This is a delicious dessert of apricots roasted with honey and ginger, and served with ricotta and spiced filo. This recipe is based on one from our book of the week, Orient Express by Silvena Rowe. If apricots are  not in season, use either dried  apricots, soaked in hot water for approximately one hour, or tinned apricots, drained of the juices. You can make your own za’atar, or purchase it from a middle eastern store. 

Photo: JONATHAN LOVEKIN

6 ripe apricots, quartered (or 12 dried apricots halved, see introduction)
3cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3T  runny honey
4 large rectangular sheets of filo pastry
50g butter, melted
1t green peppercorns, crushed
2-3T  za’atar
400g fresh ricotta, crumbled

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Za’atar is a crucial spice blend in the food of the eastern Mediterranean.  In her latest book,  Orient Express, chef Silvena Rowe users Za’atar for a wide variety of her dishes. Sumac, a crucial ingredient in Za’atar, is sold in a powder form, usually dark red in colour, available from many middle eastern stores. It is often used as a replacement for lemon juice as it is also very sour.  

Photo: JONATHAN LOVEKIN

4t tsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano
4t dried marjoram
4t  ground sumac
1t  sea salt
4t  ground cumin

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

Information & bookings (076) 236-2345  sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi all,

Hope all the mothers out there were spoiled rotten last Sunday. Did you know that this newsletter has some fantastic special offers:

• In our cookbook section, if you purchase any book through Red Pepper Books, not only do get the book delivered to your door, but you’ll also receive a substantial discount.
•  Like us on our new Facebook page and stand a chance to win 1 Month’s free classes for you and a friend - Click Here to Like Us and enter in the competition.

And then over the next two weeks, we also have a great selection of individual cooking classes – Indian, Gordon Ramsay’s secrets,  Italian and Turkish.  Happy cooking.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter – just search for Wickedfood and you will find us. We update the blog on a daily basis and publish it through Facebook and Twitter.

Looking for info on food?

If you have any food-related questions, or a dish that you just can’t get right or even a certain recipe that you are looking for, but just can’t seem to find, then contact us and we will do our best to answer it as soon as possible. Click Here for more information. Hope to hear from you soon.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

The Cooking class programmes for  May and June are up on the internet. Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 giving everyone hands-on experience and keeping the cooking class small enough for maximum learning. These cooking classes are conducted by our senior instructors who have extensive experience in the food industry and share a variety of additional cooking tips throughout the cooking class.

• Sunday 20 May at 4pm – Easy to prepare Indian dishes (R410pp). Indian food is a diverse and extraordinary one, reflecting a complex layering of cultures through history and based on religious beliefs, geography, climate and availability of ingredients. India’s range of cuisine can amaze even a connoisseur. Different regions in India offer their own specialties with their very own taste, subtlety and aroma. The exotic tastes, hues and textures of Indian food have ensured a steady growth in popularity in the West. Join us in discovering these incredible dishes in our Indian cooking class. Authentic easy Indian dishes including potato patties, tandoori chicken, pumpkin cream curry, pulao and sago pudding.
• Monday 21 May at 6pm – Gordon Ramsay – Cooking for Friends (R420pp). This Gordon Ramsay cooking class is based on his book Cooking for Friends. Love him or hate him, he certainly knows his food. In this book, we see a very different side of him, more relaxed, cooking some best-loved versions of classic British dishes for family and friends, including broccoli blue cheese and pear soup, mushroom and barley risotto, poached fish fillets, roast rib-eye of beef, and pear and frangipane tart.
• Wednesday  30 May at 6pm –Entertaining Italian style (R410pp). Italian cuisine is one of the most common cuisines available all around the world. Learn to cook these 6 great dishes with an Italian flair in our Italian cooking class, including rice croquettes, Siena bread soup, semolina gnocchi, poached chicken with a caper/egg sauce and baked pears.
• Sunday 03 June at 4pm – Turkish meza (R410pp). Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world’s best. It is considered to be one of the three main cuisines of the world because of the variety of its recipes, its use of natural ingredients, its flavours and tastes which appeal to all palates and its influence throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Turkish cuisine is in a sense a bridge between far-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, with the accent always on enhancing the natural taste and flavour of the ingredients. This Turkish cooking class is all about finger food for easy alfresco dining which includes chicken and walnut dip, cheese pastries, baby marrow fritters, beetroot salad with yoghurt, grilled meat kebabs, pide breads and kadayif.

Cookbook of the week

Orient Express

Silvena Rowe was brought up on a diet of  Ottoman delicacies by her Turkish father. She is now based in London as chef-patron of Quince. Inspiration for her latest book comes from the street foods of the eastern Mediterranean  – Istanbul, Ankara, Beirut and Damascus. Click here to read more.

Click Here for reviews of all our cookbook reviews.

Food quote of the week

“I bake all the time, but I don’t like to eat the cookies when they’re done. I just like the dough.” – Sharon Stone

Recipes of the week:

Roasted Apricots

A delicious dessert of apricots roasted with honey and ginger, and served with ricotta and spiced filo, based on a recipe from our book of the week. …. Click Here for all our recipes.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Silvena Rowe was brought up on a diet of  Ottoman delicacies by her Turkish father. She is now based in London as chef-patron of Quince.

Her previous cookbooks Feasts and Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume are both glorious incantations on the cuisines of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The inspiration for her latest book, Orient Express,  came from the street foods of Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep, Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo. Subtitled “Fast food from the Eastern Mediterranean,” but don’t expect too many recipes which can be quickly knocked up – many require overnight marinating or setting in the fridge. It is the kind of food you would expect to find at street stalls and markets – mezze style eating, great for entertaining.

The book is divided into highlighted ingredients and flavours, as opposed to the standard fare of starter, main, etc:

• Emerald spice & gold dust  – a celebration of za’atar and saffron;
• Fire and noble velvet – chilli and cumin;
• Purple citrus and summer breeze  – Sumac and fresh herbs;
• Sweet eucalyptus & liquid gold  – cardamom and honey;
• Exotic perfume and delicate fragrance – cinnamon and flowers

This structure enables one to combine a selection of diversely spiced dishes into an impressive banquet. She presents 100 light, perfectly balanced recipes for sharing. Added to this is some stunning photography of many of the completed dishes.

This book will certainly give Wickedfood Cooking School a lot of inspiration for our Turkish cooking classes and middle eastern cooking classes.

Interested in buying this book? Visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, is able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for, and they deliver to your door. Pay only R252 for this book (Recommended Retail Price = R295)! Red Pepper Books is offering Wickedfood Cooking School subscribers an EXTRA 10% off this book. Simply type in the promotional code WICKEDFOOD on the shipping page of the checkout process and your purchase will be reduced by a further 10%, a total saving of R43.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Potato Galette with Lox and Crème Fraîche

This crispy potato galette, topped with lox and crème fraîche, has all the best parts of an everything bagel, relatively easy to make and a perfect treat for mother’s day.  Click here for other delicious mother’s day brunch ideas.

½ cup crème fraîche
2T minced chives
2T capers, drained
2 large russet potatoes
8T clarified butter
1t sesame seeds
1t poppy seeds
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
120g smoked salmon
¼ small red onion, thinly sliced

1. Mix crème fraîche, chives, and capers in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Peel and grate potatoes using the large holes on a cheese grater or cut into matchsticks using a mandoline. Heat 4 tbsp. clarified butter in a 10″ nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Toss potatoes with seeds and salt and pepper; add to pan and stir to coat potatoes with butter. Using a spatula, gently press potatoes into a flat round, molding to fit skillet; cook, shaking skillet occasionally, until edges are golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.
3. Place a plate, turned upside down, over skillet and invert skillet with plate, allowing potato cake to fall onto plate; slide potato cake back into skillet. Pour remaining butter around edges of potato cake and continue cooking until potatoes are crisp on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and season with salt and pepper. Place smoked salmon and onion evenly over surface and cut into wedges. Place a dollop of the crème fraîche mixture on top of each wedge before serving.

Serves 4

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.