Barbara Ludman : Moveable feast
Police say the rate of serious crime is falling, even if you’re staring a handgun in the face. And maybe they’re right. Who knows?
Will tomorrow bring a better job, a retrenchment, a ”right-sizing”? Will the schools see out the year? Will the prosecutors get their overtime pay? Will the gold price ever recover? As we approach the millennium, the predictable becomes ever more unpredictable.
So let’s make room for pleasure, however brief. Remember: Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
Here are some terrific sweets from four different restaurants.
Artists’ Cafe.
There’s an Italian trattoria in the house where the Hendriksdal, Mpumalanga, stationmaster used to live. In the Artists’ Caf, chef Trevor Tod and his sister Brenda serve Tuscan fare and put hotel guests up in the renovated station. The Tods promote local artists, so it’s a kind of one-stop shop: food, lodging and fine art, all to be had in the mountains above Sabie.
Trevor Tod spent much of the past few years at the Sunnyside in Parktown, Johannesburg, then owned the Sunset in East London. Brenda Tod catered at Mashatu in the Tuli Block, then went on to manage the game lodge. They bought the Artists’ Cafe in 1995.
It’s probably the most charming restaurant in the area, and the food is renowned. The Tods would like you to know that all the vegetables, salads and herbs they serve are grown on the premises. Here’s their Torte di Ricotta e Arancia.
To make the base use one packet tennis biscuits; two tablespoons castor sugar and 100g butter
For the filling use 500g ricotta cheese; 125g sugar; two eggs; 1/2 cup marscapone cheese; two tablespoons flour; one tablespoon vanilla essence; two tablespoons grated orange rind (zest) and the juice from one orange.
To make the crust, crush biscuits; melt butter and add with sugar to biscuits. Mix well and press into 24cm flan dish. Leave to set.
Beat ricotta and sugar, add egg yolks one at a time. Mix in marscapone, vanilla and orange zest. Mix in orange juice. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into mixture.
Bake for about an hour at 170oC to180oC. Cool. Top with berries. serve with home- made honey ice cream.
La Pentola.
A true restaurateur focuses on only one
restaurant at a time, says Shane Sauvage, 25-year-old owner and executive chef at La Pentola in Arcadia, Pretoria. It’s a good restaurant to focus on: it’s situated near the Union Buildings and attracts diplomats and government ministers who work in the area.
Sauvage is a passionate djembe drummer with a penchant for the rave scene and a fascination with what it means to be a part of Africa in the late 20th century. He serves Italian classics, adding local ingredients, like goat’s cheese from the Tsitsikama forest and South African liqueurs.The African influence is palpable in the decor as well — with a thatched boma and water feature outside which, together with the occasional beats of a djembe drum, help diners feel they are not that far from the bush.
Sauvage’s cappuccino mousse is among the restaurant’s best-known trademarks. It’s served in a glass with white mousse on top, to look like a cappuccino.
Take 600ml fresh cream; six eggs; 375g butter; 750g white chocolate; six teaspoons gelatine and six teaspoons decaffeinated coffee.
Melt 750g white chocolate and mix with melted butter and eggs. Then add the six teaspoons of gelatine, which must have already been mixed separately with 100ml of hot water. Beat the cream and add it to the mixture.
Divide the mixture: two-thirds in one bowl, one-third in another bowl. Add the coffee to the bowl holding two-thirds of the mixture.
Serve in a glass in the same proportions: the coffee mousse fills two-thirds of the glass, and the white mousse goes on top.
The Singing Fig.
Food, says the Singing Fig’s Jaco
Welgemoed, is about soul, and ”not about how pretty a plate should be. It’s got to have balls.” He doesn’t mention decor — although the Norwood restaurant he owns with chef Ian Mills is very appealing, from its butternut-coloured walls and blue-and- white banquettes to some terrific-looking metal chandeliers. Welgemoed used to co-own Bougainvillea, sold up, went on to Linger Longer and Cranks, then teamed up with Mills and began renovating a building at the wrong end of The Avenue in Norwood, Johannesburg, near the Hypermarket.
One morning he found chef James Ngkwatse and five chefing staff on the doorstep. They’d worked together at Bougainvilea and, seven years on, wanted to do it all over again.
The Singing Fig — they chose the name because a fig is rich and voluptuous — is full much of the time. The menu features items like mussels with fennel and orange, what is reputed to be first-class oxtail, roast vegetables served all in a heap. Welgemoed says it’s French provenal, then adds other influences, like Australian. The desserts are superb. Here’s their Tarte Japonaise.
Take nine egg whites; 300g ground almonds; 300g castor sugar; the juice of one lemon and 60g maizena.
Beat the egg whites stiff. Add sugar and lemon juice. Mix well, then add ground almonds, folding in carefully so that whites do not become runny. Add maizena slowly.
Cut 12 greaseproof paper rounds, about 20cm each, and grease them well with Spray’n’Cook. Place a little of the almond mixture on each round and spread evenly. Bake in oven at 130oC for about 15 minutes, and allow to cool.
Melt six slabs of dark cooking chocolate with about 250g butter to glaze the almond rounds. The chocolate glaze will harden as it cools.
When it has cooled completely, layer each almond round with fresh whipped cream and crushed hazelnuts. Stack the rounds. Allow to settle in refrigerator. Serve with fresh seasonal fruits.
Rozenhof.
This Cape Georgian house has yellowwood ceilings, brass chandeliers, and title deeds dating back to 1852. It was turned from residence to restaurant in 1984 by co- owners Robert Mulders and Louisa Malherbe, who invents menus for chef Lilian Mbazwana to bring to life. Malherbe trained at the London Cordon Bleu school and used to own Brinjals deli in Franschhoek; before that, she co-owned Lacy’s in Sea Point.
It’s the kind of restaurant one looks for, but rarely finds, in Cape Town. The ambience is elegant, with paintings and ceramics by contemporary artists lining the walls.
The food is wonderful, from the twice-baked cheese souffl with herb and mustard cream — one of the perennials on a menu that changes with the seasons — to some divine desserts.
Here’s their lemon and basil scented mousse with strawberry salad.
Use 325g castor sugar; 375ml water; 125ml finely chopped basil; grated rind and juice of three lemons; two 10g sachets of gelatine; 750ml cream; strawberries; basil; 250g smooth apricot jam and 150ml water.
Stir sugar and water together over low heat until dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Reserve half the syrup and add chopped basil and chopped lemon rind to the other half. Allow to cool.
Combine lemon juice with 50ml water and sprinkle with gelatine. Whip cream to soft peaks.
Heat gelatine to disssolve and combine with basil/lemon rind syrup and gently fold into whipped cream. Arrange sliced strawberries attractively in the bottom of moulds. Spoon in basil cream. Set.
Slice remaining strawberries and sweeten with reserved syrup, to taste. Add a little julienned basil to strawberries. Melt the apricot jam together with the water. Strain and cool.
To serve: turn out the mousses, drizzle with apricot glaze and surround with strawberry salad.
Artists’ Cafe, PO Box 13, Sabie 1260. Tel/fax (013) 764-2309 La Pentola, 5 Riviera Galleries, Riviera, Pretoria (012) 329-4028 The Singing Fig, 44 The Avenue, Norwood. (011) 728-2434 Rozenhof, 18 Kloof Street, Gardens (021) 24-1968
— Additional reporting by Lucy Kaplan