Having a busy schedule and fast life has taught Justine Drake to cherish the important things in life. Or, in the words of this MasterChef South Africa judge: “I don’t have any material things that I couldn’t go without.” Drake talks to MatieMedia’s Andrea de Lilly about the things she couldn’t go without.
Justine Drake, executive content director at a leading media agency, TV chef, cookbook author and well-known SA foodie has over 30 years of experience in the food media industry. “If you can’t put your all into something then just don’t do it,” says Drake. PHOTO: Supplied/Justine Drake
“Fun, smart and slightly mad. That’s how my friends would probably describe me,” says Justine Drake, the executive content director of John Brown Media, MasterChef South Africa judge, TV chef, cookbook author and magazine editor. The list goes on.
Drake entered the media industry in 1988, with her first job at Fair Lady. She has since moved on to become the “sort of food editor of eight different magazines” including Men’s Health and Discovery Vitality.
More than 30 years later, Drake has dabbled in everything to do with media and food – from radio and television to YouTube, magazines and cookbooks.
Born with a wooden spoon in her mouth
Drake has been cooking since she was old enough to wield a wooden spoon in her hand.
“I’ve been cooking since I could stand up,” says Drake, who is speaking to MatieMedia via Teams. Her love and passion for all things food-related began at a young age and was nurtured by her family, she says. As a result, her love for food has a strong link to her love for her family.
“My father encouraged it the most,” says Drake. “He was extraordinarily passionate about food.” She recalls how they would go to restaurants and how her father always wanted the “best of the best”. She jokes that he was the sort of person to make his own mayonnaise.
“There’s something about food that brings people together,” says Drake. For her, food is about sharing and love. “It’s a great coming together, a great sort of gatherer of people,” she says.
Much like her personality, Justine Drake’s recipes are as authentic as possible. Her recipes are affordable and “quite real stuff you could cook for dinner”, says Drake. PHOTO: Andrea de Lilly
Food as ultimate expression of love
For Drake, food is the ultimate expression of love. “It’s how I try [to] make people happy; show them I love them and show them I care,” she says.
One of Drake’s favourite recipes is a “delicious vicious” roast chicken. “You chop up loads and loads of herbs, garlic, and lemon peel and you mix it with dijon mustard…” she starts.
Drake admits to having a few unique food tastes. “I like marmalade on toast with cucumber,” she says. Another of her food combinations is that of cheese and apple. “I don’t think it’s weird, but some [people] do,” says Drake.
It’s about the journey
While many 23-year-olds were discovering themselves, Drake was writing her first cookbook: The Busy Cook’s Cookbook.
“It was a series I wrote in Fair Lady,” says Drake. “I pushed really hard to have it.” At the time Drake was assistant to the food editor. After relentless begging, she finally got her break and received her first column on “cost-cutting cuisine”, says Drake.
It was immensely popular. “The other food in the magazine was quite posh and pond and this was […] real and stuff you could cook for dinner,” explains Drake. After gaining traction, her well-fought-for column was transformed into her first cookbook.
Drake’s relentless desire to improve herself has brought her many successes. And when those successes cause her to get “remotely sort of full of myself”, Drake says that her husband and friends remain her great-levellers and bring her back to earth.
A master chef
After a four-year hiatus, MasterChef South Africa returned to South African television screens on 28 February 2022. Pictured above are the judges, Justine Drake, Zola Nene and Gregory Czarnecki. PHOTO: Sourced/Dstv.com
Since that very first cookbook, Drake has worked her way to many more accomplishments, including writing several other cookbooks, producing her own cooking show, Just Cooking on SABC 3, and winning a global content director award.
And more recently, she was selected as a judge on the popular cooking show, MasterChef South Africa [MCSA].
“I was very humbled, surprised, and delighted and all of those things when asked to be a judge,” says Drake.
While she is no stranger to being behind the camera, Drake admits that it took some adjusting to having “eight cameras and 150 crew” follow you around. Nonetheless, it was “an incredible experience”, she says.
“And the contestants were amazing. It was tiring and it was fun. We laughed and laughed and I cried and cried,” says Drake, adding that she never shies away from expressing her true self.
“I made a very conscious decision many many years ago to never be anything I wasn’t and to be true to myself”
I made a very conscious decision many many years ago to never be anything I wasn’t and to be true to myself
The currency of authenticity
Whether it be her recipes or being on television, Drake strives to be relatable to the average South African. “I made a very conscious decision many many years ago to never be anything I wasn’t and to be true to myself,” she says.
“I don’t have any material things that I couldn’t go without. I don’t really give a shit,” she says. “I am just me and when you meet me in the flesh or you see me on television… I am the same person.”
From producing and presenting the popular BBC series Just in Africa to having her own YouTube channel, Justine Drake is no stranger to being behind the camera. PHOTO: Instagram/@justinedrakecooks
“She is unapologetically true to herself,” says Lani Carstens, one of Drake’s closest friends. Her quick wit and her enormous talent set her apart from the rest, Carstens adds.
This authenticity is something she tries to emulate with her recipes. When thinking of recipes, Drake places herself in the shoes of the average South African consumer. “I think about how much it’s going to cost. Where am I going to buy it? What do people [need to] get by with?” says Drake.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Justine Drake started her own YouTube channel, Just Cook at Home SA with Justine Drake. VIDEO: YouTube/Just Cook at Home SA with Justine Drake
An allergy to complacency
“Mediocre isn’t acceptable,” says Drake, adding that she continuously reminds her children, staff and herself of this.
Her so-called allergy to complacency has driven her to continuously aspire to “be better and do better”.
“I can’t imagine being complacent,” says Drake. “It doesn’t interest me.”
One doesn’t have to be a genius or perfect or even the most creative person, but it is important to just try, she says. “Just be fucking original.”