Up for a food challenge
Shirdika Pillai, 27, the lively presenter of Lotus FM’s mid-morning show, Life ’n Style, is game for every experience that comes her way. So when SHELLEY SEID invited her to a canapé and cocktail course, she did not hesitate
PILLAI is the first to admit that her heart lies in baking.
“Come Diwali, my mother and I are full time in the kitchen preparing mountains of sweetmeats. I’d far rather turn out a batch of chocolate brownies than spend time on savouries,” she said.
This month, the Durban branch of the International Hotel School, based in Westville, is launching a series of short cooking courses for the public. In anticipation, it invited a small group of guests for a “hands-on” evening of creating finger food.
This was Pillai’s first attempt at making canapés. As a pescatarian, she was relieved to see a range of animal-friendly goodies ready to be placed on the prepared pile of bruschetta (toasted slices of French loaf). Goat’s cheese and feta were particularly welcome. “I love cheese,” she said, “almost as much as I love chocolate.”
It certainly does not show, although perhaps her background as a classically trained dancer has something to do with her slim shape.
We spent an hour at our stations in the industrial kitchen with our assortment of prepared ingredients: the cheeses, caramelised onions, chopped chives, smoked salmon, pesto, olives and tomatoes.
If you attend the full fourhour course, says chef and senior culinary lecturer Kjell Ogle, you get the ingredients raw and learn each step from scratch. This includes basic knife skills.
The biggest mistake when making canapés, said Ogle, was that people tended to “get carried away”.
“Canapés need to be bitesized and you must take into account that people will also be holding a glass. Women go to cocktail functions in gorgeous outfits, so if they bite into their canapé and it oozes all over them, you are not going to be popular.”
Because she was spoilt for choice, there was a great deal of indecision at Pillai’s station before she decided on her combinations. Cheese, of course, was at the core of her canapés, and the deep-fried feta took first prize for taste.
The highlight of her evening was learning to quenelle the goat’s cheese. This is a method of using two spoons to mould any semisoft food into a threesided oval shape, something you would typically see at fine dining restaurants.
“What an awesome skill,” she said. “I need to see how I can build my quenelle skills into my Diwali creations.”
She is full of fun, but there is a serious side to Pillai. Culture, religion and family are at the centre of her life.
“I love being Hindu — there is so much richness to it. My mom is north Indian and my dad is south Indian. It meant I had two sets of cultures and I followed both paths. What a wonderful experience it has been.”
I need to see how I can build my quenelle skills into my Diwali creations
The family is close-knit. She refers to her mother as “her anchor” and says her sister, a doctor, is always on her team.
“One of the nicest things we did was a trip to Greece — my sister and I, and my mom and her sister.”
Canapés plated, photographed and, of course, eaten, we made our way to the cocktail demonstration where we learned to shake it up with the best of them.
Pillai is planning a return visit to the International Hotel School, possibly with a group of friends, to do the dessert-making course.
“This would be a nice evening out with my mates — so different from going to a movie or to dinner.
“I have two friends who love being in the kitchen and it would be great fun to watch the competition while they try to outdo each other.”
If you and your pals are keen on baking bread, icing cakes, creating cocktails or perfecting pasta, then take a look at the new short courses on offer at the Durban branch of the International Hotel School.
The school has been producing internationally recognised culinary professionals for 20 years and has now decided to offer a variety of short courses for those keen to learn a set of skills during the course of an evening or a Saturday morning and have a lot of fun in the process.
For the full range of courses, dates and prices, contact the school on (031) 267 4700 or e-mail shortcoursesdbn@hotelschool.co.za.