Zola Nene was born in Durban, based in Cape Town, South Africa. When she was 6, her family moved to George. After studying Economics for 2 years, she realized that it was not the right career path for her and she has a much greater passion in the Culinary art world. So she applied the working visa and went to England to follow her culinary dream. Her most vivid childhood memory is grinding mielie with her grandmother to make steamed mielie bread which was not only delicious but also her favorite meal.^[1]

Chef Zola Nene stayed in England for about two years.

During her time, she first started working as the chef for the hot section of a brasserie in Cheshire.

Being a diligent and passionate worker, she was promoted to become the Head Chef

After receiving valuable working experience, she went back to South Africa and enrolled in Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch. It is where she decided to shift her culinary focus to food media. She later moved to Johannesburg and worked as a catering manager.

Taking a look at her career life and its development speaks for itself that everyone should pursue their heart desires.^[2]

Chef Zola completed her first cooking book in February 2016.

"Simply Delicious" is a regular book about just basic foods but represents her love for nature, her family and the people in her life.

The book symbolized her growth in cooking styles and brings people closer to food.

Zola's recipes have greatly influenced mothers in South Africa as it added a new life to their cooking skills.^[5]

The bubbly chef has a website where she shares most of what she does in her space.

She is the Food Stylist and the resident chef of the South Africa Breakfast TV show aired on @Expresso.^[2] She now has her own cooking show called “CELEB FEASTS with ZOLA” which began broadcasting in 2018 on Mzansi Magic on DStv^[4]

Her cookbook "Simply Delicious" received the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2017. The other book published is Simply Zola (2018).

Mealie bread and lamb curry are two dishes that pretty much define my childhood.^[3]