Maria Bradford's Storecupboard

These are the Sous Chef ingredients Maria keeps in her storecupboard. Maria Bradford is bringing the vibrant, complex flavors of Sierra Leonean cuisine to British kitchens for the first time. Born and raised in Freetown, Maria learned to cook from her grandmother and mother, starting with simple tasks like peeling onions before graduating to cooking rice for the family's weekly sauces.

After leaving her accounting career to pursue food full-time, Maria founded Shwen Shwen (meaning 'fancy' in Krio), a high-end catering company and supper club specializing in Sierra Leonean cuisine. Her approach celebrates both tradition and innovation - she's passionate about preserving authentic dishes like cassava leaf stew, the national dish, while also creating what she calls "Afro-fusion" - bringing contemporary techniques to Sierra Leonean ingredients.

Maria's debut cookbook "Sweet Salone" (named after Sierra Leone's local nickname) showcases a cuisine shaped by the country's coastal location and history of embracing diversity. Her recipes feature key ingredients like tamarind, sesame seeds, and chilli, transforming familiar flavors into something completely new while honoring their roots.

As a Leiths-trained chef and judge for the Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards, Maria is opening her first restaurant in Kent in 2025, continuing her mission to introduce the world to Sierra Leone's extraordinary food culture.