COOKBOOK EXTRACT:
Ilse van der Merwe shares delicious recipes from her cookbook Cape Mediterranean: The Way We Love to Eat
Ilse van der Merwe has vivid memories of watching her mom, Erne Uys, bake. Holidays, she says, were all about filling cookie jars to the brim, rolling little balls of dough, and the heavenly homely smell of freshly baked milk tart wafting from the oven.
Without realising it, 11-year-old Ilse was already mapping out her future: she loved creating her own ‘recipe books’ (which she still has) by cutting pictures from magazines and sketching baked goods. ‘Isn’t it incredible that so many years later, finally the day is here and I’m still as fascinated and in love with baking and cooking?’ she says.
Cape Mediterranean is a fabulous
celebration of Mediterranean-style local produce. ‘South Africans are fascinated by classic Italian, French and Spanish food; we incorporate it into our own lives because we have all of those ingredients available here. Cape Mediterranean is an addition to the rainbow repertoire of South African cooking,’ says Ilse.
‘It’s such a wholesome, feelgood thing, disconnecting from our digital lives and cooking – being creative but also nourishing and bringing people together. In the end, that’s what it’s all about,’ she says.
In Italy they call these delicious semolina shapes Roman gnocchi, or gnocchi
alla Romana – circles or squares cut from a cooked slab of semolina, baked in cream and mature cheese to a custardy consistency. If you’re scared to roll out potato gnocchi dough but love the idea of eating gnocchi, this will become your party trick. It’s almost like a creamy potato gratin or a paptert, but made with soft-set wheaty porridge.
During autumn, you can forage wild mushrooms with an expert at Delheim wine estate and a few other establishments. Don’t try to do this without the assistance of a professional, for obvious reasons.
Note: The semolina can be prepared a day or two in advance, wrapped and stored in the fridge in slab form or in circles. Assembling and baking should be done just before serving.
FOR THE SEMOLINA SLAB
• 45g butter, melted
• 35g (½ cup) grated pecorino, Grana Padano, Gruyère or Parmesan cheese
• 3 extra-large egg yolks
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 litre (4 cups) milk
• 1ml (¼ tsp) ground nutmeg
• 200g (1¼ cup) semolina flour
SEMOLINA GNOCCHI WITH WILD WINELANDS MUSHROOMS, THYME, MATURE CHEESE & CREAM
FOR THE SAUCE
• 60g butter, melted, plus extra for frying
• 125ml (½ cup) fresh cream
• 80ml (1/3 cup) grated cheese (same as above)
• about 250g wild mushrooms, broken into smaller pieces if very large
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• fresh micro herbs, to serve
1. For the gnocchi: Line a 30 x 25 x 2cm baking tray with non-stick baking paper. In a mixing bowl, whisk the butter, cheese and egg yolks, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat the milk in a mediumlarge saucepan. Add the nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. When the milk starts to boil, add the semolina while stirring. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides (5-8 minutes). Watch carefully and don’t let it burn. Remove from heat.
3. Add the egg yolk and cheese mixture, and mix until smooth, working quickly. Transfer the mixture to the baking tray, edging it into the corners and smoothing the surface to an even thickness, using a spatula dipped in cold water. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 25 x 18 x 5cm baking dish. Turn the semolina slab out of the tray onto a clean work surface and peel off the baking paper. Cut the slab into circles using a 4cm cookie cutter or a small cup dipped in cold water – or cut it into whichever shapes you like (squares, triangles etc.). Arrange the cut shapes slightly overlapping in the greased casserole dish. Now make the sauce. 5. For the sauce: Drizzle the butter and cream over the gnocchi. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbly. While the gnocchi are baking, pan-fry the mushrooms until golden. When the gnocchi come out of the oven, top with the seasoned mushrooms and herbs and serve at once.
GREEK-STYLE YOUVETSI WITH KAROO LAMB, LEMON & ORIGANUM SERVES 6
I tasted youvetsi for the first time in 2012 at food writer and social media specialist Jane-Anne Hobbs’s house, as part of the launch for her cookbook, Scrumptious.
What a revelation! In essence, it’s a roasted lamb dish made with fresh tomato, origanum and lots of lemon, with flat rice-shaped pasta (orzo) cooked in the pan juices and grilled kefalotyri cheese added on top. It’s so simple, yet one of the most incredibly satisfying dishes to eat. The mouthfeel of the lemony, meaty orzo is just phenomenal, accompanied by meltingly tender lamb shreds and the grilled salty cheese. These days I make it with mutton instead of lamb, and feta instead of kefalotyri. This dish is a crowd-pleaser – every time.
• 45ml (3 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 x 1kg mutton shanks (or roughly 1.6kg lean mutton chops)
• salt and black pepper
• 30ml (2 tbsp) dried origanum
• juice and finely grated rind of 2 medium-size lemons
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1kg (roughly 8 large) ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 250ml (1 cup) dry white wine
• 1,25 litres (5 cups) recently boiled water
• 500g orzo pasta
• 400g firm feta cheese
• a small bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a very large, wide, cast-iron pot or roasting pan, heat the oil on the stovetop and fry the shanks on all sides until golden brown. Season generously with salt and pepper, and scatter with origanum.
2. Remove from the heat, then add the lemon juice and rind, garlic and tomatoes. Stir to loosen any sticky bits on the bottom. Place the pot in the oven, uncovered, and roast for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat to 150°C and roast for another 3 hours, or until the meat is very tender and starts to fall from the bone.
3. Remove the pot from the oven and remove the meat from the pot. Shred the meat (discarding the bones) and cover it – you’ll be returning it to the pot a little later.
4. Place the pot on the stovetop; add the wine and water and bring to a simmer. Add the orzo and cook, stirring every now and then to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid and is just tender (12-15 minutes). Remove from the heat while it is still a little runnier than a risotto because it will continue to absorb liquid while standing. 5. Stir in the shredded meat and taste – add more salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and, while the youvetsi is resting, fry the feta rounds in a little olive oil in a hot non-stick pan until golden on one side. Add the feta (roughly crumbled) on top of the youvetsi. Scatter with parsley; serve at once.
8-HOUR ROAST PORK SHOULDER (WITH CRACKLING) WITH ORANGE, FENNEL & PAPRIKA SERVES AT LEAST 8, but will serve a large crowd if used as a pulled pork filling
There’s something magical and almost primitive about a large bone-in roast. With very little attention and some patience it becomes a feast of note – a meltingly tender pull-apart roast that tastes as good as it looks. And the crazy-good crackling? Well, everybody wants it, so here’s the recipe. Serve this shoulder to a crowd as part of a festive spread, with vegetable sides or as a topping on sandwiches/buns with mayo, coleslaw, salad leaves and pickles.
• about 4kg whole pork shoulder, bone-in
• 30-45ml (2-3 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
• 10ml (2 tsp) salt
• 5ml (1 tsp) freshly ground black pepper
• 15ml (1 tbsp) ground fennel
• 15ml (1 tbsp) smoked paprika
• 10ml (2 tsp) ground coriander
• 10ml (2 tsp) ground cumin
• finely grated rind and juice of 2 oranges
• 375ml (½ bottle) dry white wine
1. Preheat the oven to 120°C. Remove the skin of the shoulder using a sharp knife. Place the skin on a wire rack and refrigerate, uncovered, until later.
2. Place the shoulder in your largest deep roasting tray. Rub with olive oil. Mix the salt, pepper, fennel, paprika, coriander, cumin and orange rind, then rub it all over the meat. Pour the orange juice and wine into the tray, then cover with heavy-duty foil and roast for 8 hours until falling from the bone and really tender.
3. Serve warm, pulling the meat apart to soak in the pan juices, with sides or pasta and a piece of crispy crackling on the side.
FOR THE CRACKLING There are only a few key points to achieve a successful crackling:
• Dry out the skin
• Season generously with salt
• Cook over high heat
1. Score the skin in parallel lines using a very sharp blade or NT cutter (or ask your butcher to do it). The reserved skin layer of the pork shoulder should spend at least 8 hours in the fridge, uncovered, drying out on a wire rack.
2. About 1 hour before serving the meat, remove the roast from the oven (keep it covered) and turn
the heat up to the highest setting (230-260°C). Salt the dried-out skin, rubbing the salt into the scored lines.
3. Place the salted layer of skin in the preheated oven and roast for 30-45 minutes (depending on thickness) on a setting above the middle rack, until bubbling up and very crispy and golden (don’t let it get too dark).
4. Remove and let it cool. Cut into shards and serve with the roast. (Can be prepared an hour or two in advance.)
PAVLOVA WITH LEMON CURD & PASSION FRUIT SERVES 8
I cannot count the number of pavlovas I’ve made in my life, but it must be close to 100. It’s such a stunning way to end a festive lunch or dinner, and the toppings can be changed seasonally. The easiest way to serve it is with seasonal fruit and whipped cream. But since you’re using six egg whites for the meringue, you might as well make a silky lemon curd with the yolks. With added fresh passion fruit, this is the stuff summer dreams are made of.
• 6 extra-large egg whites (save the yolks and make lemon curd – see recipe, right)
• 400g caster sugar
• 10ml (2 tsp) white vinegar or lemon juice
• 15ml (1 tbsp) cornflour
• 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract (or scraped seeds of 1 vanilla pod)
• 250ml (1 cup) fresh cream, whipped
• about 250ml (1 cup) lemon curd, for topping
• pulp of about 4 fresh passion fruit (granadillas)
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl (with an electric whisk or stand mixer with whisk attachment) until soft peaks form. Gradually add the caster sugar to the egg whites, small amounts at a time, whisking constantly until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Add the vinegar or lemon juice, cornflour and vanilla and mix well.
3. Dot a large roasting tray with some of the mixture, then place a sheet of baking paper on top (so that it sticks like glue). Pour the pavlova mixture onto the tray and shape with a spoon or spatula into a circle with a diameter of about 23cm (draw a circle on the back of the baking paper, if necessary). The mixture will rise a bit around the sides, so leave enough space. Place in the oven and immediately turn down the temperature to 120°C. Bake for 1¼ hours, then switch the oven off and leave to cool in the oven for about 2½ hours without opening the oven door.
To serve: Carefully remove the baking paper from the bottom of the pavlova and transfer to a serving dish (it will have a few cracks, but that’s perfectly okay). Top with whipped cream and lemon curd, swirling the cream and curd together gently. Top with lashings of passion fruit pulp and serve at once, sliced.
LEMON CURD MAKES 500ML (2 CUPS) Once opened, the curd will last for at least a week in the refrigerator.
• peeled rind and juice of 3 medium-size lemons
• 250ml (1 cup) white sugar
• 180g soft butter
• 6 extra-large egg yolks
• pinch of salt
1. Place the peeled rind and sugar in a food processor and process until you get a very fine, yellow, grainy mixture. Add the butter and process until light and creamy. Add the eggs and salt and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix until smooth.
2. Transfer to a small saucepan over very low heat. Stir continuously while it heats up (take care, it burns easily). The mixture will become runnier as the butter starts to melt, but will thicken as the eggs form a glossy custard. Never let it reach boiling point – if at any stage it looks like its burning, remove from the heat at once and strain to remove any brown bits.
3. Remove from the heat and transfer to a glass jar with a lid. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use. For an extra silky result, strain the hot mixture before cooling.