Wickedfood Newsletter 21 August 09
SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za
Hi all,
What a good week so far, busy with classes and busy working on new recipes for both our group cooking classes as well as our individual classes so keep your eyes open (if you have any ideas or request for classes please let us know and we will do our best to fit them in). have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the cooking.
Wickedfood Cooking School news
Our September individual cooking class programme is up on the Internet – click the relevant school for the September programme Sunninghill / Boksburg.
- Sunday 23 August at 4pm – Easy to prepare Spanish dishes (R380pp). Classic easy-to-prepare Spanish dishes including chicken livers, stuffed tomatoes, white gazpacho, fish stew, virgin paella, and chocolate pudding.
- Monday 24 August at 6pm – Home cooking – Dinner for two (R195pp). Learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of your labour home to enjoy with your partner. These are quick classes starting promptly at 6pm and lasting 1 hour. You will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch.
Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:
Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill
August individual class programme…..click here
Wickedfood Cooking School, Boksburg
August individual class programme….. click here
Looking for info on food? – The Wickedfood blog looks to be taking off very well with lots of questions coming in, if you have any questions that have been bugging you 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 give us a shout and we will do our best to answer it as soon as possible. Click here for more information, hope to hear from you.
Cookbook of the week – Creole is a vibrant celebration of this unique and much-loved style of cooking. The heritage of French, Spanish and African settlers, Creole cookery takes the best of these cuisines and combines them with Asian and Indian influences and native West Indian ingredients to produce a style of cooking that is rich in history and full of flavour. Click here to read more
Our food article of the week: – Although Basil is cultivated worldwide, Egypt is the principal source followed by the United States.Basil is Greek for ‘royal’ or ‘kingly’. Ancient Greek and Roman doctors believed that basil would grow only if its cultivators sowed the seeds while screaming wild curses and shouting unintelligibly. The Greeks believed that only the sovereign himself, armed with his golden sickle, should be allowed to cut the basil. The ancients had many superstitions connected with Basil, one of which was that it had the power of propagating scorpions. It was generally believed that a basil leaf left under a pot would in time turn into a scorpion. Superstition went so far as to affirm that even smelling the plant might bring a scorpion in the brain. It was believed that Salome hid John the Baptist’s head in a pot of basil to cover up the odor of decomposition. Bocaccio tells the morbid story of love and composting about a woman whose tears water a pot of basil in which she has buried the head of her murdered lover. Keats 1820 poem “Isabella or the Pot of Basil” revisits this theme. In Italy, basil has always been a token of love. In Romania, when a boy accepts a sprig of basil from his girl, he is engaged. In India the Basil plant is sacred to both Krishna and Vishnu, and is cherished in every Hindu house. Every good Hindu goes to his rest with a Basil leaf on his breast. This is his passport to Paradise.
Our favourite ingredient: Tamarind the fruit pulp is edible and popular. The hard green pulp of a young fruit is very sour and acidic, so much it cannot be consumed directly, but is often used as a component of savory dishes. The ripened fruit is edible, as it becomes less sour and somewhat sweeter, but still very acidic. It is used in desserts as a jam, blended into juices or sweetened drinks, or as a snack. It is also consumed as a natural laxative. Click here to read more.
Food quote of the week: -A three-year-old gave this reaction to her Christmas dinner: “I don’t like the turkey, but I like the bread he ate.” ~Author Unknown
Food tip of the week: – When making fresh pasta instead of resting on flour replace with semlina as this well prevent the pasta from sticking and once added to the boiling water it will fall to the bottom of the pot instead of clinging to the pasta and making it to “soggy”.
Recipe of the week – Banana tarte tatin
The Wickedfood Team
Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. 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 – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.
Our classes 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 teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.