Real food, taught by people who cook it every day.

Umami Academy was founded in Cape Town in 2024 by a small group of chefs and food writers frustrated by cooking content that assumed you had a Michelin pantry.

We build courses for the actual South African kitchen — the one with load-shedding, the local butcher, the gas braai you inherited, the KitchenAid you got for your wedding.

Every course is filmed in HD, structured like a real curriculum, and reviewed by working chefs before it goes live. Our students are 2,400+ home cooks across South Africa, from students in res to grandmothers finally writing down the family recipes.