Soups, stews, curries, pot pies and pastas, all the right stuff for a delicious buffet of warm comfort food to heat things up on a wintry day.
What’s better than holding a bowl of soup or enjoying a warm stew on a cold day while you’re tucked underneath the blankets?
On social media, home-made pies and pasta dishes, especially cheesy lasagnes, are hot favourites at the moment.
Local foodies, Francois du Toit and Dorah Sithole let us in on their favorite winter dishes.
Francois, chef at the restaurant at Waverly Hills in Wolseley, describes comfort food as “something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and loved from the inside”.
The cheerful chef believes comfort food doesn’t “just tickle your taste buds but also leaves you with that feeling of being stuffed”.
He says it evokes feelings of nostalgia.
“Comfort food is not just restricted to winter and cold weather, but it’s also there for emotional support,” he says.
Francois list of must have winter warmers include:
South African family braai, with sausage, chops, salads and a glass of wine in front of the fire
My mother’s boontjiesop (bean soup) with freshly baked bread
Slow cooked stews made with love
sSups and “anything with a lekker umami flavour.
Francois du Toit, chef at the restaurant at Waverly Hills in Wolseley.
For Dorah, comfort food is not just filling, "but also hits the spot".
"It is the type of food you crave when you are feeling down and it sure lifts your spirits," she says.
Curries, soups and stews are among Dorah's favourite winter dishes, and who can blame her?
Dorah's must have winter dishes are:
- Lamb curry on steamed dumpling (idombolo)
- Oxtail, lamb shanks on samp and beans.
- East African Fish Curry (made with coconut milk), served with Basmati rice or Naan bread
- Soups - cream of mushroom soup, lamb and lentil soup, butternut soup, bone and vegetable soup.
Local foodie, Dorah Sithole
Picture: Supplied
The food fundi says the hot food trends to watch this season include:
- All kinds of curries
- Seafood
- Vegetarian dishes
- Meat dishes
- Legumes added to soups and stews, like lentils, barley and chickpeas
- Breads like focaccia and sour dough.
As the temperature plummets, grab your blanket and get comfortable with your favourite winter dish.