Succulent beef fillet

The ingredient list is short and the procedure is straightforward. It’s a simple fact of good cooking: the better the ingredients the less you have to do to them.
Read more >>

Stir-fried lamb

Not everything cooked in a wok is Chinese. Here’s a unique combination of splendid tastes that give the beginner cook a ready-made reputation for excellence.
Read more >>

Steak tartare

Cooking is an act of transformation greater than anything politicians can dish up. But sometimes raw food has its own special magic. Sushi, salads, even mayonnaise is eaten raw. Well, it’s about time braai mechanics douse their smokey fires and get into raw meat and eggs, and this is the way to do it...
Read more >>

Chicken and coconut curry with pilau rice

To many, a curry is a good old Anglo-Saxon stew destroyed by some stale yellow powder out of a cardboard box. This opinion could not be more misinformed: Indian-influenced cuisine is an irresistible combination of subtle tastes and aromas. What we have here are two delicious recipes, with the pilau giving a loud, hearty wake up call to the rice.
Read more >>

Sausage cannelloni

Welcome to the unexpected all over again. Is this combination of extraordinary ingredients fusion cuisine at its best? Or just another good way to test the limits with a meal of astonishing quality and magnificent flavours?
Read more >>

Beefy vegetable soup with herbs

Industrially generated “home-made” soup is filled with promises, seldom kept. Distance yourself from this never-ending disappointment with real and genuine home-made beefy vegetable soup with herbs. This recipe – a classic, family favourite – lends itself to enhancement, modification and customising, requiring only your creative talents. Just as good out of a thermos as it is in a mug or a bowl, this soup is a powerful addition to your personal repertoire of good food.
Read more >>

Thai Chicken salad

Say “today’s meal is a salad” to any red-blooded, hungry individual and a nasty tone of defiance is sure to consume the conversation. But, just before things get out of hand, add the mystic words “Thai chicken” and all sorts of transformations in mood and food desire start to kick in. Salad alone is a punitive and unnatural thing, but the high octane enhancements of the Thai sauce, coupled with the protein slam-dunk that comes with the chicken, makes this meal as real as food can get.
Read more >>

Pad thai Bangkok’s sizzling street food

I guess there are 10 million versions of this national dish. This one gives you the basis to experiment while simultaneously amazing your friends with your Thai-flavoured expertise.
Read more >>

Hot cross buns

Also known as spicy buns, these teatime favourites can be enjoyed any time of the year. What makes them so special? Two things: the spicy bite that enlivens every mouthful and the simple delight of baking them yourself. These buns are ready the moment you choose!
Read more >>

A recycled braai: breakfast after the night before

So this family holds a major braai with food of limitless quality and abundance. Somewhere around midnight, the well-fed masses went home, leaving this writer with the singular task of cleaning up.
Read more >>