Hi all,

Spring is just around the corner and we can start packing away our winter goodies and start preparing for summer.  As we move from indoors to outdoors click here for a few outdoor recipes to make the most of the coming sunshine.
We are happy to report that the produce from Wickedfood Earth is selling like hotcakes from our Sunninghill school, these include atchars, chutneys, confies, marmalades, pickles, purées, relishes, and sauces. If you are interested in purchasing some of the produce or if you would like to learn more about it you can contact us at Wicked Food Cooking School or click here to learn more about Wicked Food Earth.

This week we review the strangely unique and brilliant recipe book Fäviken written by Magnus Nilsson which takes us into the heart of Sweden and nature-friendly cooking. We also have a delicious and simple shortcrust biscuit recipe taken from our cookbook of the week.

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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

Monday 02 September at 6pm – Quick & easy 30 minute meals for entertaining (R430pp). This Gordon Ramsay cooking class is based on his book Cooking for Friends. Love him or hate him, he certainly knows his food. In this book, we see a very different side of him, more relaxed, cooking some best-loved versions of classic British dishes for family and friends. We re-interpret 6 of the dishes, all easy to make in under 30 minutes and great for entertaining friends, chilled cucumber soup; linguine with lemon; feta and basil; poached fish; quick fish curry; pork fillet stroganoff and baked berries

Sunday 08 September at 4pm – Outdoor Cooking – Beef class (R430pp). Outdoor cooking is a South African heritage, learn the delicious secrets of cooking different beef cuts on Cadac kettlebraais and gas barbecues as well as delicious side dishes. Dishes covered in this class include spicy beef burgers, secrets of cooking the ultimate steak, prime rib roast, and Béarnaise sauce.

Monday 09 September at 6pm – Thai master class course 1/4 (R430pp). Thai cuisine places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components. Thai cuisine is also known for being quite spicy as well as balancing the four fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: sour, sweet, salty, hot and (optional) bitter. Learn how to balance these tastes in this Thai Master cooking class. Dishes include seafood soup, Boombai Pork curry, baked pineapple rice and baked mung bean cakes.

Monday 16 September at 6pm – Delicious ways of preparing seafood (R430pp). Nowadays, nearly everybody recognizes that fish is a good source of protein and rich in healthy oils. It cooks quickly and is very versatile, not to mention delicious and nutritious. Despite this growing popularity, most fish is still eaten out. Many cooks are simply reluctant to try cooking fish at home, and they are unsure about how to buy the right type and handle it properly. Our seafood cooking class will equip you with information and facts and the confidence you need to start making fish a more regular part of your home cooking repertoire. 6 easy-to-prepare fish and shellfish dishes, including prawns peri-peri, mussels and braaied snoek, as well as accompanying sauces.

Sunday 22 September at 4pm –Turkish Meza (R430pp). Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world’s best. It is considered to be one of the three main cuisines of the world because of the variety of its recipes, its use of natural ingredients, its flavours and tastes which appeal to all palates and its influence throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Turkish cuisine is in a sense a bridge between far-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, with the accent always on enhancing the natural taste and flavour of the ingredients. This Turkish cooking class is all about finger food for easy alfresco dining which includes chicken and walnut dip, cheese pastries, baby marrow fritters, beetroot salad with yoghurt, grilled meat kebabs, pide breads and kadayif.

Monday 23 September at 6pm – Making pasta sauces (R430pp). You can never have too many pasta sauces.  Learn how to cook these delicious sauces in our pasta cooking class. We also include how to pair the right pasta shape for the right sauce. Dishes include raw tomato sauce with ricotta cheese, rocket pesto, vodka tomato cream, ham and mascarpone, and ragù with nuts and mushrooms.

Sunninghill Corporate News

Wickedfood Cooking School Sunninghill recently hosted the company SBG Secure in an Italian vs Vegetarian class. Competition heated up as the four counters battled against one another to be crowned victorious! They had great fun ensuring that all their dishes were prepared to perfection. They were judged on four criteria – cleanliness, presentation, teamwork and taste. At the end of the competition, the red vegetarian counter won first prize and were very chuffed indeed with their success. Click here to see photos from the class as well as to see the winning team!

Year end functions are fast approaching and with that comes the stress of figuring out exactly how to celebrate the end of the year. Wickedfood Cooking School hosts a large variety of classes aimed at corporate functions as well as team building. Whether you are looking for a relaxed day out of the office or if you are looking to spice things up a little more Wicked Food Cooking School will have the class you are looking for.  For more information regarding our corporate/group classes you can click here.

Wickedfood Cooking School in the country

At Wickedfood Earth we believe passionately about sustainability. At our Country Cooking School, which we hope to open in October, we will be sourcing the majority of the products that we use in cooking, locally and seasonally. We also believe very strongly in using only naturally-produced products. That means organically grown vegetables and veld-raised meat. Grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. This 2009 study was a joint effort between the USDA and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA. Here are 10 good reasons why we should only be eating veld raised meat, as opposed to feedlot meet which is full of growth hormones and antibiotics. Compared with grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef is:

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

Cookbook of the week

Fävakin – Magnus Nilsson

This unusual and unique recipe book is extremely confusing when one first starts flipping through the pages. However once you start reading each page you gain a deeper understanding of the structure in which it is written. The introduction includes a history of Fäviken as well as Magnus Nillson’s history. It is within the introduction of the recipe book that we learn that there are no exact measurements and that all measurements are meant to be used as a guide line. Magnus Nillson explains “You’ll never make the dish as I do, but that’s okay. Read the recipes with an open mind” Click here to read more

Click Here for reviews of all our cookbooks.

Food quote of the week

“Humour keeps us alive. Humour and food. Don’t forget food. You can go a week without laughing.”
― Joss Whedon

Recipe of the week

In amongst all the strange and wonderful recipes of ‘Fäviken, one stumbles across a recipe that seems to be out of place in the unique world of Chef Magnus Milsson. However after one reads the story behind this ‘out of place’ recipe you gain a far greater understanding of its appearance in ‘Fäviken’. Given to Chef Milsson from his first chef, Douglas, hired at his restaurant. The recipe was inherited by Douglas from his late grandmother and has become a firm favourite of chef Nilsson’s.  Although this may seem a simple recipe it is one that every cook should have in their arsenal for unexpected guests and as a ‘whenever’ treat, click here to read more.

Click Here for all our recipes.

Wickedfood Chef