Cooking school life

Salmon starter

2010-10-26T12:15:00.001+02:00

Salmon, cucumber and tomato quenelle

Omri plating up

Fish terrine

2010-10-26T12:11:00.002+02:00

A great summer starter

Intense concentration needed

Chocolate torte

2010-10-26T12:08:00.001+02:00

Cold pressed terrine

2010-10-19T15:23:00.002+02:00

Parma ham, chicken, leek and onion

Italian Gourmet Evening

2010-09-08T14:30:00.001+02:00

Gnocchi experts!

Settling in

Checking for doneness

Working for their dinner

The wine from Rialto and Spier was excellent

Mel getting stuck in

Ally has the right idea - delegate

Delegate and drink

Help is at hand

Prize winner Anton

Bagels and Tarts

2010-09-08T14:16:00.000+02:00

Caramelized Onion Tartlet

Homemade bagels

Asian Duck

2010-09-08T14:10:00.001+02:00

One of the dishes cooked this week...

Ravioli

2010-09-06T13:52:00.000+02:00

Hand rolled ravioli made from three types of dough.

Served with seafood

Rolling the beetroot dough

Plating up

New Bosch Ovens

2010-09-06T13:47:00.001+02:00

We have just had brand new ovens installed by Bosch and this is what comes
out of them!

Baked Alaska

The very latest from Bosch - trays are attached to the door, not the oven

Roer! Book Launch

2010-08-23T08:33:00.000+02:00

Tammy-Anne and the Roer! team

The popular M-Net cooking proramme, Roer! chose the SA Chefs Academy

as a venue to launch their new celebrity cook book.

Canapes and cocktails on arrival

Chefs plating up

Mushroom Rissoto from the Roer! recipe book

Plating the Parma Ham and Asparagus Salad.

On the plate

Tucking in

Baklava and homemade ice-cream

Hungry chefs

2010-08-19T14:24:00.004+02:00

It tastes that good

Chef Lee Ann leads the demo

A simple rosti

KJ in the heat of it

Polenta

2010-08-19T10:08:00.001+02:00

Polenta stack

Omri in action

Sugar decor

2010-08-19T10:06:00.000+02:00

Sugar spinning made easy

Mozambique Gourmet Food Evening

2010-08-05T12:25:00.002+02:00

SA Chefs Academy monthly cooking class was held on Tuesday

evening and participants got to taste and cook the regional cooking

of Mozambique and drink Creation wine. Goody bags were filled

with oil from Olive Pride and Nando's Peri sauce from Patley's.

In the beginning....

There were some wines from Creation...

They watched...

Absorbed

Even danced a bit...

Sealing the fillet

Making peri peri sauce to take home

Plated up

Spoils of war

Spicy food goes well with Creation Bordeaux red blend and Viognier dry, peachy white

Goody Bag to take home. Participants also took home a jar of their own peri peri sauce.

Olive Oil Tasting

2010-08-05T11:40:00.001+02:00

Students did a blind tasting of olive oils, choosing
Olive Pride as their favourite...

Samples are laid out

Taste and score

Olde English Beef

2010-08-05T11:33:00.000+02:00

with an Italian twist. Students made a traditional English dish
of silverside in brine and served with ravioli.

Rissotto

2010-08-05T11:31:00.000+02:00

Rissotto with spinach and garnish...

Imam Biyaldi - "The priest fainted..."

2010-08-03T11:31:00.000+02:00

....legend tells us, after a Turkish Imam tasted this famous Eggplant dish.
Whether it was because of its amazing taste or because he got the bill for
the olive oil used in it, we will never know.

Students cooked Imam Biyaldi with cous cous and rolled stuffed chicken

Its flavour comes from olive oil, garlic, onions, tomato, lemon and herbs,

and it may have been a forerunner to ratatouille. To jazz it up students
added raisins, cumin, coriander and cardamon.

But first the chicken....

Stuffed and ready to be rolled...

Letting the knife do the work

Imam Biyaldi preparation

Adding the spices

Cover and cook

Cupcakes

2010-08-03T11:29:00.001+02:00

Breakfast at the Academy

Piping skills

Dineo dreaming of the hot kitchen

Bosch function

2010-08-03T11:28:00.001+02:00

Bosch Appliances chose the SA Chefs Academy to host a
participative cooking evening for some of their valued customers.
The theme was Mozambican cooking.

Grilled sardines, peri peri prawns, calamari...

6pm arrival drinks - Wines are from De Wetshof

Demo by chefs

Preparation is done before hand

Cooking starts

Help is on hand

Plating up...

Eating the spoils

No leftovers allowed

Salt crust chicken

2010-08-03T11:26:00.001+02:00

An unusual way to roast succulent chicken by making a stiff
batter of 1 kg salt with 8 whisked egg whites.
Plaster the chicken and zap in the oven...its not what you
expect... not salty at all.

In the oven for 90 minutes

The chicken, the 2 tubs of salt and the egg whites

Bread and butter

2010-08-03T11:21:00.000+02:00

Bread and butter pudding with creme anglaise, apricot and
almond ice-cream, poached apple, brandy snap basket and sabayon.

Chef Samantha's finished plate

The whiskers

Colleen plating up

Lunch

A warm winter salad

2010-08-03T11:19:00.001+02:00

Classic Mediterranean flavours for a winters lunch. The combination
of tastes include smoky bacon around the fish, salty capers and olives,
onions, hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, green beans and tomato, with a
zesty pesto and balsamic drizzle to finish it off.

The dish for the day...

First a demo by chef Garth

Masimba getting stuck in

Straight into ice water to prevent carry over cooking

Great contrast of colour, texture and flavour

Bread theory

2010-08-03T11:18:00.000+02:00

Chef Paul lectures the class on artisanal baking.

On the work station behind him is a Levain, or mother dough, which is used as a starter when baking bread - no instant yeast shortcuts here, and you will taste a difference in the final product.

Croissants and Pastries

2010-08-03T11:16:00.000+02:00

The finished batch.

Did we mention that students have to eat everything they make?

Vital, its all about taste!

(Yes, students do put on a bit of weight because of this.... but will quickly shed it once out in industry)

Croissants are one of the most difficult pastry items to make.....

Students have a go....

Student chef James starts rolling.

If you want to know, we use Eureka Stone Ground flour.

on the rise

Norwegian Salmon, three ways

2010-08-03T11:05:00.000+02:00

Half way through the course students prepare a complicated dish ofNorwegian Salmonprepared 3 ways: Sashimi, Confit and Tataki

First a demo by chef Garth.

Garth is using the blended Olive Pride oil for poaching the fish, which is perfect for general cooking and is also affordable.

He would use their extra virgin olive oil for salads, pastas etc where the taste comes out more.

Then it is the students turn....

Mise en place

Getting there....

Finally, eat what you cook - its all about taste and understanding why different flavours are combined.