Hi all,

Easter is here, perfect family time, cooking and relaxing.  For all the budding bakers out there, our Hot Cross Bun recipe from last year is a winner, alternatively Jamie Oliver’s website also has a great Hot Cross Bun recipe. Traditionally around the world, lamb is the meat of choice for celebrating Easter Sunday.  We have delicious easy-to-prepare roast lamb as our recipe of the week.

Our  May programme for individuals is now available on the website. As always, we have a great mix of skills classes and flavours from around the world.

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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

The Cooking class programmes for April and May are up on the internet, and bookings are now open. Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 giving everyone hands-on experience and keeping 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.

• Tuesday 02 April at 6pm – Healthy flavours of Vietnam (R430pp). Famous for its lively, fresh flavours and artfully composed meals, Vietnamese food and cooking is the true ‘light cuisine’ of Asia. Abundant fresh herbs and greens, delicate soups and stir-fries, and well-seasoned grilled foods served on, or with, rice or noodles are the mainstays of the Vietnamese delicacies. Home-style Vietnamese cooking calls for an array of simple dishes that make complementary partners at a family’s communal meal. Hobby cooks with well-equipped kitchens and handy appliances will find preparing a Vietnamese meal both rewarding and relatively easy. Classic dishes in this Vietnamese cooking class, include fried springrolls, Vietnamese hot and sour fish soup, caramel chicken, squid salad, and coconut crème caramel.
• Sunday 07 April at 4pm – Easy Italian Class (R430pp). Italian cuisine is noted for its regional diversity, abundance of difference in taste, and is known to be one of the most popular in the world. The main characteristics of Italian cuisine is its extreme simplicity. Dishes and recipes are often the creation of grandmothers rather than of chefs, and this makes many recipes ideally suited for home cooking. This is one of the main reasons behind the ever-increasing popularity of this cuisine. Join us in this Italian cooking class for a more in-depth look at Italian cuisine which includes cauliflower frittata, risotto with dried mushrooms, lamb chops fried in parmesan cheese batter and cassata.

• Monday 08 April at 6pm –Flavours of the South African Portuguese Table (R430pp). At the heart of Portuguese cuisine is the use of quality ingredients prepared simply to preserve their distinct flavours. Portuguese food is renowned for being lusty and robust. Because Portuguese cuisine is easy to prepare, and uses very basic equipment, it is often described as peasant food. The use of seasoned pork, strong olive oil, garlic and onions contributes to the image of strongly flavoured, simple cooking. This Portuguese cooking class is Sunday dinner fare designed to satisfy the appetite and reinforce the bonds of home and family. 7 tasty dishes including trinchado, chicken livers, caldo verde, chicken peri-peri, Portuguese salad and crème caramel.

• Monday 15 April at 6pm –North African feast (R430pp). North African food originated in Egypt over 3000 years ago. North African recipes are the results of the blending of European, African, and Arabic cuisines. The food is very spicy since paprika, cumin, and ginger are commonly used in dishes with the spice mixtures being just as popular as the spices themselves. Come learn how to prepare a delicious North African feast at our Moroccan cooking class, which includes a selection of salads, Moroccan frittata, chicken tagine, 7-vegetable couscous and roasted fig parcels.

• Sunday 21 April at 4pm  – Classic Mexican dishes for entertaining (R430pp). The history of traditional Mexican food is a long and complex one, and every bit of the complexity is reflected in the sheer variety of flavours in Mexican cuisine. Present day Mexican cuisine has evolved into something truly extraordinary. Join us in this Mexican cooking class as we blend the exotic flavours with that of the new world flavours, perfect for entertaining with a difference. Dishes include: guacamole, salsa Mexicana, burritas, tortilla soup, chicken chocolate, chilli sauce and white flan.

• Monday 22 April at 6pm – Quick & easy 30-minute vegetarian meals (R430pp).  Trying to juggle work and home commitments can be tough in this day and age, and the statement of ‘who has time to cook these days’ is on the increase. In this vegetarian 30-minute meals cooking class we teach students how to put together well balanced, quick and easy meat-free meals including courgette and fetta fritters, sweet potato soup, onion and potato frittata, Thai green vegetable curry, fried eggs on a vegetable ragout, falafel burgers, and ricotta and tomato tart.

Cookbook of the week

 Salumi: The craft of Italian dry curing

Not to be confused with salami, dry cured sausages, salumi is the Italian word for salted and cured meats. In our cookbook of the week, the authors take you on a step-by-step journey through the process of choosing a pig, butchering it and then converting it into delicious, Italian style, dry cured preserves. …. Click here to read more.

Click Here for reviews of all our cookbooks.

Food quote of the week

“Bread deals with living things, with giving life, with growth, with the seed, the grain that nurtures.  It is not coincidence that we say bread is the staff of life.”  – Lionel Poilane

Recipe of the week

Roast Leg of Lamb with Potatoes

Lamb is popular around the world for Easter Sunday celebrations. For this simple Sicilian Easter dish a leg of lamb is roasted over a bed of potatoes, a real no-fuss easy to prepare dish. ….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. We’ve just launched a new and exciting class, Wickedfood Master Cook. Think Master Chef with a fun twist.