Great for any restaurant wanting to roll their own butter balls, or the host at home that’s after a more elegant way to serve butter at the table, these wooden paddles are of perfect thickness and have comfortable handles to make the task of rolling butter a breeze.
Aside from this, they’re also perfect for shaping gnocchi with. Now available in two sizes at Chefs Warehouse, the small set for R75 a pair, the large set for R150 a pair.
Rene Redzepi (above) and his Noma restaurant in Copenhagen have held onto first place honours at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, hosted in London last night. Redzepi has been hailed for the creative use of indigenous ingredients and thoughtful dishes at his Danish restaurant. Second place went to El Cellar De Can Roca and third to Mugaritz, two restaurants that have taken over for Spain where El Bulli has left off. The Fat Duck in England is down to fifth place while Brazilian restaurant D.O.M moved up 11 places to get seventh position.
A very hearty congratulations to our friend Margot Janse from Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek. The restaurant was placed at #36 and makes the top 50 for the 7th consecutive year. It also won Best Restaurant in Africa and the Middle East. The Ledbury in London and chef Brett Graham, who worked under Liam at BANC restaurant in Sydney and who Liam visited in January, came in at #34.
At Chefs Warehouse we have several cookbooks in stock (or available to order) by chefs in this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants:
Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine – Rene Redzepi (#1)
Alinea -Grant Achatz (#6)
The French Laundry; Bouchon; Under Pressure; Ad Hoc At Home – Thomas Keller (#10)
The Complete Robuchon – Joel Robuchon (#14)
Reinventing French Cuisine – Pierre Gagniere (#16)
On The Line; A Return To Cooking – Eric Ripert (#18)
Momofuko – David Chang (#40)
Spoon, Food & Wine; Ducasse Flavours of France – Alain Ducasse (#45)
Our good friend and chef David Higgs from Rust en Vrede restaurant in Stellenbosch has announced he’s leaving to pursue a new project in Johannesburg. He hasn’t confirmed exactly what the new venture is, but no doubt it presents him with a new challenge and will undoubtedly attract much attention given the great year the highly regarded chef has had.
Higgs has built a solid reputation for both himself and Rust en Vrede, which was placed 74th in the 2010 S.Pellegrino World’s 100 Best Restaurants. He also scooped the Chef of the Year award, with Rust en Vrede winning the Restaurant of the Year and Service Excellence awards, at the 2010 Eat Out Restaurant Awards.
Rust en Vrede have announced that current sous chef John Shuttleworth will replace him as head chef. We wish David all the best in his move north, and will miss him here in the Cape.
Schmatz! (Karen Hansgen & Rudiger Schellong) is an innovative book that is part art book, part cook book. Look at it as a cookbook that includes art, or an artbook that includes recipes, either way it’s an enchanting and unusual book that stands out for being completely different. It’s based around the celebrated published and printer Gerhard Steidl who collaborates with artists from around the world to produce art books. During heavy work days, the only respite is the lunch, cooked by chef Rudiger Schellong and served at a long table in the offices.
The book presents artists’ poignant memories of their lunch, menus from the table, recipes, a feel for the overall experience and artworks from the various books that have been produced by Steidl Publishers. Complimented with some beautiful photographs of the guests and dishes, it makes for an entertaining book with a handful of beautifully simple recipes. Dishes like tomato risotto with sauteed asparagus, carrot curry soup with croutons or the steamed fish on julienne radicchio with orange vinaigrette.
Available at Chefs Warehouse for R350.
These two placemats are newly in stock and we’re quite fond of them. The bottom one is made from sisal, which if you didn’t know, is the fibre extracted from the sisal plant, an agave that is quite common in South Africa. Its strength, durability and ability to stretch has made it a popular material in everything from textiles to rope and twine, but here it serves the simple purpose of protecting your table and making a set table look better. The top placemat is made from bamboo, also making it extremely durable and tough, as well as providing great heat protection for any wood dining table you may have. They’re both versatile enough to serve as heat mats for warm pots or dishes coming out the oven. The sisal mats are R95 each, the bamboo ones R65.
With the weather changing and winter on its way, these clean and stylish individual soup tureens are a useful addition to your kitchen. Made by quality Australian brand Maxwell & Williams from glazed white porcelain, they make a great range of serving ware and the lion-shaped handles on each side add to their uniqueness. Oven safe to keep soup warm while waiting for guests, they’re also dishwasher safe to make cleaning as simple as possible. Available from Chefs Warehouse, each tureen sells for R170.
Much happening, so here’s a list of the classes coming up here at Chefs Warehouse to keep you in the loop. Liam’s ‘Around The World’ course is proving to be a hit, so keep an eye on the dates for the next installment of classes…
Neil Jewell – exploring the pig with this popular charcuterie expert. 12 April. SOLD OUT.
Great Domains – an evening of superb foreign wines and Liam’s cooking. 14th April. SOLD OUT.
Around The World With Liam: Japan – the best of Japanese cuisine in a four hour class. 16th April. 10AM – 2PM. SEATS AVAILABLE.
Peter Tempelhof & Adam Mason – answering the question of:”What is this molecular stuff?” 12th May. SOLD OUT.
Knife Skills With Liam - hone your methods and techniques with the blade. 14th May. 10AM – 2pm. SEATS AVAILABLE.
Around The World With Liam: Spain – exploring the culinary sides of Espana. 21st May. SOLD OUT.
Around The World With Liam: South America – Liam takes participants through the various dishes from this eclectic region. 18th June. 10AM – 2PM. SEATS AVAILABLE.
For more information on any of these, visit our website www.chefswarehouse.co.za
Eric Ripert is the chef at famed four-star New York restaurant La Bernadin, and On The Line (Eric Ripert & Christine Muhlke) gives readers an insider’s account on the runnings of this restaurant. From the history of the restaurant, sourcing of fine ingredients, creating new dishes, managing impeccable service and preparing perfect dishes every day to a collection of recipes, this is an insightful and highly interesting read. This book could become a bible for restaurateurs, based on the continued success that La Bernadin has achieved through the methods outlined within it.
A16 Food + Wine (Nate Appleman & Shelley Lindgren) is a San Fransisco restaurant focused around the simple rustic cuisine of Southern Italy and it’s classic wines. The book’s authors are the chef and wine director, and the constant reference to the region and it’s various wine growing areas and peasant-style dishes. It’s a great book to explore a different side to Italian cuisine and inspire some new dishes. There’s good mention on Neopolitan pizza and even making your own pancetta and sausages from pig.
Thomas Keller needs little introduction. His French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley is still rated as one of the best restaurants in the world. He’s probably the most influential American chef in terms of technique and use of new methods and ingredients. Bouchon, also in the Napa Valley, is his version of a bistro, based around simple yet superbly prepared cuisine. With thoughtful introductions to recipes and sidebars on ingredients throughout, it’s an informative and beautiful book, and we’re proud to add it to the shelves here at Chefs Warehouse along with three of his other books, The French Laundry, Under Pressure and Ad Hoc At Home.
The chocolate ganache must be frozen before deep-frying to prevent them from bursting when dropped into the hot oil. It is also important that the oil maintains its temperature throughout cooking to prevent the batter from becoming soggy.
75g Plain flour, sieved
50g Cocoa, sieved
30ml Cold water
110ml Warm beer
30ml Olive oil
1 Free-range egg yolks
2 Free-range egg whites
420 g Chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
Vegetable oil for deep-frying the chocolate
Icing sugar for dusting the deep-fried chocolate
Divide the chocolate ganache into 12 x 35gr balls and roll them into neat rounds between the palms of your hands. Place the chocolate balls on a tray and freeze them till ready to use.
Prepare the first stage of the batter by whisking together the flour, cocoa, water, warm beer, olive oil and egg yolk to form a smooth batter. Clean down the sides of the bowl and cover with cling-film to prevent a skin forming. Allow the batter to stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
In a heavy based saucepan heat the oil to 180°C. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form peaks and then fold through the batter mixture.
Remove the chocolate balls from the freezer and insert a long wooden skewer into the center of each ball. Dip the chocolate balls into the batter and completely cover each one. Allow any excess batter to drain off. Place 4 chocolate balls into the oil at a time to prevent the oil from dropping temperature and the batter becoming soggy. Cook until the batter crisps, remove and drain the deep-fried chocolate on kitchen paper. Allow the oil to reheat before deep-frying the next batch and continue to cook until all of the chocolate has been deep-fried.
Dust the deep-fried chocolate with icing sugar and place 3 pieces on each plate. Pour a pool of chocolate sauce at one end of the plate. Spoon 10gr of praline between the chocolate sauce and deep-fried chocolate and set a quenelle of white chocolate mousse onto the praline. Garnish the mousse with dark chocolate curls.
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CHOCOLATE GANACHE
100ml Cream
450gr Dark chocolate with 60% cocoa solids, chopped
150gr Unsalted butter at room temperature
45ml Alcohol of your choice (optional)
125gr Cocoa powder
60gr Icing sugar
In a heavy based saucepan bring the cream to the boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Melt 300gr of chocolate over a double boiler. Pour the cream onto the melted chocolate and stir until fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Beat the butter until pale and doubled in volume. Gradually pour the melted chocolate into the butter and stir until fully incorporated. Add the alcohol of your choice. Clean the sides of the bowl down and refrigerate the chocolate ganache until firm.