Ishay Govender

Ishay Govender is a South African food, culture, and travel journalist and cookbook author, based between Cape Town and Lisbon. A former lawyer, she centers narratives on women and marginalized communities, with a focus on expanding space and access for historically disadvantaged voices within food and creative industries.

Experience

Originally trained and practicing as an attorney in South Africa, Ishay transitioned into journalism, specializing in food, culture, and travel writing. Her work explores the human stories, histories, and social dynamics that shape what and how we eat, with a particular focus on identity, migration, and belonging.

She is the founder of SA POC at the Table (SAPOC), an initiative working to expand networks and opportunities for South African and African chefs, cooks, sommeliers, and creatives of colour, including writers and photographers.

Ishay has contributed to a wide range of international publications including National Geographic, Food & Wine, Whetstone, Wine Enthusiast, Saveur, Sunday Times Travel (UK), Literary Hub, Food52, Vice Munchies, Globe & Mail, Tenderly, New Frame, Roads & Kingdoms, and airline publications such as South African Airways and Singapore Airlines magazines. She has also contributed to and updated sections of the Fodor’s South Africa guide.

Selected Publications

Books: 

Curry: Stories & Recipes across South Africa (Human & Rousseau)

Ishay is contributor to international publications including National Geographic, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, Saveur, Food52, Literary Hub, Vice Munchies, Globe & Mail, Tenderly, New Frame, Roads & Kingdoms, Sunday Times Travel (U.K.), Panorama – The Journal of Intelligent Travel, Culture Cheese magazine, and airline publications for South African Airways and Singapore Airlines.

She is also contributor to and updater of the KwaZulu-Natal chapters of the Fodor’s South Africa guide.

Education

Ishay has an LLB and an LLM (Masters of Law) from the University of the Free State, South Africa, specializing in intellectual property. She is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and remains on the non-practicing roll.

Awards

Winner of FoodXX Award for journalism covering the intersection of culture, food and social justice

Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans.

SAPOC was awarded the Eat Out Game Changer Award