Matthew Burbidge
Top hotel chefs in Gauteng feel like frustrated artists: no one appreciates their work, South Africans just want bigger slices and they’ll never be really, really rich, they moaned in the Hyatt’s kitchen this week.
Seven chefs, or sevens stars, as they are called, from the South African Chefs’ Association are performing at a fundraiser this Thursday. It’s a Babette’s feast with seven courses of edible art and accompanying drinks.
The chefs are Geoff Tintinger (Michelangelo), Rudi Liebenberg (Sheraton), Raymond Rundle (The Grace), Bruce Berns (Luytens), Gaettanno Sgroi (Park Hyatt), Lorenzo Mottalini (Palazzo Inter-Continental) and Stefan Strafella (Saxon). They had a “dry run” this week at a long table inconveniently jammed into the Hyatt’s kitchen.
Chefs, looking like huge white pillows, bustled about: “How fast can you eat?” they asked, and then started to cook. Canaps with prawn, caviar and Mot et Chandon to start, followed by a glistening terrine, with peppers, tomatoes (peeled, seeded and baked for 24 hours) and grilled brinjal, and a good sauvignon blanc. Next, a rich, wild mushroom and duck soup served in an espresso cup, with cream and a sweet Ratafia, followed by a slab of salmon with a green herby crust, noodles and a saffron sauce, with another sauvignon blanc.
There was no sign of it letting up: next, a showy plate seared beef tenderloin perched on top of truffled asparagus spears and foie gras, served with La Motte Millennium. This was followed by a cheescake and walnut loaf, with a 1948 vintage port, and then the Saxon chocolate torte (Strafella compares it to an orgasm) with an excellent Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut.
“You could never serve that no one would order it,” a chef complained, referring to the seared beef. “Guests would be put off by the foie gras they wouldn’t know what it was. They’re unadventurous.”
Another chef seems to feel trapped: “You can go to Broughton’s and he serves his steak like this and if you don’t like it you can bugger off. It’s not like that at a hotel.”
“South Africans don’t care, they miss the point the plate arrives and all they can think is ‘I paid R60 for this how many braai packs is that?’,” says another. “[Our food] it’s like art. A painting in a gallery can cost R10000 and it may be only a few splashes of paint people say it’s easy, but they can’t do it.”
The chefs seem starved of recognition, but then they must know to succeed as a celebrity chef they have to become a household name, like Jamie Oliver for example. Book deals, a television series and franchise agreements will follow. But it all depends on capturing the public’s imagination, whether it be haute cuisine with a twist or classic Italian reinterpreted for the local market.
The chefs’ association has been around for 28 years and was founded by a group of German and Swiss chefs, says executive director Allison Smith, “because in those days there were only foreigners in senior chef positions”.
Smith agrees with the chefs’ gripes: “It may be a generalisation, but if you ask a room full of South Africans what they’re having for dinner, they’ll say they’re going to have a steak, instead of exploring different food.”
The details
The Night of The Seven Stars will take place in the Hyatt’s ballroom on October 25. Tickets cost R250. Tel: (011) 787 4113.