It was such a great pleasure to meet Chef Johann Becker and to be introduced to South African cuisine yesterday at dinner. As a part of the Global Chef Program by the food service company at my college, a selected number of chefs travel to different countries to share and interact with their equivalents in other part of the world. Following last year's chef from Thailand, whose dishes were extremely popular at the dining hall and praised by many happily-fed students, Chef Becker came to visit us from South Africa this year. I was invited to the dinner reception prior to the South African meal at the dining halls today. It was a multi-course sit-down meal and I was very honored to be able to have the chance as well as the chance to interview the chef after the dinner.
1. [Pumpkin Fritter] Mashed pumpkin fried in batter, later covered with sugar and cinammon
2. [Tea Smoked Springbok Loin with Fresh Mango Salad] Rooibos tea is very common in South Africa according to Chef Becker and this tea smoking technique is used quite often to prepare meat
3. [Sosatie (Kebab) Lamb Chops] One of his first dishes he learned to make from his grandmother. The curry was toned down a lot and had a very sweet taste in it.
4. [Flame Grilled Ostrich Fillet with Mie lie pap (cornmeal)] The thick reduction sause made of red wine, caramelized onion, and balsamic vinegar reminded me of the fillet mignon steak I had in Firenze, Italia. As the chef said, eating ostrich does not require much adventurous spirit. Its taste is very close to beef.
5. [Dessert Platter of Rooibos and Beetroot Cake, Malva Pudding, and Cape Brandy Pudding]
He described South African cuisine as a toned down version of the mixture of Malaysian and Indian cuisines. Historically, many colonizers who arrived in South Africa added a culinary dimension to the native cuisine. As the midpoint to Java, South Africa was a convinient location for the Dutch East India Company to stop and recharge for another long sailing. They brought slaves from Malaysia, Java, and Bengal to cultivate plants. Then, the Malaysian cuisine adapted to the local environment has become the best known South African cooking style, called "Cape Malaysian Cooking." For the palates of the colonizers, the use of spices has been toned down a bit from the authentic Malaysian cuisine. Also, the French Huguenots introduced the wine tradition to this part of the world-from which I benefited that evening. Then, the British brought slaves from India and Malaysia for sugar cane farms, along with curry.
Today, the staple is mie lie pap, cornmeal. The chef himself grew up having it with milk and sugar like we would have cereals. Cornmeal is very filling that many construction or other physicall labors have it as snack to keep them going.
His favorite recipe was of a dessert called, Bobotie. It's "a Malay improvement on the Cottage Pie."
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Bobotie, Malay Style South African Cottage Pie (Serves 6)
Ingredients:
5 White bread slices, crusts removed
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp oil
2 tsp butter
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp curry powder or masala
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp chutney
3 tsp fine apricot jam
3 tsp worcestershire sauce1 tsp tumeric powder
2 Tbsp brown vinegar
2 lb beef, minced
1/2 cup sutanas or seedless raisons
3 large eggs
pinch of salt and tumeric
3 bay leaves
Directions:
1. Soak the bread in the milk
2. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan. Add onions and garlic and fry until onions are soft. Add curry powder, salt, chutney, jam, worcestershire sauce, turmeric and vinegar and mix well. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3. Drain the bread from the milk (keep the milk!) and mash.
4. Add the bread and mince ot the onion and masala mix. Return to the heat and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently unitl the meat loses its pinkness. Remove from the heat.
5. Add one egg to the mince mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Spoon this mixture into a greased oven-proof dish and level.
7. Beat the remiaing eggs and reserved milk together with the pinch of salt and turmeric. Gently pour this egg mixture over the mince and stick a few bay leaves in the dish.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F (180 C) for 30 to 45 minutes, or untill the egg has set and it is cooked through.
9. Serve hot with yellow raison rice, coconut, sliced bananas, chutney and a sambal.
