Sisters in business: Nabeelah and Wardah Cassiem blend culinary passion with community spirit

Nabeelah Cassiem is the founder and owner of Creamy Creations, based at the CoCreate Hub in Stellenbosch, while her sister Wardah Cassiem is the founder of Wadi’s Kitchen. The Hub is a space for locals, tourists and professionals to grab a bite, shop and even get a haircut. 

The entrepreneurial and community collective is located on the corner of Victoria Street near Stellenbosch University. It is also where I had the amazing opportunity to intern during the first half of my reporting experience in South Africa. Reflecting on my Diasporic Dinner Dialogues series and stories, the CoCreate Hub created space for me to truly explore and experiment with my reporting style.

Originally, I was only planning to craft narratives for Daily Maverick and, with permission, republish those stories for my freelancing publication, FUSION. I created FUSION last year at Syracuse University to create a digital and print publication to uplift and unify the voices of the black diaspora. 

Since then, FUSION has grown to 200 followers on Instagram and 60 subscribers on Substack. Watching my peers from both the graduate and undergraduate levels collaborate on a project over a span of one year inspired me to create an independent publication from the original platform for incoming students to create their own legacy, while I continue to tell stories that I am passionate about. One of these stories is about Nabeelah and Wardah Cassiem, two sisters with a passion for community and cuisine.

A professional pastry chef, Nabeelah’s love for whipping up sweet treats started at a young age. At just nine years old she found her passion for pastries in the kitchen with the women who inspired her the most — her grandmother, mother and aunt. 

From pies, rusks, carrot cake and traditional koeksisters, the “homemade goodness”, as she calls it, is crafted with care.

“What makes it unique is that everything is homemade. We do everything from scratch. Our pastries are homemade, not store bought. Our filling is from scratch. Everything is literally homemade,” said Nabeelah.

Nabeelah is intentional about baking and preparing homemade goods. She wants her customers to experience homemade flavors as if they were in the comfort of their own home. 

“It’s home away from home,” she said.

Nabeelah bakes pastries not only to satisfy local cravings, but to allow tourists to experience traditional South African baked goods. 

“People often come in here, foreigners as well, they are like ‘Oh my word, this is the Cape Malay koeksister, this is the traditional pie,’” said Nabeelah.

I had the opportunity to try the traditional koeksister for the first time at Creamy Creations. The deep fried crunchy treat resembles a hair braid dipped into a golden brown syrup. The sticky treat is perfect for those with a sweet tooth. It might be hard to find at local coffee shops, but not at Creamy Creations. The twisted donut awaits you, along with other native appetizers. 

“You won't often go into a coffee shop and easily find samosa or proper koeksister, so that’s what makes us different, and it’s homemade,” said Nabeelah.

Sisterhood is important to the Stellenbosch sisters. While Wardah is completing her Bachelor of Education to become a teacher, Nabeelah holds down the fort at the hub. 

“I’m running my sister’s shop for her in the meantime, while she is pursuing her dream of being a teacher,” she said. 

Wardah is finishing her teaching practical at Stellenbosch, and while she loves teaching, cooking is her other passion. Coming from a family of cooks and bakers, she previously sold food from her kitchen. During Covid-19, she experienced financial challenges but didn’t want to give up her career as a chef. Her family then hosted a braai event where she cooked food like boerewors, which I learned is the South African term for sausage, to support her dreams. 

Wadi’s Kitchen is the only halal vendor at CoCreate serving traditional meals like chicken tikka burgers, chicken wraps and, of course, boerewors rolls inspired by Cape Malay cuisine. 

Wardah remembers the words from one of her biggest supporters, her father, and opened Wadi’s Kitchen in 2022.

“Why don’t you aspire to sell food from home, so you don’t have to give up studying?” her father asked. 

Wardah’s cooking attracts diverse customers — from students to tourists and even local attorneys who wait in line at her shop. 

“They walk past all of the shops just to come and support me,” said Wardah. 

While she has experienced success in her entrepreneurial and academic pursuits, the passing of her father due to Covid-19 in 2022 is a heartfelt reminder of his influence on her culinary career. 

“For me it is an emotional time, because he is not there to see the end, the final product,” said Wardah.

Despite her loss, she believes her resilience, father’s legacy, and most importantly strong faith allow her cuisine company to grow.

“The success obviously comes from our Creator before anything else,” said Wardah.

Ultimately, her father’s initial inspiration to start a business led her to a culinary company that has won the heart of the community nearly four years later. 

“What was supposed to be something to help me pay my bursary fees became bigger in the sense that Stellenbosch University, the people of Stellenbosch community, they all supported me to this day,” said Wardah.

While she wants to become a teacher and pursue a cooking career, Nabeelah hopes to own her own business outside of the hub one day. 

“I decided that I wanted to follow my dreams by having my own little coffee shop and bakery one day,” she said.

After meeting Marli Goussard, the enterprise development and collaboration adviser for CoCreate Hub, Nabeelah says this interaction inspired her to want to create job opportunities for others. She wants to grow her business, but also to support others who have entrepreneurial zeal.

“The main idea that I had was to have job creation as well, to provide employment for people who are unemployed and to give them the opportunity to be in this industry,” said Nabeelah. 

Supporting local businesses allows small entrepreneurs not only to create jobs, but to pursue their dreams. 

“By supporting the small business owner, you are fulfilling their dream to carry on and to open more stores eventually,” said Nabeelah.

She also credits her staff for supporting the development of Creamy Creations and maintaining the bakery while she takes on other roles. 

“I don’t know what I would do without Zinathi, she works at the coffee shop as well. She’s currently running the shop for me while I supply other bakeries around here in Stellenbosch,” said Nabeelah.

Zinathi Lukas is a graduate of CTIA school for chefs. Lukas said that after she completed her courses, the school helped her find a job. One week after graduation, Lukas was hired at CoCreate Hub’s Creamy Creations as a pastry chef. As a student, Lukas learned about pastries and cooking skills such as omelette making while completing her practicum. She learned how to cook from her mom, just like Nabeelah and Wardah. Lukas has aspirations to work on a cruise ship so she can explore cooking. 

Lukas says Nabeelah and Wardah have created a working environment worth supporting.

“You are working with people who have love in a nice environment,” said Lukas. 

As the barista and pastry assistant, Lukas notes what goods keep customers coming back for more. 

“It’s the pies, we’ve got chicken pies, we’ve got koeksister — people like that,” said Lukas.

At Creamy Creations, the tasty treats and pastries entice the customers, and at Wadi’s Kitchen the savory burgers and sauces create long queues. Though Wardah is the founder, she says there is another face behind the Cape Malay magic — her mother.

“She’s the face behind Wadi’s Kitchen; she plays a very important role,” said Wardah.

Wadi’s Kitchen offers a menu selection from toasted cheese to smokey barbeque wings to accommodate different dietary restrictions. The halal service often reminded me of my many late-night trips to halal food trucks in Jersey City with my brother, Roger Campbell. The creamy white tahini sauce with a garlic and lemon blend would enhance the flavor of the rice and orange chicken in my to-go container. Watching Wardah flip the smokey chicken made me think I started my pescatarian journey five years too soon. To recreate that nostalgic taste, I would shamelessly request white sauce even though my meal didn’t require it. I would drizzle the white sauce over my fries, and yes, even onto my toasted cheese sandwich. I must say, that is the best white sauce I have ever had in my life, and two months later I wish I could import a bottle. 

The soup is also a fan favorite at Wadi’s Kitchen. Wardah’s mom is often behind the scenes creating the nutritious broth. Customers call ahead of time before ordering the chicken or vegetable soup.

“Did your mom make soup today?” they ask.

I tried the vegetable soup on a cold Cape Town day when I was fighting a cold, and I must say the plant-based stock was the perfect remedy for my winter and sick blues.

Currently Creamy Creations and Wardah’s Kitchen are located in the courtyard of the CoCreate Hub providing comforting cuisine and tasty treats. While the hub provides the two sisters with stomping grounds for growth, Wardah hopes that she can open a business one day.

“From something that started only out of the kitchen it became something a little bigger, and someday I do hope and wish to broaden it and collaborate with my sister and mom, owning our own store,” said Wardah.

From home-cooked traditional treats to modern Malay cuisine brought to the hub, Nabeelah and Wardah create a cuisine crafted with care and community in mind. 

“Just seeing people with a smile, knowing that you are giving them something good, and that compliment people give you when they tell you ‘Thank you so much, the food is delicious,’ it just makes you want to be even better,” said Wardah. DM