Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

Information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi all,

At Wickedfood Cooking School, we pride ourselves at staying current.  To this end, we continually develop new cooking classes, both for our classes for individuals, as well as a cooking classes for groups.  For the month of February, we are offering an exciting new Greek cooking class for groups, with an added incentive that if you book during February, you will get a 10% discount, see Wickedfood Cooking School news below.

Valentine’s day falls on Sunday.  This year we are offering two Valentine’s Day cooking classes, one on Saturday evening and the following on Sunday afternoon.  These classes are filling up fast so contact the school soon if you would like to make a booking.

Hope to see you at one of the classes

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.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

To stay current, we will be introducing a new cooking class for groups each month this year.  These classes are ideal for a variety of groups’ cooking classes including teambuilding, product launches, special birthday parties, kitchen teas, bachelor parties, or any other group  function, with cooking as a theme (click here to see our full programme).  And as an added incentive, if you book and pay for the class during the course of February, you will receive a 10% discount on the class’ published price (subject to our standard terms and conditions):

Greek group class (code Greek 3/1) – (R 4 310 per counter excluding VAT).

• Tzatziki – cucumber and yoghurt dip.
• Cannellini bean soup – one of Greece’s national dishes, a hearty vegetarian soup.
• Moussaka – two classic ingredients, minced meat and aubergine, combined.
• Savoury rice – popular throughout the Eastern Mediterranean for special occasions.
• Greek salad - with tomatoes, cucumber, olives and feta cheese.
• Baklava – layered pastry with nuts and syrup.

Our February and March individual cooking class programmes are up on the internet – click the relevant month for the programme February/March.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience  and keeps the class small enough for maximum learning.

• Monday 8 February at 6pm – Cookbook of the month – Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible (R390pp). Billed as the definitive curry book, by arguably the world authority on Indian food, this book looks at the very best curry recipes from India as well as around the world. Students will learn the secrets of cooking 7 of the most interesting dishes from the book, including chicken-coconut soup, Squid in a tomato-chilli sauce, red beef curry, mixed vegetable curry, red bean curry and how to make Chapattis.
• Saturday 13 February at 6pm or Sunday 14 February at 4pm – Romantic Valentine’s dinner, easy summer entertaining (R720 per couple). Join the staff at the Cooking School with the love of your life for a Valentine’s dinner with a difference. Not only will you get to enjoy a delicious 4-course dinner, but you will learn the secrets of how to cook it. Included in the price is a welcome glass of sparkling wine, house wine while preparing the food, and some specialist wines, complementing the food, with the meal. Space is limited to 30 students per class, so book early.
• Monday 15 February at 6pm – 30 minute meals (R380pp). How to prepare 6 nutritious quick and easy meals for two. 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.

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Looking for info on food?

The Wickedfood blog took off in a big way in 2009, with lots of questions coming in from our readers.  If you have any  food-related question, 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.

Cookbook of the week

Over the last twenty years, Rose and Ruth have been at the helm of one of the iconic London restaurants, River Cafe, where a variety of the world’s top chefs and TV personalities have cut their teeth, including  Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Their latest book, River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook, is Rose and Ruth’s personal interpretation of Italian home recipes…    Click Here for more.

Click Here to see Wickedfood Cooking School’s top 10 food-related books for 2009.

Did you know:

Fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam) is widely known to be a firm staple in South-East Asian cooking, but did you know that a similar condiment, garum or liquamen, was just as ubiquitous in the Classical Greek and Roman kitchens? In both cases, its pungent aroma (as the sauce is derived from fermenting fish) belies the rich umami flavour that even the tiniest spoonful can add to food.

Food quote of the week:

“The mere smell of cooking can evoke a whole civilization“ – Fernand Braudel

Our favourite ingredient:

Chilli

As a general rule of thumb, the larger the chilli, the milder it is. Smaller chillies tend to be much hotter because they contain proportionally more seeds and veins than the larger varieties. Those seeds and veins can contain up to 80 per cent of a chilli’s potency in the form of capsaicin, the powerful compound that gives chillies their fiery nature …. Click Here for more.

Recipe of the week

Potatoes with Lemon

The recipe below is taken from one of Rose and Ruth’s earlier cookbooks, A Taste of the River Cafe.  These potatoes are delicious with any roast, or with grilled fish. …. Click Here for the recipe.

The Wickedfood Team

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

Our classes 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.

Regarded by many as the world authority on Indian food Madhur Jaffrey has published numerous books on Indian food. With over 200 mouthwatering recipes , Ultimate Curry Bible looks at the very best curry recipes from India and around the world . Curry’s popularity is so great that it has crossed the globe, manifesting itself in every culture imaginable. Meat-based or vegetarian its range covers every taste and appetite from mild kormas, spicy madras’ and the notoriously hot vindaloos. Demonstrating its centuries old origins, Madhur leads the reader through the culinary history of Britain’s number one favourite meal. Included in the book is a yellow lobster carry from Thailand, lamb Shanks in yoghurt from Pakistan, red beef curry from Sri Lanka and South Africa’s very own red been carry, the basis of bunny chow. Apart from the carries there are also great recipes for soups , breads, chutneys and vegetables, as well as a very extensively researched section on the history of curry’s from around the world. At Wickedfood Cooking School we run a curry cooking class where students  learn the secrets of cooking 7 of the most interesting dishes from the book.

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. 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 – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes 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 teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

SUNNINGHILL – Information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi all,

We are delighted that there  seem to be so many aspirant cooks out there. Our first 5 individual classes have all been over subscribed.  Classes over the next few weeks are also filling up fast, so book early to avoid disappointment. Also do not forget that Valentine’s day is only two weeks away,  if you have no plans yet, book for our ever popular cooking class, see below. Hope to see you at one of the classes.

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.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our February individual cooking class programmes is up on the internet.

Johannesburg Cooking School, Wickedfood runs classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience  and keeps the class small enough for maximum learning.

• Monday 1 February at 6pm – The tastes of Spain (R370 for the class). An introduction to Spanish cuisine including tortilla Espanola, salt cod fritters, gazpacho, paella, and almond tart.
• Monday 8 February at 6pm – Cookbook of the month – Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible (R390pp). Billed as the definitive curry book, by arguably the world authority on Indian food, this book looks at the very best curry recipes from India as well as around the world. Students will learn the secrets of cooking 7 of the most interesting dishes from the book, including chicken-coconut soup, squid in a tomato-chilli sauce, red beef curry, mixed vegetable curry, red bean curry and how to make chapattis.
• Saturday 13 February at 6pm or Sunday 14 February at 4pm – Romantic Valentine’s dinner, easy summer entertaining (R720 per couple). Join the staff at the Cooking School with the love of your life for a Valentine’s dinner with a difference. Not only will you get to enjoy a delicious 4-course dinner, but you will learn the secrets of how to cook it. Included in the price is a welcome glass of sparkling wine, house wine while preparing the food, and some specialist wines, complementing the food, with the meal. Space is limited to 30 students per class, so book early.

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Looking for info on food?

The Wickedfood blog took off in a big way in 2009, with lots of questions coming in from our readers.  If you have any  food-related question, 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.

Cookbook of the week

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is an epic culinary journey along rivers, through jungles and around coastlines in South East Asia. Apart from a wide variety of flavours,  what really stands out in the book is the vast array of mouth- watering curries.  Many of these curries will appeal to vegetarians.  We will definitely be using this book at Wickedfood Cooking School as a reference for some exciting new curry cooking classes we are planning for later in the year. Click Here for more on the book.

Click Here to see Wickedfood Cooking School’s top 10 food-related books for 2009.

Food quote of the week:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” – Julia Child.

Our favourite ingredient:

Watermelon

An unadorned slice of watermelon may rate as a perfect refreshment the world over, but this versatile melon also lends itself to a surprising number of delicious pairings and prepared dishes, both fresh and cooked.

Traditional Thai and Indian culinary repertoires, for example, include a range of curries that unite cooked watermelon with pungent spices. In Mexico, it’s common to find slices sprinkled with a tangy lime–chilli salt called tajín, which boosts the intensity of the fruit’s sweetness.

In Italy and, increasingly, the United States, chefs drizzle aged balsamic vinegar over watermelon and serve it as a simple first course.

Others wrap chunks of the fruit in thin slices of prosciutto or country ham, in another take on the salty-sweet juxtaposition.

Pickled watermelon rinds emerged in various cuisines in eastern Europe.

Centuries later, Mennonite émigrés from the Ukraine, among others, brought pickled rinds to the States, along with another favourite: watermelon syrup; boiled down with a bit of sugar, the melon’s juice becomes thick and lustrous, perfect for drizzling over pancakes or ice cream.

Oil-rich watermelon seeds are prized in many parts of the world: Nigerians ferment them to make a seasoning called ogiri, and throughout Asia and the Middle East they’re hulled, toasted, and eaten as a snack. In India, as in parts of Africa, the seeds are dried and then ground into a flour for baking.

Watermelon is also puréed and strained to make drinks, like Mexico’s popular agua fresca de sandía, a cooling combination of watermelon, lime juice, sugar, and water.

In the southern African nation of Namibia and in parts of the U.S., watermelon juice is fermented for making watermelon wine, and watermelon beer has become a cult favourite of some American craft brewers.

Click here for a recipe for a delicious watermelon Margarita.

Recipe of the week

Shawkats steamed fish with mustard masala

The Wickedfood Team

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

Our cooking lessons s 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 teambuilding ideas.