2019-09-01 Woolworths Taste

PHOTOGRAPHS

KRISTINE BOEL

INTERVIEW

ANNETTE KLINGER

Myfavourite family

recipeis mygrandmother’s

gingerbreadbiscuits.Sheusedto

bakea lot:vetkoek,mosbolletjies...Andshe

madethebestmarmaladeandgingerbeer.

MostofthebakingrecipesI useatTokara

Restaurantwerepasseddownbymyfamily.

I grewupinHumansdorpasthe

secondyoungestofsixsisters.

MyfavouritetimeofyearwasChristmas,

whenmythreeoldestsisterswould

comehome.Mymomwouldbe

busyinthekitchenfromearlyinthe

morning,preparingtheroastlamband

dinamiethoender(literallytranslated,

it means“dynamitechicken”because

theclove-spicedchickenis shredded

veryfinely,almostasif thechicken

hadexploded!).MysistersandI would

helpwiththevegetablessuchas

pampoenkoekies(pumpkinfritters)and

greenbeanswithbaconandmushrooms.

I startedcookingformyfamily

whenI was14.Bothmyparents

workedatthesamecompany,soit was

niceforthemtocomehometoa cooked

mealthatwecouldenjoytogether.I had

lotsoffunexperimentingwithnewrecipes

• myhome-mademarshmallowsrolledin
  toastedcoconutweredefinitelya family
  favourite.I thinkthat’swhenI realised
  I wantedtobecomea chef.

I wasappointedasheadchef

atTokaraRestaurantattheend

oflastyear.Mymenusareingredient-

drivenbutarealsoinspiredbymemoriesand

familyrecipes.I’mluckytohaveaccesstolots

offreshproducegrowinginTokara’sorganic

heirloomvegetablegarden.Thisspring,I’ll

beusinglotsofbroadbeans,whiteasparagus

andstonefruitonthemenu.I guessif I had

tosumupmystyleofcooking, it would be

relaxed, playful fine dining.

BUBBLING UNDER

Carolize Coetzee

Howdoyouimpressthecrewatoneoftheworld’sbestrestaurants?

MakelikeTokaraRestaurant’sheadchefduringa recentstintatCosme

in New York – knock their socks (and Crocs) off with a famous SA dish

34 TASTE SEPTEMBER 2019

I’mnota chefwhoeasilyshouts

inthekitchen,buteveryoneknows

thatI’mveryseriousaboutwhatI do.I like

toworkalongsidemychefs;notofftoone

side.WhenI’mworkingonnewdishes,

everyonegetsinvolvedintastingand

givingtheiropinions.Welikecooking

tomusicandeveryonegetsa chanceto

playwhattheylike.It’sa goodwayforus

to get to know one another better.

InJune,I dida three-weekstage

atCosmeinNewYork(number

23 ontheWorld’s 50 Best

Restaurants).I wrotea lettertothe

headchef,DanielaSoto-Innes,andasked

herwhetherI couldworkinthekitchen.

ThiswasbeforeshewasnamedWorld’s

BestFemaleChef2019.I wantedtowork

withDanielabecauseI relatedtoherstory.

Shealsostartedcookingata youthful

age;she’sa young,femalechefheading

upa teamofchefsofvaryingages,

backgroundsandcultures;andsheloves

cookingfamilyrecipespassed down

throughthegenerations.

Danielais reallybubbly,but

she'sincrediblyfocusedand

a strictheadchef.Manyofthe

headchefsI’dworkedwithbeforestayin

theirofficeandhardlytalktotherestof

theteam,butshetakesthetimetochat

toallofherstaffandknowseveryone

personally.Shesaidoncethatherwish

forthekitchenis thateveryoneshould

havefunbutthatthefocusshouldalways

remainonthefood.Thekitchen culture

at Cosme really inspired me.

TABLE TALK

“I wantedtowork

withDanielabecause

I related to her story”

ThefirstdishI platedatCosme

wasaninfladita.It’sa corntortilla

madeusingmasathatthekitchengrinds

fromMexicancorn.It’sfirstfriedona flat-

topgrill,thendeep-frieduntilit puffsup

andbecomeshollowandcrispy.It was

filledwithavocadopuréeandcrab,and

toppedwithmoreavopuréeand plum

sorrel.It wasreallybeautiful.

AtCosmetheyfocusa loton

Mexicansaucesthattheygive

a bitofa twist.Myfavouritewas

thesikilpa’k,a typeofmolethatwemade

byroastingtomatoes,tomatillos,chillies,

onion,garlicandpumpkinseeds,and

thenblendingit withbrownbutter.

It wasservedwithlinefish.

Everydayat4 pm,allthe

kitchenstaffeatthe“family

meal”beforeservice.I approached

thekitchenmanagerandaskedhimwhether

I couldcooka traditionalSouthAfrican

mealbeforeI left.Thechefshadaskedme

whatSouthAfricanfoodwaslikeandthe

firstthingthatpoppedintomyheadwas

bobotie.Whentheingredientsarrivedand

theysawthedriedapricots,sultanasand

apple,theyallthoughtI wasmakingdessert!

I madethebobotie on my last day and

theylovedit.

Thisyear,I’llbetravellingto

Spain.I’mgoingwithmyboyfriend,

LucasCarstens,who’stheheadchefat

MajekaKitcheninStellenbosch.We’re

goingtoSanSebastianandBarcelona.

We’rereallyexcitedthatwemanagedto

geta bookingatAlbertAdrià’srestaurant,

Enigma.Ourholidays always involve alot

ofeating!

@carolizecoetzee; @eatokara; @tokara_

BOBOTIE

Serves 8

EASY

GREATVALUE

Preparation:1½hours

Cooking: 1 hour 15 minutes

vegetableoroliveoil,forfrying

onions2,finelychopped

garlic4,clovescrushed

bobotie spice mix (see overleaf)