#MakingIt – Man invents kasi Mexican kota

Growing up ekasi is an experience that many cherish for the rest of their lives and each person has one or two things that make them reminisce about childhood life on the dusty roads.

Some remember childhood games and some never seem to forget kasi cuisine – traditional dishes prepared exclusively in the ‘hood.

There is mutual consent among many that the one food that stands out is the well-known kota, a quarter-loaf of bread filled with atchar, fried chips and other goodies.

Often a number of kota outlets compete for the same palates on the same street, in close proximity to each other.

This makes it difficult for kota shops to have a unique selling point, as preparation of this dish is practically the same everywhere, with the same ingredients – making many prospective entrepreneurs shy away from this business model.

For Kagiso Mkasibe the competition presented no threat and he decided to enter the space, determined to facelift the kasi dish to create a name for himself.

He said his experiment paid off, as he now sells his exceptional kota with a Mexican taste.

Mkasibe calls it Super Mario.

He is the co-owner of a kasi café called MoChaé Eatery and Restaurant. “I am a kasi boy. I grew up in Emangweni Section, which is why I run my business here,” said Mkasibe.

The former Boston Media House student said he started out pursuing a career in radio production at the campus in Pretoria.

“There I shared a flat with my brother who was studying a course in hospitality and I often helped him with his cooking assignments. I fell in love with the industry. He actually taught me how to cook,” he said.

He said it took him a year to perfect his culinary skills and he polished them by cooking for his family.

After Mkasibe had spent two years searching unsuccessfully for a radio job, his friend, Bonginkosi Mthombeni, proposed that they start a food business and they became business partners, running the MoChaé café together.

“I had to think about things that I would like to eat and things that would interest other people, what they would like to eat but are available ekasi.

“A cuisine with a Mexican flavour was my best bet and I put together ingredients. Voila! That was the birth of the Super Mario Kota,” he said.

“I came up with the unique recipe because I thought deeply about what was missing from the traditional kota. I had to come up with something exclusive to attract customers.

“I have special sauces and I use Panini bread but I still keep other traditional ingredients like fried potato chips and atchar. We also infused pork shoulder ham, which gives the kota a nice meaty taste. We are planning to introduce more extras on the sides of the kota to make kasi food healthy and delicious.”

He said during this winter they are also bringing in kasi bunny chows.

“Those will go with hot drinks for winter. In summer we will have cocktails. When we started people were not used to us and our pricing because they didn’t know what to expect. It only took a day for the surrounding community to value our product.”

He said at the moment they rely on word of mouth for marketing.

“Our future plan is to become a big restaurant and offer franchise opportunities. We want to compete with big brands when we move out from a shipping container to a big mall. This is now a career and business for us.”

Mkasibe’s advice to unemployed graduates is, “If you don’t get your ideal job now it does not mean that you will never, ever get employed but at the moment you need to do something to make ends meet. Start your own business and mix with the right people. Don’t be afraid to take risks.”

Those who want to test Super Mario can call 082 546 5596.