FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Prue tucks into some of her cooking memories

✢ Butternut squash I love it, and the first time I did a big ticketed dinner at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, the head chef didn’t understand how I wanted it cooked – grilled with a little cinnamon and sugar on top to slightly caramelise it. He created an awful sweet syrup. But he was good enough to do it all again, so the dinner was saved!

✢ Sausage ‘casserole’ When my son was little, he thought casserole was sausage roll. I’d make a good mince mixture, wrap it in puff pastry then cut and tuck pastry so I could plait it on top. Whenever he asked for casserole, I’d say, ‘No, sausage roll.’ I still make it for him sometimes.

✢ Melktert In South Africa, this means milk tart. It’s a custard pie but it doesn’t have much yolk in it, so it’s quite white and is dusted with cinnamon. It’s absolutely delicious. Thinking about it takes me to my childhood, in the garden with my brothers, playing football, climbing trees and getting up to mischief.

✢ Yellowtail fish My best childhood meals were beach barbecues. My uncle was a great fisherman and would turn up with a 2ft-long yellowtail, wrap it in foil and stick it on the barbecue. We’d also make delicious cheese and apricot jam sandwiches, which we’d grill on the barbecue.

✢ Haggis When I first met John, who’s a Scot, he wooed me with haggis. He made it with mashed neeps and tatties, and I thought, ‘Fantastic. He’s a great cook.’ Next time, he bought two fat Dexter beef fillet steaks and started to fry them before the pan was hot enough. I jumped in and cooked them. I’ve been doing the cooking ever since!