Viva scrumptious food

Buhle Mbonambi recently attended a Chaine des Rotisseurs gathering and it was a baptism of fire into the world of foodies

What makes someone a foodie? Is it their almost obsessive relationship with food? Their knowledge of food and drink? Or is a foodie someone who cooks really well? I guess it depends on who you ask.

My relationship with food is a very simple one – I cook to eat. And before you ask whether I can cook, let me settle that: I’m a very good cook and once considered going to chef school until I realised just how expensive it was. Until recently I wouldn’t have called myself a foodie, and after attending a Chaîne des Rôtisseurs dinner, I can confirm that I’m not.

The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is a society for people who are serious about food and drink.

A few weeks ago, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs held a dinner at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel and, since it was the first I had ever heard of them, I decided to attend.

Arriving there, I felt like I was part of a secret society, almost like the ones that the characters from Gossip Girl were a part of (or trying to be a member of).

With guests in their black (and white) tie finery, I knew I had stepped into another world. But what all of their outfits had in common was the fabric chain they all wore, fastened with badges.

One group was talking about the looming olive oil shortage, while another talked about how hilarious it was when they were in the UK and there was a prosecco shortage. And that’s when I knew I was surrounded by professional foodies.

It was a night of a couple of firsts. I had oysters, tried out the mushroom coffee trend, thanks to a mushroom macchiato, and had pear dipped in red wine and stuffed with gorgonzola. I’m not really a fan of gorgonzola and I don’t drink any alcohol, so that was an experience.

Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an international association of gastronomy, established in more than 80 countries and with more than 25 000 members. That’s pretty exclusive.

However, the society is for anyone who has an interest in the culinary arts, not just professional chefs. I was expecting to see only professionals – and they were certainly there – but there were also ordinary people who just love good food and have become members.

One thing that stayed with me the whole night is what Shaun Munro (head chef at Southern Sun Elangeni Maharani and Bailli of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Bailliage de Kwazulu-natal committee) said during his speech: “Keep it simple, stupid.” That’s my philosophy when it comes to food.

Speaking of food, here are my thoughts on the five-course menu prepared by Munro – a real culinary adventure:

This is Shaun’s signature dish and finally I got to taste it and see what the hype was about. One word – delicious. Everything just worked so well and I’m not even a fan of salmon. It was plated really well too and worth a post on Instagram. It was served with Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay from 2014.

One of the biggest food trends of this year is mushroom coffee and, while I gagged at the thought of it when I first read about it, if it’s anything like what was served to us at this dinner, then I’m all for it.

It still was mushroom soup with a lot of froth at the top. The biscotti was really good too.

It was served with a KWV Classic Collection Pale Dry.

I was disappointed with the lamb. I honestly expected it to wow me, but it didn’t and possibly had to do with the rosemary, which I don’t like. The Pommes William (mashed potato shaped like a pear and deep fried) was really good. The meal was served with Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2014.

This was brilliant. Not everyone is a fan of gorgonzola, but this just worked. It was a great balance of all the flavours and the pesto was great too.

The fruit caviar was a nice touch and it was a fitting dish to end an interesting evening. I didn’t have the dessert as it was too late for me to have chocolate.

The pears were served with L’ormarins Cape LBV 2013.

So while I’m not a professional foodie, I love it when people are having fun with food.

The people at my table were very unpretentious about the food served. If they liked it, they ate it and if they didn’t they said so, without making everyone feel like it was the end of the world if they disagreed. It was an interesting evening, one I wouldn’t mind getting a chance to experience again.

Viva la Chaîne!