turning oral, unwritten family recipes into structured, easy-to-follow recipes for her cookbook, preserving these treasured dishes for future generations.

If you’re interested in learning how to incorporate African flavors into your everyday cooking, or you want to hear more about Kiano’s journey from BuzzFeed to running her own media company, this episode is for you. Join us for a conversation about culture, food, and the art of preserving culinary heritage.

Things We Mention In This Episode

Jikoni Recipe Archive

Kiano Moju

Afri Cali: Recipes from My Jikoni

Dishoom: From Bombay with Love