Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

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

Hi all,

It looks like it will be a cold weekend  for Easter.  Perfect weather to indulge in chocolate, see our delicious recipe of the week.  It is also Jerusalem artichoke time and we have a simple warming Jerusalem artichoke soup as an added quick recipe.

Because outdoor cooking is so popular in South Africa, early in May (see programme below) Wickedfood Cooking School will be running our popular outdoor cooking class, teaching students the secrets of cooking on kettlebraais. included in the class will be a recipe on how to keep chicken juicy, with a delicate smoky flavour.

To all of you going away, have a safe journey, and those staying behind, we have some delicious classes on offer, including a French cooking class and Indian cooking class.

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.

Looking for info on food?

If you have any food-related questions, 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.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Cooking class programmes for the next two months are up on the internet, click the relevant month for the  April and May programmes.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps the cooking class small enough for maximum learning. These cooking classes are conducted by our senior instructors who have extensive experience in the food industry and share a variety of additional cooking tips throughout the cooking class.

  • Monday 25 April at 6pm – Classic French cooking (R380pp). This French cookery class is a perfect  introduction to French cuisine including cheese soufflé, potato and leek soup, coq au vin, potato gratin, and tarte tatin.
  • Monday 02 May at 6pm – Indian class (R370pp). This Indian cooking class is yet another great introduction to learning the secrets of cooking authentic Indian dishes which include mild spicy tomato soup, rogan josh, lentils with spinach, chapatis and apricots in cardamom syrup.
  • Sunday 8 May at 4pm – Outdoor Cooking – poultry (R390pp). In this Outdoor Cooking Class, learn the secrets of outdoor cooking on Cadac kettlebraais and gas barbecues. Dishes covered in this class include whole roasted juicy chicken, how to smoke a chicken in a kettlebraai, tangy tomato marinade, chicken kebabs, quick and easy bread

    pockets, grilled vegetables and bananas with a chocolate sauce.

On Food

Know your Jerusalem Artichoke

The Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, is a species of sunflower native to the eastern United States. It is used as a root vegetable. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1.5–3 meters.  The tubers are elongated and uneven, typically 7.5–10cm  long, and vaguely resembling ginger root, with a crisp texture when raw. They vary in colour from pale brown to white, red or purple. Unlike most tubers, they  store the carbohydrate inulin (not to be confused with insulin) instead of starch and are an important source of fructose for the food industry. The tubers have a consistency much like potatoes, but a sweeter, nuttier flavour. They are now coming into season.  To prepare, do not over season as they have a very delicate flavour:
  • raw and sliced thinly, they are great in a salad;
  • they retain their texture better when steamed, and served just with a bit of butter;
  • The inulin is not well digested by some people, leading in some cases to flatulence.


Cookbook of the week

Tender: Volume II, A cook’s guide to the fruit garden

Nigel Slater is a cook who writes, he’s no doubt one of the top food writers around at the moment. Over the years, he has produced a variety of superb cookbooks.  In Tender, his last book, Nigel focused on his vegetable patch. Now, in Tender: Volume II, A cook’s guide to the fruit garden, he turns to his fruit garden for inspiration, with around 300 recipe ideas for everything from stews and soups, to puddings and pies. … Click Here for more information.

Food quote of the week

“Like a melting snowflake, the perfectly ripe pear is a fleeting thing. Something to be caught, held tenderly, briefly marvelled at, before it is gone forever. Ripeness is all.” – Nigel Slater from his new book Tender: Volume II

Recipes of the week:

This week we once again bring you 2 delicious recipes:

  • Chocolate and chestnut terrine – a seriously rich recipe to be enjoyed in thin slices, perfect as a decadent Easter treat, with chestnuts just coming into season. This cake is very similar to one that we make at Wickedfood Cooking School in our chocolate cooking class.
  • Jerusalem artichoke soup –  Jerusalem artichokes are now coming into season.  To prepare, do not over season as they have a very delicate flavour.  This simple recipe, developed at Wickedfood Cooking School test kitchen could not be any easier.

Click Here for all our recipes.

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

Our cooking lessons 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.

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