“Nothing comes ahead of its time,” her mother used to say. Cooking has always been Diana Gambier’s passion and already twelve years ago she was making plans to start a food business herself. But after she left her office job the moment was there. She opened The Old Soul March 2022.

Diana moved from Surinam to the Netherlands 35 years ago. Cooking means for her togetherness, enjoyment and community. “I want to tell the story of the Afro-Surinamese cuisine. Dishes like Moksi Alesi or Her Heri, how did they originate? To me this is important, because it is part of my culture and my background. Not everyone knows what happened in those times and I want to tell that story.”

In the 17th century the Netherlands colonized Surinam and brought enslaved persons from West Africa, to work at the plantations. So certain dishes and ingredients from West Africa became a part of the Surinamese cuisine, which is a melting pot of cuisines due to all the different people and cultures coexisting in Surinam nowadays.

Anything can be veganised

Diana found out a while ago she is lactose intolerant, so she got used to eating vegan. Also what is known as soulfood is not always good for the soul, as it includes many unhealthy animal ingredients. This shaped her determination to focus on the many colourful plant-based options which already exist in the Afro-Surinamese cuisine. “Anything can be veganised”, Diana emphasizes. Read more