Mariana's Country Kitchen
The desserts, for those who know
included that favourite of cook Una van der Spuy’s husband and a feature in many Afrikaans households, Japie’s Gunsteling. It’s that zooming in on comfort, especially at the end of a scrumptious meal, that exemplifies what Marianas is all about – but done to perfection in a setting that will have your toes curling in delight.
If you are travelling that way, do yourself a favour and make a booking well in advance or you will be disappointed.
I cannot emphasise enough: they’re small, often closed and open only for lunch when they are cooking for a full house.
If that’s not an option, there is a recent publication which will tell you what she is all about.
As the title suggests, it’s produce and even in the garden at the restaurant, some of what is served on the table is that close at hand.
I love the way she has stuck to her own core and makes no effort to move from there.
This is why she has become popular with locals and foreigners.
You cannot but notice Mariana’s is a space with a beating heart and like the title of her cookbook implies, this is country cooking – but with someone in front of the stove who not only gets her hands dirty while planting, but also rolls up those sleeves and stands in front of the stove as the guests arrive.
This is what she loves and what she does.
“It’s all been organic,” she says and, reading her story and then experiencing her cookbook and cuisine, this is cooking of the best kind.
“It breaks down any resistance and provides you with healthy, hearty food.
With Inggs as the photographer, the quality of the book is supreme and captures the simplicity of this endeavour, which will confirm whether this is your kind of place.
She states in her book it started at the age of 7 when she was challenged to name six spices in a chocolate cake to win this prize for her family.
“My dad helped me write nutmeg and cinnamon, but I did the sniffing and naming and confidently told the family that we were going to take the cake home.”
They did, and even though this was the first and, as far as she can remember, the last prize she won, it sparked the interest nurtured by a grandmother at a young age and has turned her restaurant into a winner.
Because her world is dictated by produce, she says: “A food garden is a dictator; you have no leeway. When the baby marrow become teenagers, best you have a plan for them otherwise they will sulk and grow large and unwieldy and accuse you every time you walk past of ignoring them when they were in their prime.”
Preserving and creating dishes was part of her natural way of doing things, determined by the seasons and her crops.
It was also the cooking patterns of her forbears, Cape and Karoo cooks who relied heavily on their kitchen gardens to feed family and friends.
That was what it was then, and fortunately we are coming full circle and returning strongly to that way of life – from the best to the simplest kitchens in the world.
Describing Stanford as a town with a Mediterranean climate, Mariana says the dishes by the cooks of southern Europe were easy to incorporate into her repertoire.
The chapters run according to seasons, and when you page through the book, names like Ouma Franken’s boerpastei, Ouma Theron’s green-fig preserve, slow rise bread (described as one of the most popular recipes in the restaurant), chilled strawberry soup, trout gravalax with minted cucumber and yoghurt sauce, or a customer’s favourite, the spinach and gruyere roulade, emerge.
But the kind of dish that also piques interest is the garden peas with savoury cheesecake, or the fresh fruit tart with frangipane inspired by her favourite cook Julia Child; or “doodskoot”, which Peter tells is the favourite of a regular customer which elicits a story that runs alongside this dessert.
The list of stories and recipes run on and on which is what turns this book into something rare.
It slots magnificently into the Mariana ethos, as it shines a spotlight on her life’s passion.
She has flung open those arms and embraced the world in the only way she wants to – with food. Get booking now for September and onwards. Gruyere Souffle
Mariana's
Address: 12 Du Toit St, Stanford, 7210 Phone: 028 341 0272 Closed for winter rest and restoration. Reopens on September 16