Inspired by: Rahel Stephanie

Miista

Wed Apr 10 2024

Miista's Inspired By series celebrates the people who make us think and take risks.

At MIISTA we are only the sum of all the micro cultures that exist around us. We have never been quiet about it, and you have heard us before saying we are ‘Inspired By’ – insert: the opposite thing.

This month we took a trip down the culinary road and caught up with Chef, Writer and Presenter Rahel Stephanie.

Rahel Stephanie is of a new breed of talent that makes it to the thermometer Dazed 100 List. Her Instagram handle is "@linda_from_accounting", which, you guessed it... it refers to the number of things she has built her career on. She’s the founder of "Sp00ns" the most exciting Indonesian Supper Club in London – according to The Face Magazine – which embraces the musings of her culture and pays tribute to the women from Jakarta who have found a side hustle by making cooking videos with a shaky camera on YouTube. Now growing to be a real cooking auntie herself, her after-hours gig is taking her cooking chops to NTS radio and playing a show of 100% Indonesian fiery bangers. It’s a multi-sensory experience that you can top up by edging closer to Indonesian culture by checking one of the recipes from Sp00ns' Substack.

We met with Rahel at Deptford Market on the hunt for ingredients and went back to her home in South London to recreate her signature Pandan Berry Blondies that have gone viral on dating apps. Here's what went down.

Miista: How did it all start Rahel?

Rahel: It started with a thirst of creating authentic flavors from Indonesia and spreading the awareness about that. When I first moved here over 11 years ago, I couldn’t find much that reminded me of home or what I would consider authentic Indonesian cuisine. So I wanted to cook both for myself, as well as showing other people what Indonesian food should be like.

M: We are on the hunt for ingredients today at Deptford Market. Are you an improviser or do you have it all planned out?

R: My natural answer is to say I love to plan, I do not know how to function without planning. My calendar and to-do lists are just insane. But I guess it depends if I'm cooking for other people - if I'm cooking for my work a lot of planning goes into it, but when it comes to myself, one of my favorite things to do is just to go into the massive Supermarket without an agenda. I just start dissociating and can browse for hours!

M: You came to our London store to pick an outfit to go shopping at the market and cooking for MIISTA today. What about these boots made you choose them?

R: I fell in love with them immediately! I'm very excited to have that ‘I'm going to step on everyone’ vibe.

Rahel wearing Aline Black Tall Boots

M: Everyone says you are what you wear. Is it also true that you are what you eat? Would you describe people’s characters by the flavours they enjoy?

R: I'm not sure if it necessarily applies to everyone but I love spicy food. I've been told I have a bit of a spicy personality so you know...make of it what you will.

M: How is your creative process? Are there any pillars of inspiration or people you look up to in the cooking world or creative world? Or is it all born inside you?

R: I guess a lot of it comes from memory obviously because I don't live in Indonesia at the moment. I love going on YouTube and just looking at channels of Indonesian Housewives and see what they're up to, with their shaky cameras and everything. They're my biggest inspirations.

I also have a pretty good cookbook collection. So it's a multimedia kind of situation where inspiration is never just like a one stop shop.

This is always a really difficult question for me because I have a million different interests. People who inspire me don't just necessarily come from the food industry. A lot of my friends come from all sorts of different industries and they’re who I look up to. They really influence a lot of my creative processes, where I'm at in life, and vice versa.

M: What's the difference between creating a recipe and creating a menu experience? How do you create that harmony between dishes, and make it all feel they are a part of the same story?

R: When creating a recipe, it can come with a little bit of improvisation. Whereas with menus, they require planning because its harmony is really important to me. The balance and the flavour profiles need to reflect the diversity of Indonesian cuisine, at least in my own cooking experiences. A lot of people don't quite realise how vast and Indonesian cuisine is and so I try to reflect a different dish from a different region as much as I can in one menu.

M: At Miista we have a life motto which we describe as the The Opposite Thing for a brand in the 21st century. That is talking risks, doing things differently, not being sheep, and not fearing to express something we really believe in. What is the most Opposite Thing you did in your life or creative career that you still feel the proudest?

R: I didn’t go to culinary school. In this industry it’s unusual to not be from a culinary trained background. I work in a (still) very cishet male dominated industry, and I like to dress like this. I dress like this and I come in the kitchen and there’s the “who's that bimbo” kind of thing. But it's also cool (even though it's exhausting) because I get to prove to those around you that my capabilities aren't compromised based on the way I look or my other interests or an immediate perception of me. So, yeah, I'm not your stereotypical kind of cheffy chef, but I've got a lot more to prove I guess.

"The Pandan Berry Blondies are a signature of mine. Everyone loves this cake. This cake has made so many appearances on dating apps. I know for a fact that my friends use these as thirst traps, which I completely am here for I love that for them."

M: How did your Indonesian heritage shape your character? Are there lots of opposites in your character and identity?

R: I come from the Batak Tribe of North Sumatra in Indonesia, at least 15 to 17 generations from both of my parents side. It’s known to be a very forthright, very outspoken culture. There is literally not the word for ‘sorry’, it doesn't exist in the vocabulary. I'm not necessarily saying that I'm that hardest person but I kind of love taking that and reminding myself of my self-respect and believing in myself and just to be unapologetic in what I do. I think I really am very unapologetic in my work...or I try to be at least.

We're also known to love a good party and we're fun people. I think we're the funnest tribe.

I guess there are a lot of contradictions, or multifaceted aspects, of my personality and nature. It's so easy to perceive a person and generalise them in one way, and not get to know a different side of them. With my loved ones, I feel like they've seen different sides of me that newer friends haven't yet. For example, I’ve built up my confidence with age and today I'm much more forthright. I know what I want and that tends to be people's perception of me, but I can be tender and sensitive as well and some people forget that I'm not made out of steel!

M: We heard you are an avid record collector. Can you tell us the story of your record collection? What sound spheres do you care about & does what you listen influences what you cook?

R: My record collection and my taste in music is quite parallel to my personality. It's just all over the place but that's what I love - not setting any boundaries or arbitrary measures to anything because I love keeping an open mind. It exposes you to so much in life.

It used to be an ‘ohhh underground versus mainstream’ kind of thing but I love that those binaries are being blurred because you know, what you enjoy is just what you enjoy. There's no point gatekeeping those things. It’s the same with food or art and fashion, whatever it is you like - you just like it.

M: What’s the question you ever get asked that you wish you would?

R: It's always “what are you cooking?”, and not “can I cook for you?”