Durban author, storyteller and actress Gcina Mhlophe shares her thoughts on food and drink.
Question: What meal is your favourite – and what is your least favourite?
Answer: I love lamb stew with rosemary basmati rice or grilled young potatoes. It is a feel-good combination. My least favourite food would be hot curry. I don’t like it when food fights back in my mouth … not to mention the fire in my tummy!
What is your first food memory?
Maltabella morning porridge … the smell still makes me smile and I remember Mama saying it was made with the red earth across the hills.
As a child did you ever develop a taste for unusual foods or unusual combinations of foods?
I developed a taste for ox liver. My Gogo cut it into thin slices and short-fried it, put it on a plate and we went for it. To this day, I still like it like that.
What’s the first thing you ever cooked?
Green mealies. I cooked them because they were easy to cook and that boosted my confidence.
What is the dish you tend to cook most often?
Sweet potatoes are always wonderful, with or without savoury extras.
What do you like or dislike about attending dinner parties?
Dinner parties with good friends are fantastic, but sometimes one tends to overeat when the food is really good.
What has been your biggest kitchen disaster?
Burning a big pot of oxtail stew as friends were about to arrive … and all because I wanted to answer a few e-mails.
How serious a wine fundi are you, and what is your favourite tipple?
Sorry, I do not drink any alcohol … but I often receive wine as gifts and let my guests enjoy it.
What kitchen utensil can you simply not live without?
The blender is one of my favourite utensils, both for smoothies and soups.
What new kitchen utensil or appliance would you love to have?
A triple-decker waterless cooker would be great, especially since I dislike oily foods.
What’s the most kitsch thing in your kitchen?
I don’t know about kitsch, but I do have a hell of a lot of teapots. I really enjoy a variety of herb teas with honey.
What are some foods you simply refuse to try?
I have been too afraid to try mopane worms. The look alone does not make it easy.
What is your favourite restaurant in Durban and what do you usually order there?
Daruma, the Japanese restaurant on the beachfront. They prepare the food in front of you and I try different dishes every time I visit.
What is your favourite cooking ingredient?
Rosemary. And I also love cinnamon.
What, where and when marked the most memorable meal you have ever eaten?
It was at the Mantova Literature Festival in Italy. We were sitting at the main piazza and ordered pumpkin ravioli with lamb. Delicious! It must have been in 2004.
Who is your favourite celebrity cook?
I hardly watch food shows, but give me programmes about house renovations any time.
What do you rate as the sexiest of food?
Sexiest? Can’t say. But I love berries … all sorts.
What do you tip in restaurants?
Good service gets good tips from me every time.
Have you/would you send a dish back at a restaurant if you were not happy?
I try not to be too fussy, but if you put chilli in my food, it’s a no-no. And undercooked food, especially, turns my stomach.
Favourite fruit, vegetable and dessert?
I love mangoes, pumpkin or sweet potato, and fruit salad with ice cream. I am generally not big on desserts. Perhaps my sweet tooth fell out with the milk teeth.
AMADUMBE MASH
As a child, Gcina Mhlophe did not like amadumbes, the potato-like tuber that resembles a sweet potato.
She was not keen on its rich, earthy flavour.
When she was a tot, Mhlophe thought she had done something wrong and that amadumbes were a form of punishment, she says. But now she loves them – and especially this simple recipe:
Peel and wash, then boil until ready to mash. Mix in a little cream or milk, mash some more, add a tin of tuna with vegetable oil, then, lastly, add pre-boiled peas. Mix all with a wooden spoon, rewarm in the oven and you’re ready to serve. Yum!
The Mercury