Why Middleton’s New Cookbook is Winning

Foodie disruptorKenneth Tebogo Middletonjust droppedParadise, a guilt-free gospel of elevated food and he’s already deep into a second cookbook that promises even louder flavours and fewer rules Kenneth Middleton doesn’t plate food — he performs it. Every first bite ends the same way: a celebratory chant of “winning,” half mantra, half mic drop. His debut cookbookParadisereads like that moment: joyful and unapologetically indulgent.

In a food culture obsessed with cutting carbs, shrinking portions and moralising meals,Paradisedoes the unthinkable — it hands you extra cheese and pours the wine. “I wanted to create a book that says you can go all out on your food,” Middleton explained in an interview. Not daily decadence, but intentional indulgence: food as reward, memory and celebration.

Middleton doesn’t replace classics; he remixes them. Banana magwinya arrives dressed with sauces and garnishes. Seswaa gets a glow-up as “Luxury Seswaa,” maintaining its soul while stepping into fine-dining lighting.

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The star of the book — and its cover — is the “private school kota,” a crunchy, texture-stacked evolution of the township icon that launched his publishing deal. “My mind is very random, and this creates a lot of variety, and that’s how I enjoy food in a wide variety of forms,” he said. “You also have international influences in the book, dishes from all over the world.

Of course, I’ve tried to simplify them so anyone can cook them.” Years of content creation built a global audience across Botswana, South Africa and beyond, turning followers into first readers. For Middleton, the cookbook isn’t a merch drop — it’s a more intimate interface. A page has no notifications.

Just ingredients, steps and intention. Success hasn’t slowed him. He’s already drafting his second cookbook, proof that the process — testing, scrapping, reimagining — is his real addiction.

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