Festival chefs share secrets - recipes

Published Oct 1, 2013

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Johannesburg - Four noted international chefs will all be appearing at the Delicious Food and Music Festival.

The festival is being held at the Blue Hills Equestrian Estate in Kyalami on Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6.

John Burton Race, Ed Baines and Aldo Zilli will have pop-up restaurants, while Pepe Anevski has been brought out by Ocean Basket, which will have a sushi bar at the festival.

 

Angela Day chatted to the four cherfs.

 

John Burton Race

This Micheln-starred British chef is very busy, having just launched a range of meat products, He presents a TV show in Ireland and consults to many restaurants.

Besides appearing in cooking shows such Masterchef, Kitchen Criminals and Britain's Best Dish, Burton Race has also appeared in reality TV fodder such as I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and Celebrity Super Spa.

Having never been to South Africa, he is excited to see the country and work with the local produce.

Burton Race says the food industry in Britain has undergone a lot of changes over the past 10 years due to the fact that there are now so many more cultures which influence what restaurants are cooking these days.

He also feels the young chefs coming into the industry have so much energy and great ideas and he enjoys working with and mentoring them. He does feel however that it’s the kind of profession that requires strength of will and perseverance to succeed in.

Burton Race feels that, especially in England with the recession, there has been a huge increase in the number of cooking shows on television, and that the shows give chefs and food an increasing profile which hopefully increases the number of people cooking at home.

 

Ed Baines

This British chef – from the restaurant Randall & Aubin in Soho – has visited South Africa on numerous occasions and says for the festival he has focused on keeping his menu seasonal and using local produce. He likes to keep dishes fresh, clean and simple.

Baines feels the food industry has become a lot more professional over the past 10 years and this is in part due to the fact that young chefs are receiving a lot more training and mentoring. He is personally involved in the training and mentoring of young chefs in his restaurant and a production kitchen that he owns.

Baines thinks food programmes on television have added an element of escapism to life. “People can watch chefs by the seaside, in the countryside, in boats, out and about, in foreign lands… it’s total escapism. What they are creating often stimulates people to think ‘I’m going to try and do that’. So, it’s just added a tapestry to people’s cooking knowledge,” he says.

Baines has strong views on sustainable cooking and living and says: “The mentality of having plenty to some degree needs to change and we need to have a cleaner approach. Over-eating is unacceptable because one individual over-eating is potentially denying another of a meal, and there is no need for it. Gluttony is a sin.”

 

Aldo Zilli

Next to Italy, South Africa is his favourite country, says this chef from the San Carlo Cicchetti restaurant in London’s Piccadilly.

Zilli finds that cooking in Britain is so different because in London there is no one food culture. Asians, Americans, Italian, French, Chinese and Africans come to the country with different concepts and test them on the British. The chance of this happening in Italy for example would not be high because the Italians have a very definite food culture of their own and are reluctant to try other foods.

Zilli runs cooking classes in London and feels young chefs should not be enticed into the food industry by the idea of wanting to be on television or writing cookbooks. They have to realise that the industry is very tough and one has to work extremely hard to get anywhere.

Watching food programmes has perhaps increased people’s knowledge of food but Zilli feels it’s going to take a lot more than TV programmes to get people cooking more at home.

He also feels passionate about supporting sustainable fishing in the world, “if we don’t look after our fish supplies soon there will be no fish left to eat,” says Zilli.

Currently pop-up restaurants and street food are big in London and this is where he enjoys eating.

 

Pepe Anevski

This Dane works for the unlikely combination of a French, Japanese restaurant, Umami, in Copenhagen.

He recently won the World Sushi cup which took place in Japan, where he competed against some of the world’s best sushi chefs.

The theme for this year’s competition was “The first...” and Anevski chose the first sunlight of the four seasons as his theme, impressing the judges by replacing the usual nori seaweed wrapping with paper-thin carrot slices. His dish was also praised for its attractiveness and its creative use of seasonal produce.

Anevski started making sushi about 12 years ago because he found it challenging and creative and was lucky enough to be mentored by two excellent chefs with whom he worked in Denmark.

Asked for tips on making sushi, he says preparing the rice correctly is the most important aspect of becoming a sushi master at home.

First, use good quality short grain rice. Then rinse it well without damaging it. Follow the instruction for cooking the rice with the correct amount of water.

After seasoning the rice keep it at room temperature to give you the best taste. Don’t refrigerate it.

Then finally be creative and use fresh fillings and toppings that you like to make your own unique creations.

 

TRY THEIR RECIPES

ROAST CIDER PORK

2kg loin of pork

salt and pepper

30ml groundnut oil

Cider Sauce

20ml groundnut oil

500g pork bones (ask your butcher), chopped small

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 bay leaf

2 thyme sprigs

1 Granny Smith apple, chopped

300ml dry cider

400ml chicken stock

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Season pork with salt, rubbing it in well for a crispy crackling, then season with pepper.

Place a roasting tray over a high heat, add the oil and heat almost to smoking point. Add pork and turn to seal all over. Transfer to the oven and roast for 1½ hours or until cooked through.

Cider sauce: Heat the oil in a saucepan. When it is almost smoking, add the pork bones and cook, stirring frequently, until they are deep golden in colour.

Add the vegetables, garlic and herbs, lower the heat and cook for 8-10 minutes or until softened and golden. Add chopped apple and cider. Bring to the boil and simmer to reduce by half, then add the stock. Bring back to the boil, skim and simmer again for 20-25 minutes.

Pass sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan and simmer to reduce by at least half, to thicken and concentrate the flavour. Keep warm.

Remove pork from oven, and rest in warm place for 10 minutes.

Pour off the fat from the roasting pan, and then add the meat juices to the sauce. Carve the pork, first removing the crackling in one piece to make it easier to do so.

Serve immediately, with the cider sauce. – John Burton Race

 

SCALLOP AND BACON SKEWERS

Serves 2

Sauce

30ml olive oil

5ml capers

2 anchovy fillets

a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

150ml tomato passata

50g pine nuts, toasted

1 lemon, cut into wedges

250g spinach

1 garlic clove, crushed

50g butter

50ml double cream

30ml good-flavoured Cheshire cheese, grated

salt and freshly ground black pepper

15ml breadcrumbs

4 slices of streaky smoked bacon

4 chunks of crusty bread

4 large scallops

olive oil

Preheat oven to 180°C

Sauce: Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the capers, anchovies and rosemary. Stir in the tomato passata, pine nuts and lemon wedges and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the spinach with the garlic in the butter. Add the cream, cheese and season. Place in a small ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

Roll bacon around the chunks of bread and thread them on to skewers, alternating with scallops. Drizzle with olive oil, season and grill on a griddle pan on all sides until cooked. Or cook under a hot grill instead.

To serve, slide the scallops and bread chunks off the skewers on to a big plate. Spoon over some of the sauce and serve with the spinach on the side.

* Use mussels if scallops aren’t available.

Recipe taken from Best of British by Ed Baines, published by Kyle Books.

 

SALMON CARPACCIO WITH FENNEL

Serves 4

500 g sashimi / sushi-grade salmon

15ml extra virgin olive oil

15ml lime juice

30ml soy sauce

15ml chopped fresh dill

15ml chopped fresh coriander

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

half a medium cucumber, thinly sliced

15ml sesame seeds, toasted

30ml finely chopped spring onions

grated zest of 1 lime

Wrap salmon in cling film and freeze it for 20-30 minutes until the fish is partly frozen; this will make it easier to slice. Remove salmon from the freezer and unwrap. Using a sharp knife or a slicer, cut across the grain into thin slices. Arrange salmon slices on a large platter.

Whisk together the oil, lime juice, soy sauce, dill and coriander.

Season to taste.

Toss fennel slices in some dressing and place in the middle of salmon.

Arrange cucumber slices over the salmon, then sprinkle with the sesame seeds, spring onions and lime zest and drizzle with more dressing. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.

* Recipe from Zilli Light by Aldo Zilli, published by Simon &Schuster.

 

FESTIVAL DETAILS

Reservations for the pop-up restaurants can be made for lunch and/or dinner at a cost of R1 850 per head for VIP tickets.

General admission entry will cost R380 which gives you access to the concert and local artisan food markets.

For more information see www.deliciousfestival.com, - The Star

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