Durban - Billy Suter talks to Gauteng singer-actress Tonya Koenderman about her food likes and dislikes, and what she gets up to in the kitchen.
What meal is your favourite - and what is your least favourite?
My favourite is a not-too-rare roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, crispy potatoes with gravy, and a healthy serving of mixed vegetables. This is what my mom used to make for special occasions when we were growing up. I have an aversion to onions, cooked or raw.
What is your first food memory?
A big, slimy, whole cooked onion on my plate at school in England when I was five years old. I still shudder at the thought.
As a child did you ever develop a taste for unusual foods or unusual combinations of foods?
I used to love soaked Tennis biscuits. I still dunk them in my tea.
What's the first thing you ever cooked?
I was about six when my mom and I made a big chocolate cake together. I probably didn't do much, other than lick the icing bowl, but it was a fine cake - and my mother let me take credit for it.
What is the dish you tend to cook most often?
I call it “chicken surprise”, although the surprise part is wearing thin. It's basically chicken and veg stir-fry, and I eat it at least twice a week. I recently added chicken curry to my very limited list of cooking creations.
What do you like and/or dislike about attending dinner parties?
Formality is not my thing, so I generally feel a little intimidated at formal dinner parties. However, if the wheels fall off, and things go a bit crazy, no doubt I will be the loudest of all and the life and soul of the party.
What has been your biggest kitchen disaster?
A couple of years ago, I had a dear, sweet boyfriend who loved my cooking... talk about love being blind. He bragged to his whole family that I made a fantastic pasta dish, and suggested I show it off at his next family gathering. I managed to over-salt and burn the dish into some kind of brown mush. It was bad!
What has been your biggest culinary success?
I made a fantastic “turducken” last Christmas. Quite a feat... and no one was quite as surprised as I was.
How serious a wine fundi are you, and what is your favourite tipple?
I'm no fundi, but I won't waste calories on bad wine. A good sauvignon blanc or two will do it for me.
What kitchen utensil can you simply not live without?
My non-stick, sturdy frying pan for my legendary “chicken surprise”.
What new kitchen utensil or appliance would you love to have?
A really good set of professional knives.
What's the most kitsch thing in your kitchen?
There is a dreadful picture glued on to the wall tiles by the previous owner. It's about as bad as three flying geese. I have tried to remove it but I'm afraid I will pull out the tiles before I remove the darn picture.
What are some foods you simply refuse to try?
'm not too fussy, but the thought of haggis turns my stomach.
Which is your favourite restaurant in Durban and what's your usual order there?
When I'm in Durban I usually stay with my dear friend Lisa Bobbert, and we “do lunch” at Cafe Java on Kensington Road every day. I have chicken mayo on rye.. it's my comfort food, and I never tire of it.
What is your favourite cooking ingredient?
Salt, salt, salt! Things must be tasty, and I have normal to low blood pressure, so I can have it.
What marked the most memorable meal you've ever eaten?
Many years ago I worked in Morocco. On my first day there I was treated to a Moroccan meal at a restaurant. I remember plate after plate after plate of food arriving, all with exciting, different exotic tastes like I had never had before. Great fun!
Who is your favourite celebrity cook?
I am not really one for cooking programmes, but years ago there was a show called Two Fat Ladies. I don't remember a thing they cooked but they were hilarious and had me hooked.
What do you rate as the sexiest of foods?
Chocolate. I have it every day. Just a little bit, not a whole bar.
What do you tip in restaurants?
On average I tip 15 percent. If the service is really bad I tip 10 percent. If the service is great I can be very generous, especially if I've had a good month myself.
Have you/would you send a dish back at a restaurant if you were not happy?
Absolutely. I have sent food back and I would again. I believe it's our right to expect decent food in a restaurant. We pay enough for it.
Favourite fruit, veg, dessert and store-bought sweet?
Pawpaw, green beans, carrot cake and Lindor chocolate balls.
The Mercury