Pretoria - I’ve been hearing rumours and talk about a new foraging movement in the capital city, so when I was invited to a Forager dinner at the Prue Leith restaurant (at the Chefs Academy in Centurion) I was thrilled to find out more.
In June last year, food entrepreneur Werner Venter started Forager pop-up restaurants. “I’ve had the dream of owning a restaurant for years and by starting a pop-up restaurant, it gives me the opportunity to do just that. Forager brings together my love for design, food and landscape architecture,” is how he explains this passion.
”Diners will go on a culinary adventure as the restaurant moves around from venue to venue. My main focus is on eating design – designing the social dining experience and working closely with the guest chef to educate our diners about food, flavours, and tastes and use locally sourced seasonal food. Diners will engage with their food, harvest and add ingredients.”
That was the brief to Prue Leith head chef Adele Stieler van der Westhuizen and she grabbed the challenge – both for her young chefs and the diners. “Forager (Werner) asked us for an interactive dinner and said he wanted to use a lot of vegetables and herbs in his design. Being a culinary school, we thought it a great opportunity to teach people about ingredients, by involving all the senses and also have them thinking a bit about seasonality and the origin of ingredients,” she notes.
That’s the thing about these kinds of dinners – it’s to get the balance right so that even when it is a teaching experience for both chefs and diners, it shouldn’t feel that way to those participating in the meal.
The word interactive will usually have me running in the opposite direction and I was intrigued at how easily they incorporated it into the meal – probably the most successful and fun element of the night.
But then again, the Prue Leith gang always know how best to work with food and keep diners smiling.
The first Forager pop-up event was at the Black Bamboo Restaurant (Menlyn Boutique Hotel) followed by Ginger and Fig which all point to Werner’s attempt to keep it young and edgy. This year the food will be mostly prepared by Prue Leith Chefs Academy as well as exciting guest chefs.
Werner met Prue Leith Chefs Academy to discuss the concept, menu ideas and what their focus must be. They met a few times to co-ordinate the menu with the eating experience design on Forager’s side.
His focus for this year is on vegetables and herbs to be the hero of the dish. “Courses must be interactive and get the diners involved in creating or finishing off their dishes, for example chopping and making their own garnish/topping or adding vinaigrette or herbs, and to become aware of what they are eating,” he says about the interactive element on the night.
At the Prue Leith event, it started at the entrance with an arrival drink which Adele explains was a bit of a “seasons reverse”. As white peach pulp – such an obvious summer fruit, was replaced in the Bellini with the flavours of winter – more earthy and herbaceous (pear and sage), rather than just sweet fruit. It was clever and delicious.
The first braai amuse dish (snack), she says, was really to capture a South African summer with lush green lawns (herb crumbs) and the smell of fires. “We didn’t want to start with meat as it is simply too heavy. We decided to imitate it with aubergine – as it also smokes so well.” It’s always fun to discover how the chef’s head works and how with food as the tool, they tell a tale. It’s like writing a story with a beginning, middle and an end.
The braai happie was followed by a 10-herb salad with poached egg which was all about learning about herbs and realising that they are all leaves. “It is sad to see how many people think herbs and spices are very similar or can’t differentiate between them. I also wanted people to realise that they are more than a garnish or an afterthought, but can be an ingredient in their own right,” says the chef.
Similarly with the ceviche because it meant slicing and squeezing your own lime juice and zest, turning the aroma into something much stronger than when it simply arrives at the table. They also incorporated the snap of a piece of pomegranate to reveal the beautiful seeds sitting in the fruit like emeralds.
“The ingredients, especially the avo, lime and pomegranates is what inspired confluence, the name of the dish, as it is really two seasons coming together perfectly.”
The main, titled the Hunt and the Harvest, was a quail dish – and an education on a technique. Adele explains that quail (using a game bird was an indication of winter on the horizon) is notoriously overcooked and wrapping it in corn leaves and dough produces a more succulent meal. Diners had to remove the dough. This turned into a raucous occasion with loads of laughter.
This was topped by lollipops presented with dry ice, again a very summery image, turning the palate cleanser into a youthful game. The lemon verbena flavour added the adult element. An interactive dessert concluded a glorious evening with berries probably one of the most recognisable of summer fruits. “We decided to present it as a garden where people can ‘plant’ their own by dishing the potting soil.”.
I loved the night. Quality is always a by-product at Prue Leith’s but here they added a huge dollop of exuberance while educating the diners who wanted to learn.
* Prue Leith is one of the city’s best kept secrets. Because of the training element, the food is fine and edgy at competitive prices. For more info, check their website or phone 012 654 5203.
Also check out the Capital Urban Market, part of Werner’s food adventures. There’s also the prospect of a CBD market, so watch this space. The market is currently at Menlyn Maine every first Sunday of the month.
Pretoria News