Book on globe’s culinary fare
WHEN Monché Muller left Pretoria for the Western Cape in pursuit of her career in the culinary world, all she wanted was to produce good food.
Little did she know that – in partnership with world-renowned winemaker Schalk-Willem Joubert – she would travel the world, and come back to put together a book of Europe’s finest foods.
Or that she would end up in a competition, pitting her against the world’s best for production of a food and beverage book.
The book, “Harvest Table”, brings together the meals and recipes that Muller learnt about with ingredients sourced in Italy, Spain, and South Africa.
The journey left the 32-year-old wise beyond her years about the world of gourmet preparation.
Speaking at the launch of the book at Forte Grill restaurant in Time Square, Pretoria, she said: “The journey to writing a book of recipes began around a table.”
She was with the winemakers and others at Pink Valley Wines restaurant in Stellenbosch, where she is head chef.
Muller and her team travelled through Europe to capture the experience of bringing together meals sourced, cooked and eaten there, which she then brought back home.
The book, published by Quivertree Publications, captures not only the recipes of meals people in South Africa cook, but also provides an opportunity to understand what goes into getting the ingredients together.
There are also pictures of the places of origin, chefs who cooked it and the final product from the different restaurants she visited. The purpose was to enhance the imagination.
“You do eat with your eyes first,” she said, explaining that food preparation was an art.
All meals were cooked in their presence and with their participation, and when they came back, they cooked them again, only now with ingredients which would speak to the local people.
Some of the ingredients were unavailable here, except for the ones in the South African chapter; so every recipe has a local substitute.
“We found those as close to us as possible and blended to ensure they took nothing away from the original to appeal to local consumers.”
Muller said while certain foods appeal to different people, everyone wants well-cooked food to satisfy their need to eat.
“Some of these European countries are not as big on eating meat as South Africans, but when they do they do it all the way.” One example of this was oxtail, which is enjoyed across South Africa. “When we went to buy one at a food market in one of the countries we visited, we were given the full tail, something very rare here,” she said.
The food market culture was also big in the countries she visited. “To buy food, chefs go to fresh produce markets everyday. A lemon is cooked hours after being picked from a tree.”