As one of the world’s wealthiest female musicians, Rihanna can certainly afford her own personal chef. But what about during her rise to fame, did the SOS singer ever learn to cook her own meals?
Rihanna can cook, she learned how to in her home country of Barbados. Barbadian or Bajan food is similar to most Caribbean cuisine. It is filled with many different fresh fish dishes that are accompanied by a variety of spices and herbs. Rihanna has her own personal chef, Debbie Solomon, who takes care of most of her meals.
Read more below about Rihanna’s cooking abilities and what her personal chef has to say about the singer’s eating habits.
Rihanna’s Instagram Cooking Lesson
Growing up in a part of the world that is famous for its spicy diverse food, Rihanna knows her way around the kitchen. The star has often posted photos to her Instagram and Twitter of her getting creative with her homemade dishes.
In 2018, she almost broke the internet when she posted to her Instagram story some videos of her own recipe for pasta and chicken. That doesn’t seem like such a big deal right? How could that break the internet? Well, the making of the pasta and chicken weren’t a big deal. What was a big deal was the fact that she added mustard to her pasta sauce. People were freaking out.
A twitter user by the handle @velourdream tweeted “Rihanna puts MUSTARD in pasta????” Another person with the name @_TurkeyBreast said “Rihanna lost me when she added mustard to the pasta shells ?.” Meanwhile, famous rapper Meek Mill was simply super chill about the entire situation. He tweeted “Sitting here watching Rihanna cook on her instastory getting happy like im about to eat or something … I’m getting lame ???.”
You can watch a YouTube video of the clips from Rihanna’s Instagram story by following the below link.
Who’s Her Personal Chef?
While Rihanna does know how to cook, she doesn’t exactly have time to be making her own meals everyday. Not with the Fenty empire she is in the process of building and running. That is why in 2013, Rihanna hired her own personal chef. The woman who got the job was Jamaican American chef, Debbie Solomon.
In 2017, Solomon gave a very detailed interview to Bon Appétit magazine on what it’s like being Rihanna’s chef. She said that she ended up being given the job offer after making personalized meals that were requested to be delivered to Sony Studios.
Never having been a personal chef, Solomon said that her first couple of months as Riri’s chef were like treading water. She stated “First was Super Bowl at her house. Deep end. Then her twenty-fifth birthday party in Hawaii. Then tour. I didn’t know what the f*** I was doing.”
Rihanna Loves Food
In a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, Rihanna told journalist Lisa Robinson “Legit, I have been in the gym every day this week because I am not willing to give up my food. But I will sacrifice an hour for the gym.” Being the pop icon that she is, Rihanna has a certain image to maintain, but it’s clear she loves her food.
Solomon has even said that Rihanna is a moody eater. In her interview with Bon Appétit, she stated “[With previous clients] I would send in a menu on a Sunday or Monday and they would pick for the week, and then I’d be able to shop and prep, but this is nothing like that. We don’t know what we’re gonna want to eat tomorrow, so why even pick today?”
The article then goes on to highlight that Solomon has a standard food list for weekly groceries. She also “travels with a case of spices that includes bouillon-like maggi cubes, curry, jeera (also known as cumin seeds), Old Bay seasoning, adobo, and five-spice, as well as garlic and onion granules.” These are all staples of Carribean cuisines. However, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do if it’s your job to please the Caribbean Queen.