Forget the commercial hype and spoil your loved one with a sensational home-cooked meal. Three foodies reveal their recipes for romance.
Andrea Burgener
Restaurateur Andrea Burgener of Deluxe acclaim and her animator husband Nicholas Gordon have been married for nearly eight years. With two small children under the age of three, quiet meals and romantic celebrations are a rare luxury.
How do you typically eat at home?
We eat in a haphazard state. Cooking and eating with a toddler and a baby means that simply getting food onto plates and using cutlery is elegant! Our suppers are simple, anything from homemade pizza to fish in a mild curry, or lots of vegetables in a wok with noodles. On weekends, when lunches tend to be larger and late-ish, we often make fruit whips for dinner. Now and then we do an emergency takeout, but are usually appalled by the bad quality, and really try to avoid this option.
Who does most of the cooking?
I do, but Nick contributes and is a really good cook. We ran our first restaurant together.
Do you enjoy the same food?
Our tastes are fairly different, though we both like uncomplicated meals. Nick tends towards robust peasanttype dishes with meat. I have issues with how some of our animals are reared and how supermarket meat is produced, so our meals occasionally require compromise. Generally we go more for organic meats, game and only certain fish and seafood. My food favourites change daily, but I particularly like upfront fresh flavours such as ginger, lemon, herbs and chilli. I’ve also had a bad sweet tooth ever since I was pregnant with Jim, and my dark chocolate intake is scary!
How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
We aren’t a big Valentine’s Day couple, but do try to take the opportunity to have lunch together during that week or we’ll make supper just a bit less casual on the night, perhaps including good wine or a swanky dessert.
What would be your husband’s ideal Valentine’s meal?
Special occasion or not, Nick loves my duck-ham carbonara. I usually don’t mess with classic dishes but this adaptation was born out of necessity (my unhappiness with dubious pork products), and it works beautifully. Tell us more… Instead of bacon or other cured pork products such as coppa or Parma ham, I use organic duck breast in the recipe. It takes on the same fatty shine and mouth-feel of salt-cured pork products but is more delicious. I got the idea from my brilliant food guru friend Braam Kruger – the method for duck ham is actually in his cookbook Kitchen Boy.
How do you serve it?
In a gorgeous big bowl or on a flat plate with the duck breast lightly tossed through the pasta. No frills and just a vinaigrette-dressed leaf salad (only leaves!) on the side.
What was your most romantic meal?
The one I had with Nick at Sam’s Café on our first date. We knew then we’d marry, right at the beginning of the meal before any alcohol could be blamed!
Do you have a favourite meal that Nick prepares?
Not really, but in the mornings and evenings he makes me lots of good tea usually with a block of chocolate on the side!
What food do you think is hot in 2006?
Simple, unfussy dishes with big flavours – more effort will go into seeking good dishes, less into showy combinations. I’d like to think that any informed person will share my opinion on healthily produced food, free from hormones and chemicals, and in the case of animals, humanely reared, as the only way to go. Green issues are fashionable and it’s my hope that eating mindlessly this year will be out!
| DUCK-HAM CARBONARA Serves 4 DUCK HAM 4 duck breasts (not really worth it to do less than that) 1 Blot the filleted breasts dry and place them in a non-reactive shallow dish. Mix all the other ingredients together and rub well into the breasts. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave to cure in the fridge for about 8 hours. CARBONARA 1 Beat together the first 5 ingredients. Be cautious with the black pepper – you can add more later. Deluxe, 44 Stanley Avenue, Milpark (011) 482-7795 |
Berno du Plessis
Berno du Plessis, chef de cuisine at Park Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, is used to juggling shifts to see his wife of four years, Mamie, who also works in the hospitality industry. However, with the birth of their first child just weeks away, the pair knows that stealing time alone is about to become even more challenging.
How do you typically eat at home?
We go through phases. Currently we enjoy Italian and healthy foods, but we often eat Indian and Thai cuisine. We try to eat small portions of rich foods more frequently during the day as opposed to one large meal. When we go out for dinner, it’s anything from sushi to steak or pub grub.
Who does most of the cooking?
I do, but only because I’m quicker at it. We spend so little time together so don’t want it taken up with cooking.
Do you enjoy the same food?
We share most tastes, except for eggs and anchovies on toast, which Mamie only eats when I’m not at home!
How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Informally. There is seldom an exchange of gifts, but we do have a private dinner with good sparkling wine, candles and great music in the background.
What would be Mamie’s ideal Valentine’s meal?
February is so hot in South Africa, especially in the Boland where we come from, so for Valentine’s we both prefer small dishes that are light and fresh. I’d start the evening with two of her favourites: a frozen Margarita and an oyster and lemon skewer on the side. For starters, a cold soup of avocado, cucumber and minted yoghurt, followed by Thai-style grilled calamari with lime ginger and chilli, served with wilted bok choy and oyster sauce.
Tell us more about the main dish.
I first made it under chef Alex Docherty at the Ambassador Hotel in Cape Town and have adapted it over the years to suit my tastes. I find Thai food inspiring thanks to its simplicity and freshness. This meal in particular reminds us of good times and great friends.
How do you serve it?
In a large pasta bowl that catches the sauce, with an ice-cold bottle of crisp dry white wine.
What was your most romantic meal?
The one we enjoyed on the day we got engaged. We were in a small guest house in Hokitika on the south island of New Zealand and had fine food and even better wine in a small wooden cabin restaurant with a huge fireplace. It was in the middle of winter with plenty of snow outside – very romantic. Do you have a favourite meal that Mamie prepares? She does great pastas and salads and when I’ve built up enough brownie points, an excellent crème caramel!
What food do you think is hot in 2006?
Simple comforting foods – ones that can be enjoyed as close as possible to their natural state such as fresh seafood with only a squeeze of lemon, or perfectly matured beef with olive oil and seasoning.
| THAI-STYLE GRILLED CALAMARI This dish also makes an excellent starter. Serves 2 25ml vegetable oil 1 In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the vegetable oil until almost smoking hot. Park Hyatt Hotel, 191 Oxford Road, Rosebank, (011) 280-1234. |
Julie Lindhiem
Julie Lindhiem owns the Wild Olive Food Store delicatessen in Greenside, Johannesburg. Her husband Mark works in the financial services industry and manages the money side of the business. He’s shared and supported her passion for all things food-related for 11 years.
How do you typically eat at home?
We prefer simple, uncomplicated food and always focus on quality and freshness. If I cook, it’s often one-pot meals (I’m all for shortcuts in the kitchen), cold soups and salads in summer, or dishes like baked chicken with brown rice, veggies and verjuice.
Who does most of the cooking?
I’d be lying if I said I did. Since opening the deli three years ago, I’m often too tired to cook at night unless I’m testing a recipe, so Mark takes care of it.
Do you enjoy the same food?
We’re like two peas in a pod and in a restaurant often end up unintentionally ordering the same meal! At home, because our lives are so hectic, we want taste, texture and visual impact with little effort. I’m inspired by Middle Eastern culture, and the flavours used in Moroccan and Italian cooking such as garlic, lemon, chilli and spices.
How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
By spending quality time together at home. We’ll spoil ourselves with an exotic ingredient – a selection of imported mushrooms for instance and some Italian truffle oil. Then we’ll cook and chat over a glass of wine before enjoying a candlelit dinner on our deck, our two staffies at our feet.
What would be Mark’s ideal Valentine’s treat?
Mark is just mad about dark chocolate and marzipan so I included the sinful combination in a brownie, which I serve with fresh fig compote when figs are in season. I think it makes the dessert more decadent as figs are only available for two months of the year.
Tell us more…
I’ve been making brownies for years. The recipe is mine and Mark was the guinea-pig during its original development, although he wasn’t very helpful because he rated everything as delicious!
How do you serve them?
I like to keep the brownies quite rustic with chunky pieces of almonds and chocolate laid out on a thick wooden chopping board, or alternatively as a gift, in little pink hatboxes with brown and whitestriped ribbon with a message attached. I like to serve fresh fig compote on the side.
What was your most romantic meal?
Our engagement dinner at La Belle Terrasse at The Westcliff Hotel – we were serenaded by a violinist.
| DARK CHOCOLATE AND MARZIPAN BROWNIES Makes 9 large brownies 325g butter 1 Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave. Allow to cool slightly. FIG COMPOTE 300g frozen/fresh ripe figs 1 Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved. COOK’S TIP |
