In this week’s episode of “The Insider SA” on SABC3, chef and food stylist Zanele van Zyl opened up about her culinary journey while sharing her twist on the popular seven colours meal with viewers.
Seven colours is a traditional South African meal that includes rice, chicken or beef, and sides such as pumpkin, sweet potatoes, beetroot, cabbage, beans salad, potato salad and coleslaw.
The meal was a staple in Van Zyl’s home growing up. It was Zanele’s mother who motivated her love of food. The then-aspiring chef grew up watching her mom whipping up this popular meal. She has worked hard to become a household name, releasing a cookbook and hosting cooking classes across the country.
“I’m a very colourful girl, and seven colours has got all the colours you can think of – the textures, the taste, it’s balanced – and it reminds me of my childhood. We would open our eyes and it was there – on Sundays or Christmas. Developing a recipe is very tricky. At culinary school they taught us how to pair this with that, but it must always be here in your mind. You must always work around it and twist it, to see. You don’t have to be a chef to cook this meal – it’s something that will never go out of fashion,” said Van Zyl.
Seven colours recipe:
Special dumplings
Ingredients
1 cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
½ cup of water
1 cup chopped spinach
Handful grated carrots
Method
Mix all the ingredients and cook in a steam-proven dish for 20 minutes.
Roast chicken
Whole roast chicken
½ cup mayonnaise
125ml lemon juice
10ml wholegrain mustard
10ml chicken spice
5ml paprika
15ml finely chopped fresh rosemary
15 finely chopped thyme
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Method
In an open bowl mix all the ingredients, marinate the whole chicken on the inside and outside. Place the chicken on a proven baking tray, cover with foil and let it cook through for 45 minutes. Take the foil off and let it cook for another 10 to 15 minutes to until the chicken is golden and crispy on top. Serve with vegetables or rice.
“The Insider SA” airs every Tuesday at 7.30pm and the repeat is every Saturday at 8pm on SABC3.