This week, Cable News Network (CNN) top rated show, African Voices Playmakers, sponsored by digital services company Globacom, will explore the unique journey of success of two foremost chefs from Republic of Benin and Mauritius. The chefs are Georgiana Viou from Benin Republic and Ayushi “Chef Yu” Gooroochurn from Mauritius.
46-year-old Georgiana Viou, a mother of three, comes from a multi ethnic childhood in Benin. Earlier, Viou emigrated from the Republic of Benin to Paris, France, with the aim of becoming an interpreter, by a stroke of luck, however, she found herself working in the culinary arena.
Everything started with the culinary prize; “Le Taittinger des Cordons Bleus” in 2009. Shortly after that she landed by chance in the first edition of Masterchef France in 2010 in which she was a finalist. This was followed by a passage in Paris at Sarah and Sylvain Sendra’s Michelin Star restaurant, and at Hissa Takeushi.
By 2023 her skills had attracted so much attention that Michelin Guide, the bible of gastronomy, awarded her a star for her cuisine at “Rouge,” a restaurant in the southwestern French city of Nimes. The Michelin star was bestowed on her in recognition of her “singular cuisine … celebrating her Mediterranean environment and Benin roots.”
Ayushi Gooroochurn on the other hand is the Executive Chef at the Constance Belle Mare Plage Hotel in Mauritius. For the 34-year-old cooking comes naturally. As a result of her dexterity, Ayushi, popularly called Chef Yu, and her team have been awarded certificates of appreciation for their masterpiece culinary presentations.
African Voices Playmakers will be aired on Saturday at 8.30 a.m. Repeats will air the same day at 2.00 p.m. and on Sunday at 4.30 a.m., 7.00 p.m. and Monday at 4.00 a.m. The same edition will be repeated on Saturday, next week at 8.30 a.m., 12 noon, on Sunday at 4.30 a.m., 7.00 p.m. and on Monday at 4.00 a.m.
