Nairobi, Aug. 13 -- Some of my earliest food memories are of steaming bowls of sorghum and red millet porridge at our family breakfast table in Kenya. Earthy, nutty and deeply comforting, it was a meal my parents valued for its nourishment long before I understood where it came from.

As a child, it was simply breakfast. I never imagined that years later it would become the ingredient that best represents what I believe the future of fine pastry could be.

My culinary education began in South Africa, where I trained in the classical traditions of French cuisine at Silwood School of Cookery.

Like many young chefs, I believed excellence was defined by technical precision and access to the world's finest ingredients. French butter, Madagasc...