Not Mauritian Enough?

Jess Ho sits down with Mauritian-Australian chef Nagesh Seethiah to unpack the tension between cultural expectation and creative expression in food. Through his hatted restaurant Manzé, Seethiah has created a space that reflects his vision of culture, community and care. But what happens when your food doesn’t meet the expectations of the community it comes from? Why are some cuisines given more freedom to evolve than others?

What happens when you dare to update the food of your diaspora?

Jess Ho

Host of For The Culture Jess Ho and Nagesh Seethiah outside Manzé restaurant in Melbourne.

I think that's how Manzé started to blossom. It was very much, how can we use the space to facilitate people learning more about food and other cultures?

Nagesh Seethiah

Credits

Hosted and Created by Jess Ho

Executive Producer: Beth Atkinson-Quinton

Senior Producer: Elle Marsh

Producer: Bez Zewdie

Sound Designer: Nicole Pingon

Mixed by Max Gosford

Theme and additional original music is by Jon Tjhia

Artwork: Jason Phu

SBS team: Joel Supple, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn and Philip Soliman