Pretoria - In a country like ours with summer and sun on everyone’s minds, it makes sense to start a collection of cookery books with the one dealing with outdoor cooking – a national pastime.
Weber Braai Bible by Jamie Purviance (Struik Lifestyle, R290):
In a country like ours with summer and sun on everyone’s minds, it makes sense to start a collection of cookery books with the one dealing with outdoor cooking – a national pastime.
If you’re part of Justin Bonello’s fan base for The Ultimate Braaimaster (on e.tv) you will know that there’s much more to braaiing than a few pieces of wood, some meat and a salad on the side.
This book is an all-in-one masterclass on everything you need to know about outside cooking. Ask any question, if it’s about a kettle braai, you will find the answer here. Whether you’re doing it with gas or charcoal, knowledge about grilling steak or ribs, butterflying a leg of lamb, cooking chicken wings and legs without burning them or\[oliver.shambira\] perhaps for Christmas, smoking a turkey.
From braai basics to red meat, pork, poultry, seafood, veggies, fruit and\[oliver.shambira\] the necessary know-ledge about resources, it’s all part of the deal.
The author says successful cooking is about paying attention to the details as basic and as significant as salt and that’s what appeals to me, I like it when they tell me exactly how to go about doing the job. Once you have all of that in hand, you can start making up your own rules.
Girls On Fire by Camilla Comins (Russel Wasserfall Food, R175):
There’s also another way to go about things if you happen to be a girl. This is a girl braai book in a boy braai world, says the author who is a professional cook and a food producer developer.
She knows how to entertain around the fire and uses it as an excuse to do things her way. As you can imagine, this isn’t all about meat with women arguably paying more attention to smorgasbord than sticking to the obvious.
It’s also about being practical and not wiping out your monthly food bill in one go because of an overload of meat. Rather do it more often and have some fun with a variety of dishes that prevents each guest of guests from wolfing down too much meat.
It’s unhealthy and unappetising.
Paging through the book, tThe author is obviously a family girl and this is where the book is focused. She wants to entertain, but in most of the pictures, there are little people which also explains some of the food choices like hot dogs and granadilla lollies. but there’s also an emphasis on adult food with anything from olive breadsticks, mushroom kebabs, a mussel potjie, Asian pork salad and more.
It’s imaginative but basic with many guidelines for beginners from lighting the fire to cleaning the braai.
Durban Curry: People, Places And Secret Recipes by Erica Platter and Clinton Friedman with Devi Sankaree Govender (Paw Paw, R295):
This is about celebrating South African food and the name, the authors explain, is shorthand for South African Indian curry – a very distinctive taste descended from the spicy sauce known in Tamil as kari.
But as is the custom when it comes to cooking, even Durban curries feature varied and individual choices and approaches which is what they have tried to cover in this book. What they have tried to pinpoint is what makes these recipes so spectacularly Durban rather than Cape Town, Delhi or Birmingham even.
It’s about the Indian immigrants to this country and how they adapted their cuisine to suit the local lifestyle and the climate. Even celebrity chefs and an Indian food authority like Madhur Jaffrey single out Durban dishes because of their distinct flavours. But don’t for a second imagine that this can be captured in one dish. They come for the curries – plural because there’s a multitude which has been embraced by the country as something unique and special.
It’s as much fun to read (with two journalists on the writing side) as it will be once you start dipping into the cooking which could engage a whole new flavour palate for friends and family.
Fresh From The Vegetarian Kitchen by Melissa Bushby (Struik Lifestyle, R250):
The author isn’t a trained chef, but she has a passion for food and living mindfully, which points to the vegetarian, but you don’t have to give up meat completely to enjoy these recipes. She wants to introduce meaningful meals that last all year round, not only during the holidays when everyone is relaxed and there’s more time to plan and to prepare.
While food sustains the body, it also nourishes the soul and it is this that she wants to stresses in the way she adds magic to everyday meals. It is about planning, any regular cook will tell you that. It’s about thinking ahead, having the ingredients on hand, using fresh produce especially when we’re talking vegetarian with curries, ratatouille, roasted vegetables from the garden, honey-based fruits, grilled black mushrooms, breads, mealies, soups, all of which should keep everyone happy.
From chilli chickpea cakes with papaya and coriander salsa to creamy baked tomatoes, orange macadamia biscuits to hot mustard mayo or\[oliver.shambira\] a traditional Tuscan dressing, herbed garlic scones served with hummus or home-made rosemary and olive focaccia, the more you read, the more you want to bake. It’s a good one with many fresh ideas.
Cupcakes With A Kick by Simone Balman (Metz, R185)
I have to admit, this one’s title reminds me of the problem to find finding recipe books with a difference. The author was into mosaics, then turned to baking which she has turned into a catering company serving both friends and corporates.
So I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. Everything else has been tried with cupcakes, why not booze?
She says that when someone is presented with a seemingly innocent cupcake and told that it actually represents their favourite alcoholic beverage, their eyes light up.
It must be the novelty factor because it’s the last thing that would get my toes curling, but then I’m not a cupcake girl.
She has been experimenting with booze-infused cupcakes for many years and couldn’t keep up with the demand.
The pictures are absolute bliss, so if chocolate and Van Der Hum rocks your boat, Kahlua, chocolate and peanut butter hits the right note or Corona and lime makes for a merry dance, this is your gig and should provide hours of happiness, perfect for this season of celebration.
Cake Decorating – Step By Step With Fondant with Grace Stevens (Struik Lifestyle, R220):
This follows on her hugely successful Celebration Cakes. But this one is much more specific and obviously for those already into cake decorating. It has many more sugar flowers than the original and includes new fondant figures, wedding cakes and theme-specific celebration cakes for Easter or Christmas.
You might have noticed that tThere’s a huge growth in this particular industry and many more cake decorators around now than in past years before. It’s become quite the a pastime and for many the, perfect occupation.
With this one there’s a special emphasis on children’s cakes which shows, showing you\[oliver.shambira\] exactly what to make for the next one who has a birthday.
Stevens is the founder of Cupcakes by Design and she teaches fondant modelling and cake decorating.
She is a specialist and the right one to follow if it’sstill early days for this specific speciality.
Perfect Parties by Janet Kohler (Struik Lifestyle, R325):
This one will depend on your specific needs. If you’ve run out of ideas or need some inspiration, this might not be a bad idea.
But make sure you keep to your own personal touch and don’t buy into someone else’s idea of a good party completely. Be guided not overrun. The jacket says Kohler is a perfectionist which is already scary when it comes to party planning but perhaps that’s perhaps what you need when you’re not sure of how to go about things. From choosing a theme to decorations to food choices, she can help every step of the way.
Or perhaps yYou can opt for some inspiration and then ditch the rest of the advice. She’s a cordon bleu chef and runs her own cookery school from home, so she probably knows should know what the needs are out there. The pictures are all very pretty and the plans look to be near perfect, so iIf this is what you need, a local version might be just the thing.
The Culinary Adventures Of A Travelling Cook by Natasha Barnes (Struik Lifestyle, R350):
Barnes has a cordon bleu grande diplome from Silwood as well as a qualification in training in hospitality. She has opened two cookery schools at maximum security prisons and is an artist who has exhibited worldwide. That’s an impressive and imaginative CV. In fact, she has much to say ]when talking about culinary travels. Starting in Parys, a river runs through it, still doesn’t say much.
But it is our Parys and from marmite tart (know that one!) to slow roasted shoulder of lamb with rosemary, garlic and aioli to witblits marmalade to further up in the continent to Ethiopia with Doro wat chicken berbere and hard-boiled egg, berbere paste or leg of lamb with aromatic coffee and smoked paprika, she’s off to the Mediterranean with Greek coconut cake with cardamom syrup, Spanakopita money bags and Turkish red lentil soup to England with chicken Jalfrezi, soda bread with buck rarebit.
Cotswold lavender shortbread and cornish pastries.
She ends her travels far and wide ending her journey concluding in India which turns this into a fun adventure. You might not be travelling this season, but you can allow the flavours to take you there.
Diane de Beer, Pretoria News