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Wickedfood Cooking School News

Our  individual cooking class programmes are up on the internet. Click the link for the appropriate month - March or April

Week 2 – 05 to 11 March

Monday 05 March at 6pm – Healthy flavours of Vietnam (R370 per person per class). Famous for its lively, fresh flavors and artfully composed meals, Vietnamese food and cooking is the true ‘light cuisine’ of Asia. Abundant fresh herbs and greens, delicate soups and stir-fries, and well-seasoned grilled foods served on, or with, rice or noodles are the mainstays of the Vietnamese delicacies. Home-style Vietnamese cooking calls for an array of simple dishes that make complementary partners at a family’s communal meal. Hobby cooks with well-equipped kitchens and handy appliances will find preparing a Vietnamese meal both rewarding and relatively easy. Classic dishes from the Vietnamese table, including fried springrolls, Vietnamese hot and sour fish soup, caramel chicken, squid salad, and coconut crème caramel.

Sunday 11 March at 4pm – Flavours of the South African Portuguese Table (R370pp per person per class). At the heart of Portuguese cuisine is the use of quality ingredients prepared simply to preserve their distinctive flavours. Portuguese food is renowned for being lusty and robust. Because Portuguese cuisine is easy to prepare, and uses very basic equipment, it is often described as peasant food. The use of seasoned pork, strong olive oil, garlic and onions contributes to the image of strongly flavored, simple cooking. This is Sunday dinner fare designed to satisfy the appetite and reinforce the bonds of home and family. 7 tasty dishes including trinchado, chicken livers, caldo verde, chicken peri-peri, portuguese salad and crème caramel.

Week 3 – 12 to 18 March

Monday 12 March at 6pm – North African feast (R380pp). North African recipes are the results of the blending of European, African, and Arabic cuisines. North African food originated in Egypt over 3000 years ago. The food is very spicy since paprika, cumin, and ginger are commonly used in dishes with the spice mixtures being just as popular as the spices themselves. Come learn how to prepare a delicious North African feast at our North African cooking class, which includes 4 starters, buried chicken, spicy lamb couscous and layered crispy pastry.

Week 4 – 19 to 25 March

Monday 19 March at 6pm – The Naked Chef (R370pp). Stop making reservations, and start cooking dinner! Jamie Oliver introduces us to his concept of naked food, and shares his simple, feisty, and delicious recipes that combine bold flavours with fresh ingredients. Olivers cookbooks appeal to anyone who wants to prepare fantastic meals but doesn’t want to spend all night cooking. This cooking class proves that even kitchen novices can make perfect foolproof roast chicken with roast potatoes, fresh tomato and sweet chilli soup, homemade pasta with mushrooms, roast butternut and fruit crumble.

Sunday 25 March at 4pm – Classic Lebanese dishes (R380pp). The Lebanese gastronomy is a rich mixture of various products and ingredients coming from the diverse Lebanese regions. It is with food that the Lebanese express their generosity and hospitality. The secret to mastering Lebanese cuisine lies in the preparation and organization of the menu and in the fact that Lebanese dishes store and reheat well. The Lebanese cook always prepares several dishes in advance and stores the basic mixtures so that they can be combined with other food items to quickly make a full meal. Every household has a constant stock of pickles, olives, cheese, yoghurt, nuts, grain, herbs and spices. A selection of the most popular Lebanese party food including Hummous with ground lamb, Kibbi Naye and Deep-fried kibbi balls, Lebanese salad, bread pies and Osmaliyah.

Green ideas for your Home:

http://www.smartgreenpeople.co.za/

We simplify by researching and sourcing a range of environmentally friendly (organic, biodynamic, free-trade, free-range) products that you can use in your home or office, and we facilitate through our specially tailored order-and-delivery service, which ensures the products reach you quickly and effortlessly. Smart Green People is hassle-free and cost-effective — two aspects that, we believe, will assist in growing the vital concept of living, eating and cleaning in a way that is as harmless as possible to our environment and ourselves.

Food tip of the week:

Baking Powder

In double acting baking powder, carbon dioxide is produced when moisture is added, and again when it is heated.

Using too much baking powder will produce a product with a coarse grain, and broken cell walls in the ‘air’ bubbles, which will cause the product to eventually fall. When you use too little, the product will not rise enough and will be heavy.

Baking powders lose strength over time. They should be kept tightly covered, moisture will cause them to deteriorate faster.

If you increase the eggs in a recipe, decrease the baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon for each extra egg added, and vice versa.

Interesting places in Joburg:

Reunion Island Food Festival

When: Dates to be confirmed (Thursday, 22 March 2012)
Where: Ferndale, Randburg
Categories: Annual Festivals / Food & Wine

Reunion Island Food Festival

The Wickedfood Team

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Wickedfood Cooking School runs classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking school. Cooking lessons 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 – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking courses 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. Great Team building ideas.

The Mekong has, for many hundreds of years, been the super highway of South East Asia, a vibrant artery that defines a vast region. The world’s tenth largest river, which rises in Tibet and joins the sea in Vietnam, traverses 6 countries, mingling exquisite food and traditions.

Award-winning authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid followed the river south, from its sauce through the mountain gorges of southern China, to Burma and into Laos and Thailand, then on to Cambodia, and finally Vietnam and into the South China Sea.

During their travels they ate traditional foods in villages and small towns,  learned techniques and ingredients from cooks and market vendors, and came to realize that the local cuisines, like those of the Mediterranean, share a distinctive culinary approach – each cuisine balances, with the regional flavour, the quartet of hot, sour, salty, and sweet.

Their resultant book,  Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia, contains a wealth of anecdotal material, together with 175 authentic recipes, beautiful photographs of both the region and dishes, and explicit formulas for a host of dipping sauces that make the regional cuisine so unique.

Beginning with a discussion of the Mekong region, its peoples and their characteristic foods, the book then provides recipes organized by ingredients, dish types, and topics such as “Everyday Dependable,” “One-Dish Meals,” “Kids Like It,” and “Vegetarian Options.” This latter style of division helps define and “domesticate” a vast array of cooking, often enjoyed at times and places foreign to Westerners.

For anyone interested in southeast Asian cuisine, Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia is a must.  Other books by the same authors worth a look at,u include Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent, Seductions of Rice, and Flatbreads and Flavours.

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 R474 for this book (Recommended Retail Price = R527)!

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.

Rice is the staple throughout south east Asia.  It is served with every meal and generally cooked once a day for consumption throughout the day.  Leftover ice is often re-fried.  This dish is popular along the entire length of the Mekong River, hence the name.  A similar version of the dish peers in our book of the week, Hot Sour Salty Sweet. The cooked rice is flavoured with lemongrass, shrimp and shallot paste, a speciality of central Vietnam. This rice is delicious, served on its own with a Vietnamese herb and salad platter, and some dipping sauce. For a bit more extravagance, grilled fish or chicken can be served with it.

4 cups cold cooked Asian rice (or cook 2 cups raw rice)

1T dried shrimp, soaked in a little hot water for 5 minutes

1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and cut into ±2cm lengths

1 small onion

3 spring onions

1t sugar

Pinch of salt

2T oil

2T garlic, minced

3 spring onions, trimmed, and julienned into ±5cm lengths

2T roasted sesame seeds

1T fish sauce, or to taste

2 tomatoes, sliced (or 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced)

¹/2 bunch coriander, finely chopped

Freshly ground pepper

1. Place the cooked rice in a large bowl, and with damp hands, break up any clumps, and set aside.
2. Place the shrimp, with its soaking water, the lemongrass, onions, spring onions, sugar and salt in a large mortar, or spice grinder, and grind to a paste.
3. Heat a large heavy wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the oil, toss in the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds, taking care not to burn. Add the paste and stir-fry for ±3 minutes, until it is golden.
4. Add the spring onions and stir-fry briefly.
5. Sprinkle the rice into the wok and stir-fry for ±2 minutes, tossing and pressing the rice against the sides of the wok until well mixed, with some of the rice crisping up to golden.
6. Add the sesame seeds and fish sauce, and stir-fry for ±30 seconds. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
7. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with coriander and pepper, and arrange the tomato slices around the rice.
8. Serve with the herb and salad platter and dipping sauce, or with chicken.

Serves 4-6

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,

We all have to eat.  You have most likely subscribed to this newsletter because you enjoy food and enjoy preparing it.  You are also most probably a discerning food shopper.  Over the past few years Wickedfood Cooking School has become more and more alarmed at the poor quality of food on our  supermarket shelves.  Our directors have taken a massive leap and moved to the country where, over the past two years, they developed Wickedfood Earth and have been experimenting with naturally-grown fruits, vegetables and livestock, without the use of pesticides, synthetic chemicals, growth hormones and antibiotics.  They have also been engaging with like-minded farmers, and learned a lot about the myth of organic and free range, as displayed on supermarket shelves.  Both concepts have a lot of merit, but unfortunately have been manipulated by big business to turn a quick buck to the detriment of the underlying concept – see “A case in point” below for more information.

Wickedfood Earth, in conjunction with various other like-minded farmers in the area, is busy setting up a direct marketing operation.  At the beginning of each week we will e-mail to interested parties a list of produce available.  You will then be able to place an order on the internet and produce will be delivered for collection at Wickedfood Cooking School in Sunninghill on Saturday mornings.  Should you be interested in receiving information on this initiative, please e-mail earth@wickedfood.co.za, with the word subscribe in the subject line.

All classes to the end of  February are fully subscribed.  The March and April Programmes are now live on our website.  Book early to avoid disappointment as classes tend to fill up very fast.

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 programme for   March and April 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 26 February at 4pm – Easy Entertaining Indian style (R380pp - class full). 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 Indian dishes including bhel puri, lamb korma, potato and cauliflower curry, chicken pulao and cheese balls in syrup.
• Monday 27 February at 6pm  – 30 Minute Meals (R380pp - class full ). Trying to juggle work and home commitments can be tough in this day and age, and the statement of ‘who has time to cook these days’ is on the increase. In this ‘30 Minute Meals’ cooking class we show participants how to produce quick and easy 30-minute meals that are delicious and well balanced. Dishes include, Thai vegetable curry, chicken breast with feta and pasta, chilli steak wraps, penne with a rich tomato vodka cream sauce, Fried fish with oven chips and homemade burgers.
• Monday 05 March at 6pm – Healthy Flavours of Vietnam (R370pp). Famous for its lively, fresh flavours and artfully composed meals, Vietnamese food and cooking is the true ‘light cuisine’ of Asia. Abundant fresh herbs and greens, delicate soups and stir-fries, and well-seasoned grilled foods served on, or with, rice or noodles are the mainstays of the Vietnamese delicacies. Home-style Vietnamese cooking calls for an array of simple dishes that make complementary partners at a family’s communal meal. Hobby cooks with well-equipped kitchens and handy appliances will find preparing a Vietnamese meal both rewarding and relatively easy once they have attended this Vietnamese cooking class.
• Sunday 11 March at 4pm – Flavours of the South African Portuguese Table (R370pp). At the heart of Portuguese cuisine is the use of quality ingredients prepared simply to preserve their distinctive flavours. Portuguese food is renowned for being lusty and robust. Because Portuguese cuisine is easy to prepare, and uses very basic equipment, it is often described as peasant food. The use of seasoned pork, strong olive oil, garlic and onions contributes to the image of strongly flavoured, simple cooking. In this Portuguese cooking class we teach you how to prepare Sunday dinner fare, designed to satisfy the appetite and reinforce the bonds of home and family. 7 tasty dishes including trinchado, chicken livers, caldo verde, chicken peri-peri, Portuguese salad and crème caramel.
• Monday 12 March at 6pm – North African feast (R380pp). North African recipes are the results of the blending of European, African, and Arabic cuisines. North African food originated in Egypt over 3000 years ago. The food is very spicy since paprika, cumin, and ginger are commonly used in dishes with the spice mixtures being just as popular as the spices themselves. Come learn how to prepare a delicious North African feast at our North African cooking class, which includes 4 starters, buried chicken, spicy lamb couscous and layered crispy pastry.

A case in point

Chicken.  In the fifties and sixties a chicken was a luxury item, and cooked once a month as part of Sunday family meal.  With intensive chicken farming and the birth of the supermarket, chicken has become more and more affordable, to the detriment of both the quality of the meat, as well as the well being of the bird.  The small scale, truly free-range producer, cannot compete with large factory farms. Here is an overview of his pricing:

Price of a day-old chick R8; Feed for lifespan of the bird R25; slaughter costs R3 = R36 for a 1,5kg bird or R24/kg direct costs.  The farmer still has labour costs, transport costs, and infrastructure costs, which adds another R24 to the bird, and then he should still be entitled to a profit.  Conservatively  speaking, free range chickens by small scale farmers should be selling at a minimum of R75/kg.  This is still very competitive if we look at European models, where in the UK you pay around R180/kg and in France R170/kg for a proper 12-week old free range chicken.

Makes you think what is in your supermarket chicken.

Cookbook of the week

Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia

The Mekong has, for many hundreds of years, been the super highway of South East Asia, a vibrant artery that defines a vast region. The world’s tenth largest river, which rises in Tibet and joins the sea in Vietnam, traverses 6 countries, mingling exquisite food and traditions. Hot Sour Salty Sweet takes readers on the culinary tour down the river sampling the flavours the various countries along the way have to offer.  Definitely a book for anyone interested in the flavours of southeast Asia.  … Click here to read more

Click Here for reviews of all our cookbook reviews.

Food quote of the week

“Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.“ – Mark Twain

Recipes of the week:

River rice

Rice is the staple throughout south east Asia.  It is served with every meal.  Leftover rice is often re-fried. This dish is popular along the entire length of the Mekong River, hence the name . ….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.

Suprise your loved ones with these chocolatey kiss cookies. The perfect easy gift for Valentine’s Day. This recipe is based on one by Rachel Allen From Rachel’s Favourite Food for Living.

For the biscuits

175gself raising flour

75g caster sugar

75g butter

2t instant coffee powder or granules

1t hot water

1 egg

For the chocolate icing

50g butter, softened

100g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

3t cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. In a cup or small bowl, mix the coffee with the hot water, then add the egg and whisk together.
4. Add this to the food processor and process until the dough comes together. (If making this by hand, rub the butter into the flour and sugar in a bowl, then add the coffee, water and egg mixture and bring together to a dough.)
5. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and then roll out the dough until it is 5mm thick and, using a 4cm in long heart-shaped cutter, cut out 50-60 heart shapes. (If the dough is a bit soft before shaping, chill it in the deep freeze for 10 minutes before using.)
6. Place the hearts slightly spaced apart on two baking trays (no need to grease) and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and slightly firm at the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and carefully lift off the tray with a metal slice while they are still very hot to prevent them sticking. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
8. For the chocolate icing, mix the soft butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl using a wooden spoon, or in the food processor, until it comes together.
9. Use the icing to sandwich the cookies together. If you dip a table knife into hot water as you work, it helps to spread the icing. Store in a box for two or three days.

Makes 25-30 biscuits

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps 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.