lifestyle

This is a very traditional fish pie, with boiled eggs and curly-leaf parsley with smoked and fresh fish. Depending on where you are, use the local smoked fish. In the UK I would use pollock and smoked haddock. Here in South Africa, angelfish and smoked snoek. As long as you use the freshest and best […]

This is a fish dish from Florence in Italy that’s ideal for serving as a Good Friday evening meal. You can also prepare this dish all the way up to the cooking step then save it in your fridge and cook the following day. If doing this, don’t forget to add 15 minutes to the

This is a simple and elegant baked fish dish, originally developed with South African ingredients. Of course, you can substitute whatever greens you like. I add a little rocket (arugula) here, but you can make it just with spinach. Watercress is good, too. The same applies to the nut component. I used macadamia as South

As Mother’s Day is coming up, it’s time to reflect on this tradition and go back to its Christian roots. It’s true that Mother’s Day is a modern American invention. However, the day was originally Mothering Sunday, a day honouring Mother Churches. It is a day celebrated since the Middle Ages in the United Kingdom,

Bourride is a culinary specialty traditional to cuisine of Provence and Languedoc, based on fish, seafood, and vegetables, served with aïoli and olive oil. A variant of bouillabaisse or fish soup à la Sétoise, this fish soup, originally from Provence and Languedoc, is particularly popular in Toulon and Agde. After bouillabaisse, bourride is the second

Here is another South African recipe for a fish soup that’s thick enough to be served as a stew on a bed of rice. In essence it’s a red pepper (bell pepper and chilli) soup that also contains fish. Prep time 25 minutes/Cook time 30 minutes/Serves 4 Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil 3 shallots, finely

Yellowtail is the commonest form of tuna in Durban as it’s caught off the coast in the Indian Ocean. Though a very tasty fish it’s not as oily as other tunas (and it’s smaller) so it requires more careful cooking. Here it’s baked with local clementines and honey (dark African honey) and served garnished with

This is a South African interpretation of Senegalese cëebu jen (chubbagin is how it’s pronounced) that is simplified as compared with the original, but which still manages to pack in a lot of flavour. The dish is served in the original manner, however, on a bed of rice. Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 90 minutes/Serves

This is a classic South African fish pie, topped with white sweet potato mash that’s often served for supper on Good Friday. Hake would be the typical fish, however any firm white fish can be used. For the budget minded, a mix of fish offcuts works very well. The watercress and orange salad is simply

mediterranean-heart-tarts.png These heart-shaped Mediterranean tarts with tomatoes and goat’s cheese make a wonderful starter for your Valentine’s day meal. Prep time 10 minutes/Cook time 25 minutes/Makes 6 Ingredients 175g (5 ½ oz) ready-rolled puff pastry 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto 9 baby plum Tomatoes, halved 85g (1/3 cup) Soft Goats’ Cheese, crumbled Thyme leaves, to

Churros are a type of fried dough from Spanish and Portuguese cuisine, made with choux pastry dough piped into hot oil with a piping bag. Here they’re adapted as a heart-shaped sharing dessert for Valentine’s day for dipping in raspberry sauce and a raspberry liqueur dip. Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 40 minutes/Serves 6 Ingredients: 25g

This is an excellent starter for two to share and includes two of my favourite ingredients: squid and avocadoes. Simple and quick to make this is an excellent dish for Valentine’s day. Prep time 15 minutes/Cook time 20 minutes/Serves 2 Ingredients: 250g (1/2 lb) squid, gutted, cleaned and peeled 2 tbsp (heaped) wholemeal flour 1

The flavours here are Christmas-worthy, but the dish also works as a romantic dessert for two. Clementines, naartjies and satsumas offer the best flavour here, though you can use any fruit juice (or a blend) that you like. Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 10 minutes/Serves 6 (plus chilling time) Ingredients: 800ml (3 1/3 cups) clementine

This is a delicious chocolate cake with cherries served with a boozy chocolate sauce. This is ideal for sharing and makes a lovely dessert for Valentine’s day. Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 35 minutes/Serves 2-6 Ingredients: For the Cake: 100g (1/2 cup) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 2 tbsp cocoa powder 100g (1/2 cup)

This is a twist on the classic Southern Italian dish of spaghetti con vongole (spaghetti with clams). Here, for additional flavour the spicy, spreadable pork sausage from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy is added. This is similar to sobrassada from the Balearic Islands in Spain, and is loosely based on the French andouille