There are few foods I find sexier than pasta. Possibly because images of a youthful Sophia Loren, clutching a bowl of spaghetti to her quite delightful bosom, come to mind whenever I think of pasta. Unlike us, Italians don’t drown their pasta in sauce. One of my 5-minute favourites is just garlic, red chilli and tons of flat leaf parsley, [...]
I adore any cut of beef, but I’m especially fond of the ones that need a long time in the oven, and emerge fall-off-the-bone soft and lip-smackingly luscious – cuts like oxtail and short rib. I make this casserole on lazy Saturday afternoons, when there’s rugby on the tele and the world seems like a fine place. The flavour follows [...]
There are some things that were just made for each other… Merlot and me, chocolate and orange, tomatoes and basil and, of course, goat’s cheese and beetroot. I’m getting a bit bored of seeing the two combined in a salad though. Bored is dangerous in my kitchen, as that’s when I go into ‘what if’ mode. What if I [...]
I’m not sure who loathes winter more, Merlot or me. I figure she gets the prize, what with having to dodge the Cape rain to go ‘do her business’ outside. (It’s amazing how quick a cat can be when she needs to.) Nonetheless, it’s a close call. A steaming bowl of thick split pea soup packed with smokey, meaty flavour [...]
There are few things I love more than a decent French apple tart, with the possible exception of a proper ’tarte au fromage blanc’ – a sophisticated little cheese tart number made with fromage blanc (a soft white French cheese), raisins and candied fruit. So I decided to recreate it, but give it a seriously South African twist. Instead of [...]
Men just don’t get it. A woman’s almost pathological need to taste what’s on everybody else’s plate that is. I guess that’s why I love the tapas and antipasto way of eating. A bite of this, a bit of that. Grab a huge platter. Olives, salami, ripe red cherry tomatoes, bottled artichokes all go on it along with a [...]