Meet Mae Magnaye Williams | Chef and Blogger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mae Magnaye Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mae, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

I started my business after my father passed away. He was the one who taught me how to cook Filipino food when I was living in the Philippines. After his passing, I guess at that time I was still healing and wanted to continue his legacy and memory through my food. I felt that everytime I cooked Filipino food he was close to me as if he never left us. It was a short comfort while I mourned for him. Through the food I cooked and ate, my memories of being with him were alive in that moment. It was such a powerful healing process for me. In 2011 I called my business after him; ‘Pepe’s Kitchen’ before it evolved to ‘Food with Mae’ in 2019.

What got me focused on my business was that I saw the lack of representation of Filipino cuisine in London and the restaurants that were serving Filipino food were too exclusive. At the time I had a small catering company which evolved into a Supper Club. I hosted a monthly supperclub serving home-cooked Filipino food, regional and street food dishes too. I wanted my diners to experience Filipino food at it’s basic form. It wasn’t anything fancy but a humble meal that will give them an insight into Filipino cuisine. It was a training ground for me. I served all sorts of Filipino delicacies and even the eyebrow raising dish called ‘Balut’. It’s a boiled fertilised egg that is popular in the Philippines. I wanted to find out how much I can push the British palates, as it turns out they are very adventurous! Most of my diners are non Filipinos and some Filipinos who do come enjoyed my food too which is amazing. Some leave feedback saying “it tastes like home” and that means so much to me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I am most proud of the people I inspired and started their own businesses. That was one of my goals from the start, to inspire other FIlipino foodies and or chefs to start their own business and be proud of their own food, heritage and culture. I am also proud of myself for doing the best I can as a business woman and a mother at the same time. It’s not an easy job to do. I’m not rich, financially we are stable but my soul is happy. I don’t often blow on my own trumpet but I have to give myself credit sometimes! Haha!! I’m excited about the future. I’m writing a cookbook proposal, it seems like it’s taking forever. This is my 3rd proposal as it didn’t work out before but hopefully one day it will happen. My time will come and my own cookbook will be off my bucket list.

I’m a home chef. I learned how to cook Filipino food since I was a little girl. I started off watching my papa cook and eventually he let me do the chopping then cooking. You could say I am homeschooled and not classically trained. There are so many videos on the internet that you can use to learn certain skills. I didn’t feel the need to go to cooking school in the UK, I felt that it didn’t serve my purpose for me. I want to enhance my cooking using Filipino cooking methods, not French or Mediterranean cooking. So what I did instead, was to take my family back to the Philippines often, visiting different islands every time we went, trying their regional food and their delicacies. While volunteering for Philippine Generations, I was put forward to be on UKTV food with John Torode for his show ‘New British Kitchens’ in 2008, where I showed him how to cook a couple of Filipino foods. That was a great exposure for Filipino cuisine in the UK. Then in 2016 I was featured on the TV show Mary Berry’s Easter Feast on BBC2, cooking my favourite Filipino dish called Lechon, it’s brined and slow roasted filled with lemongrass and herbs inside. This has been shown every Easter since filming so far!

It was not an easy ride for me, as a young mum finding the balance was really tough between family life and business too. At the time I had 2 young daughters, a catering business and I was volunteering as a Filipino teacher for Philippine Generations. I was still mourning for my loss at this time. I did suffer from depression, it stemmed from postnatal depression that continued. I was seeing a therapist for a little bit but I stopped because I thought to myself if there is someone who can help me with this, it’s not the therapist who doesn’t know me at all, it’s me. So I started eating better, less snacks, less sugar and exercising more so I signed up to a gym close to me. This helped me a lot, not only that i feel better about how I look, everytime I went to the gym it was my ‘me time’. When I’m working out in the gym all I can think of is how many reps I’m doing or this set is done and that was an achievement for me. How I organised my family was I created a time table for my girls with school work and chores at home. They received a reward for completed tasks. Today they are rewarded with time on their phones! My husband Adrian and I go on dates too even if it’s just coffee away from the children.

The lessons I have learned so far is that life experiences and time weighs more than money. Of course money will make life a little better but time with my family either at home on the couch watching a film or on holiday together is far better for me. To me that means I will work very hard up to a point but my family will come first. I want to be a role model to my daughters and I want to give them the tools they need. The world is cruel and they need as many tools as possible to overcome their own challenges in the future. I also learned to love myself and that I am strong, beautiful and I am enough.

My story is very familiar to many people, particularly to Filipinos. I was born and raised in the Philippines but when I was 14, my parents split up, my sister and I came to the UK to join my mama. As an immigrant it’s very hard to leave one life and start a new life somewhere else, especially if it wasn’t your choice! Parents will tell you to follow the social norms and go to Uni, get a good paying job, keep your head down and make some money. As you grow you start to think if doing any of those things actually would bring you happiness? Many people realise this after years of working and being unhappy. I realised this through life experiences quite early, forging my own path through motherhood and entrepreneurship that led me to finding what would make me happy. Food with Mae is a reflection of me and what makes me happy, so being able to share my passion for Filipino food and culture is key to that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

– Saturday
-In the morning I would take my bestie to my local Pub or Café for a traditional English Breakfast
– Then for a walk in Regents Park
– For lunch we would continue to walk to Camden Town and walk around the market then to Kentish Town to eat at Ramoramen (Filipino Ramen)
– We will take the underground (tube) to Westminster to see Big Ben and go on the River Boat on the Thames.
– For dinner I will take my bestie to Le Relais De Venise in Soho.
– Drinks after will be at the Hamyard!

Sunday
– Ole & Steen (Danish bakery) for some coffee and pastry for breakfast(I’m imagining we will be hungover at this point! HAHA!!) So not much activity apart from eating.
– Lunch in Jollibee (Leicester Square)
– Snacks in Mamasons Dirty Ice Cream (Chinatown)
– The Ned for dinner and entertainment

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a Shoutout to Philippine Generations (PG), the volunteers and supporters who helped the group, without this organisation I don’t think I would be who I am today. I co-founded Philippine Generations with my husband and 3 of our friends. The organisation was born because we were at the stage of our lives where we were starting to have our families and we wanted our children to know their roots. We wanted to raise the aspirations of young Filipinos by bringing them more culturally closer to the Philippines. Our mantra was to Educate, Inspire and Empower. Noone knew how to run an organisation or community events before, we all had to learn along the way. I definitely learnt so much while volunteering for PG. I was able to learn how to apply for funding, bookkeeping, risk assessments, marketing, putting policies together and so much more! The organisation cemented the foundation for me as a business woman. I also want to give a shoutout to my husband Adrian who is always there when I need him, my rock and my knight. My children for reminding me what life is all about. 

Website: www.foodwithmae.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodwithmae/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/foodwithmae

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FoodwithMae

Image Credits
Mark Alarcon
Ray Roberts