Pretoria - Once a chef, always a chef.
This has proved true for Pretoria’s Vicky Hawkins who trained at Warwick’s Chef School in Hermanus and worked in various foodie establishments over the years in South Africa and the UK.
She changed direction while raising her twins – a boy and a girl now on the brink of their teens – and started a franchise of iCreate, a delightful studio in the Greenlyn Village centre where hobbyists could make mosaic pieces and children learn all kinds of crafts in a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
But recently, she had need of a fresh start and decided to return to her first love, cooking. She took a position as chef at the new Prickly Pear, a day-time Mexican-themed restaurant serving the Highveld Techonopark in Centurion.
“I’m loving the challenge of the corporate environment and Prickly Pear is definitely making a name for itself in Centurion,” says Vicky.
With her children off to high school next year, and her love of cooking re-ignited at Prickly Pear, Vicky decided to challenge herself with a brand of her own she has called Fresh.
This, she explains, will serve artisan food with the best ingredients at specialist markets around the city and do catering for events on weekends.
We invited her to try out her menu at a small party at our home to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We’d both been busy and were happy to have someone else come in and do the work. Vicky arrived with the preparations all done and took over the kitchen to do the final cooking and plating up.
We’d opted for a relaxed feel with a multi-course tasting meal served in individual portions which could be eaten off laps or sidetables – though Vicky will happily do traditional dinner parties too.
Our party of family and friends was most impressed as course after course appeared, fresh, colourful and beautifully plated on wooden boards with colourful serviettes.
There was plenty of discussion on which course was best and compliments for the wonderful presentation of the menu:
First course: Creamy chicken liver pate infused with orange, red wine and thyme, served with nutty Banting crackers (or crispy bread)
Second course: Roast vegetable and feta empanada (pastry) with sweet red onion and individual Caesar salad served in a jar
Third course: Parmesan crumbed chicken lollipop (served in a Chinese box) with blue cheese crème fraiche or pork fillet skewer (served in a bamboo leaf boat) with apple and sage
Fourth course: Deep fried sesame crumbed camembert with caramelised onion and melba toast
Fifth course: Crème brulee with a passion fruit creme (served in a little bottle).
By the time Vicky left, the kitchen was spotless, the dishwasher packed and all the utensils used washed up and packed away.
Aside from the pleasure of hosting a dinner during which one can chat to guests without going in and out the kitchen to check on the food, our guests left satiated and impressed with a get-together with a difference. Costs vary depending on the menu choice, number of course and ingredients, but a guideline is from R150 a head.
* To find out more and get a quote for a home party, contact Vicky [email protected] or 082 456 0688. Prickly Pear is 012 665 2050.
Val Boje, Pretoria News