Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

Information & bookings (076) 236-2345  sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi all,

Hope you all had a splendid Human Rights day, and spent five minutes just thinking about what the holiday is actually all about.  We’re very fortunate to live in this beautiful country, despite some of the problems that at times seem insurmountable. Think about the positives and let’s work together to right the wrongs.

What did you all think of the first episode of Master Chef South Africa?? Do we have what it takes?

For the next few weeks we’ll take your palate on a culinary adventure through cookery classes on offer from classic Lebanese dishes and Italian all-time favourites, to the art of making pasta, Thai and Mexican cuisines, and how to braai the perfect chicken.   Book early to avoid disappointment as classes tend to fill up very fast.

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

The Cooking class programmes for March and April are up on the internet. 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.

• Sunday 25 March at 4pm – Classic Lebanese dishes (R380pp). The Lebanese gastronomy is a rich mixture of various products and ingredients coming from the diverse Lebanese regions. It is with food that the Lebanese express their generosity and hospitality. The secret to mastering Lebanese cuisine lies in the preparation and organization of the menu and in the fact that Lebanese dishes store and reheat well. The Lebanese cook always prepares several dishes in advance and stores the basic mixtures so that they can be combined with other food items to  make a full meal quickly. Every household has a constant stock of pickles, olives, cheese, yoghurt, nuts, grain, herbs and spices. This Lebanese cooking class showcases a selection of the most popular Lebanese party food including hummous with ground lamb, Kibbi Naye and deep-fried kibbi balls, Lebanese salad, bread pies and a delicious Middle Eastern dessert.
• Monday 26 March at 6pm  – Our Italian Cookbook (R380pp). Note that there is no such thing as ‘Italian cuisine’ with a unique nation-wide tradition of preparing food. Our Italian cooking class showcases the Classic Italian dishes that every Italian food-lover must have in his/her cook book. 6 hearty dishes include chicken liver crostinis, zucchini frittata, pasta with a clam sauce, Osso Buca, polenta and pannacotta.
• Monday 02 April at 6pm  – Relaxed alfresco entertaining (R370pp). Easy buffet dishes to prepare in advance for entertaining. Learn the skills of cooking for a group of friends, with confidence, in this easy entertaining cooking class. Dishes include fried halloumi, grilled poussins, roast peppers, couscous salad, and fruit and almond tart.
• Sunday 08 April at 4pm  – Making flavoured pasta, shapes and sauces (R370pp). Making pasta is really easy, and fresh pasta tastes better too. Learn the secrets to making pasta from scratch in this pasta cooking class. We also include fillings and sauces for these unique pasta shapes and flavours. Dishes include pepper fettuccini with an Alfredo sauce, chilli tagliatelle with a seafood cream, beef filled spinach ravioli and fried sweet pasta with grappa.
• Monday 09 April at 6pm –Thai Class (R380pp). Thai food is often referred to as having an explosion of flavours in your mouth all at once. This Thai cooking class teaches you how to balance these five important flavours. Dishes in this class include Luang Prabang salad, fried eggplant with pork, fried rice noodles, sticky rice and steamed banana pudding.
• Monday 16 April at 6pm – Classic Mexican dishes for entertaining (R370pp). An exotic blend of new world flavours, perfect for entertaining with a difference in this Mexican cooking class – guacamole, salsa Mexicana, burritas, tortilla soup, chicken chocolate, chilli sauce and white flan
• Sunday 22 April at 4pm – Outdoor Cooking – poultry (R390 per class). Learn the secrets of outdoor cooking on Cadac kettlebraais and gas barbecues. Dishes covered in this cooking class include whole roast 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

Cookbook of the week

Reuben Cooks Local

Reuben Riffel is one of South Africa’s top chefs. He is a shining light of a local boy made good.  In his latest, Reuben Cooks Local he has taken South African ingredients from snoek to skilpadjies and given them his own unique twist. The book will inspire you in the kitchen, and also make a superb corporate gift for international clients. … Click here to read more.

Click Here for reviews of all our cookbook reviews.

Did you know

The humble eggplant

Late in the 1500s British traders introduced London’s greengrocers to a strange new vegetable they’d picked up along the coast of West Africa. By 1587 this so-called “Guinea squash” was on English dinner tables. Although eaten as a vegetable, it was actually a small fruit about the size of a hen’s egg. It was also the same colour as a hen’s egg. This pure white ellipsoid made an eye-catching edible, which for obvious reasons the public soon dubbed “egg-plant.” … Click here to read more.

Food quote of the week

“Old people shouldn’t eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” – Robert Orben

Recipes of the week:

Warm sweet potato and pear salad

This delicious salad is taken from our book of the week, Reuben Cooks Local.  Not only is sweet potato a much-loved South African ingredient, but the moskonfyt and brandy add exceptional local flavour to this dish. And with both sweet potatoes and pears coming into seasons, this is a perfect for autumn recipe. ….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.