THE OFFICIAL
ISSUE 25
cw
VOICE o~-~7r6~,ffiJTH AFRICAN
CHEFS ASSOCIATION
fortune ha;'"'Gffered me ~markable
travel opPortunities
and.
~e chance ro eat in some of the finest restaurants in the world. Memorable places that I've visiced.include Rockpool, Quay, Tetsuyas, River Fat Duck, Nobu-London, now Noma.
Cafe,
El Bu'"
What
world that night, and ~r heart-warming
gesture will be
j9urll~y.ithas,be~~amFiivrleged to hav'ehad."the:6pportunity to
remembered.
~.?mpare their respective aspects
A little while ago (over a.few b
of uniqueness. A common thread
of wine) an agreeme
that seems to run through these
berweenm
outstanding
restaurants is that the
positioning of the restaura key - extreme
--~ .• t::~ -
. On arrival, Copenhagen
was
pecrarions - the big- city life e with awe. Nyhavn is described d is an enchanting
17'h Century
ije canal and entertainment
district.
pated that the whole of Copenhagen
on the other side of this canal and er on to brightly coloured townhouses. ted.
r noon. We were there just after I1hOO ecked out our destination
and then
hile waiting for the restaurant to iternent when, quite by chance, we zepi, Noma's executive chef and His wife had delivered a baby e morning so he was off for the was definitely for a reason and d to my core had I gone all
dried out piece
of 4jJ'ckskin.
Quite out of the ordinary
and the skin tQ.atJ'm referring to is the one that forms on the top of a stock pot (this was dried out and the result e purposely-rushed ~w Orlando said
was a sticky richness). While the aromas were familiar, the flavours and presentation were beyond imagination.
to enhance t for the
I appreciated the simplicity of each of the 12-courses. Rene focuses on the main flavours and he works creatively around each ingredient which he showcases at its best. There is no hint of intensity or boastfulness.
An oyster
its shell was topped with a bit of seaweed and herbs, ot filled with hot sea stones. As the pots romas made us feel as thouzh w<
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~~~
the beef tartar with sorrel, juniper and tarragon because I have often looked at-this recipe in Rene's book and I've thought how appealing it looked. There was great excitement around cooking our own duck eggs. Rainer seemed particularly put out at having to pay to cook his own foodl.Hls comments were all in humour but I remembered
he cooked nothing at home! Our waiter, Kim
Sander, whispered in my ear: "Sorry jackie we know it is your day off. Sorry t9 make you cook." The staff were extremely approachable,
ri:1ax:edyet professional. I felt no irritation or
antagonism as I asked my many questions. The~ord
TIMJI! & PLACJI! IN NORDIC CUISINE
foraging means to look for one's food and this comes
th.u'o~gh very clearly in ever plate that is presented. green is predominant
Ran4".dz:epl
The colour
with moss, ferns ana pines as well as many
forest shoots ana sprigs forming the main component plates. Flavours are uncomplicated
on all
and amazing techniques
are pulled offin a relaxed atmosphere.
GtleSts almost overlook
the' incredible pace of the 'work engine' because of the peaceful ambience create-d.during this fine-dining eiperience.
~~~ Rene Redzepi IPhaidon Publishers
I R499
When shown around the kitchen I was pleasantly surprised that, like me; Rene had a very simple barbeque setup outside his
Noma has been voted the best restaurant in the world
kitchen - except-mine is a braai! I $as thrilled at theopportunity
for two years running, and this book celebrates not only
tosee the back of house and meet the entire teaOl..I took many
the restaurant's cuisine but also that of Denmark and the
pictures and these will be kept as a source of inspliation on the
Scandinavian
occasions when I fail to motivate myself ..
cuisine, one must understand
Themeal
months of sunny weather a year and is surrounded
area as a whole: To understand
the area's
that the ingredients thatare
available to work with come from a region with only 4 ended with coffee served in e1egan~ittle ceramic cups,
with bone marrow toffees andlemon
sweetie pies served in old-
by cold
seas. The ingredients used aren't the ones that we commonly
fashioned, biscuit tins. The touch of old wOf,ld charm went down
use in South.l\frica.
well.
balsamic vinegar, Zittauer onions, Swedish Prastost and Jack-
Remarkable ingredientssuch
as apple
by-the-hedge leaves all peppex the recipes"thi;oughout This remarkable experience opened my eyes to numerous
the
book.
possibiliries. My aim is to focus even more so on local ingredients and to highlight what the land, in my district, has to offer. I have
Not having many of the ingredients meant that l-was
lea,rped to avoid complicated dishes and to work creatively in a SUbtle way. -
laid out in a manner that makes them very easy to read, with
resrrlcted in my recipe choice, even though 'the recipes are a step-by-step
011
each individual section of the dish. A,recipe
that I did try out was a dish called Steamed Egg White and
Birch Wine, W[ild Mushrooms: The average consumer probably wouldn't understand
the skill that goes into a dish like this,
but the simple explanations made a tricky dish so.very simple and easy to cook. Although I had to subst~te
a few
ingredients, lwas still able to.g'et the nuances offue dish and itwas truly delicious. This is a cookbook for the very experienced, or those with an enormous amount of confidence, and it does take a few tries to understand
the dlsb, and where Chef Rem! is going
with it. But the book is more than just the recipes of Noma,
it is a book about S~ndinavia, f-{jod. It is a truly ~dnating recommend
its regions, its culture and its read and lneredibly inspiring - I
it to any chef that is feeling stale and uninspired,
or who merely wants to'look at food differently. Review
Karm Schoitz.
by
I~t"-'.~
~ ~..,;::...
'" -;:::::----:-
We were lucky enough to secure a recipe excerpt from the Noma cookbook, so try your hand at this exquisite recipe from the world's best kitchen.
~ Blueberry sorbet
Whisk together the sugar, trimoline and
Heat the water and sugar to make a
450g sugar
egg yolks. Heat the cream, milk and milk
syrup. Cool, blend with the spruce
60g glucose
powder in a pan to 80째C (178째F) and
shoots and sorrel and pass through
625g water
pour it over the egg mixture. Pour back
a fine sieve (strainer). Calculate the
50g blueberry puree
into the pans and cook, stirring, to make
total weight and weigh out 0.1 % of
200g blueberries
a custard. Bloom the gelatine, add and
the quantity in xanthan gum. Sprinkle
50g spruce shoots 3.5g gelatine
cool. When the mixture is cold, blend
the xanthan into a small amount of
the spruce shoots into it and strain.
the liquid and blend it until absorbed.
Mf#.the sugar, glucose and water in a
Spruce granite
pan.ihear to a syrup, then cool. Add the
145g sugar
puree, the fresh berries and the spruce
525gwater
Combine the 2 liquids and freeze in
shoots, blend and strain. Heat a very
425g spruce shoots
small amount of the berry mixture.
440g sorrel
Bloom the gelatine, then dissolve into
xanthan gum
the warm mixture and add to the rest. Place in Paco containers in the refrigerator to set.
Spruce ice cream 38g sugar 60g trimoline 120g egg yolks 150g cream 435g full fat (whole) milk 20g milk powder 2g gelatine 125g spruce shoots
a deep tray. Once frozen, scrape to a powder with a fork.
to room temperature
and. dissolve
n it. Add the flour, salt, eggs and sugar
;j~ithe
dough thoroughly. Add the butter
re mixing and let the mixture prove (rise) fat hour. Knock back (punch down) the d04gh and let it prove again for an hour. Grease--a loaf tin) transfer the dough to the tin and 'then prove again. Prehear the oven to 18ooSS'(350°F) and bake for approximately
25 mirfutes. When cool,
cut into Lcm cubes.
T,
Blanch the thyme on its stems £o~4-5 minutes A .£ '" . until very tende:.r: Cool in icewarer and pullthe leaves offJhe st€ms. Strain t~ 6b1.un ilie leaves, squeeze them through a Stjerbag dry. Pick the y~sley
and.ke@p·
leaves and blanch them
until tender. Dry: as for the. thyme. Process the dil and herbs at full speed ar-60°C (i-400E) in.a Thermomix for
J2
minutes. Cool, then macerate
for 24 hours. Strain through a fine cloth,
app~.
pressure for a few hours, and keep in: a squeezy bottle. . ~ .
-
Serving 28 leaves W09d sorrel 8 sprigs heather butter, for sauteing
.
'~~Before servingvpur the plates in the fteez.er tq,get
very cold. Pick the wood sorrel ::nd hearh~t ,into 'ice water and dry them. Saute the brLoche until and golde~a-nd cool on kitchen: paper (paper
u. Process
the ice cream in a Pacojer, shape '!I!
ofapproximately
-
,.
2')nffil diameter and
of blueberry sorbet and Z balls of . on each plate. Surround wieh 5 everything wJih'rwo and,
ita and a tables;ooll.,,of :I·~d heather