Recipes

Whatever you choose to call it – brinjal, aubergine or eggplant – there is nothing as magical as converting three of these wondrous things into a sesame influenced, za’atar-enhanced, smoky spread.

This carrot cake loaf, with its delicious, zesty cream-cheese icing and chopped walnuts, is soft and full of flavours.

There comes a time in the family entertainment schedule when a bowl of peanuts or processed, oil-enhanced, orange-dyed maize by-products just don’t come up to scratch. In the first episode of a forthcoming series, I will introduce you to the concept of ‘advanced nibbles’.

These easy pepperminty vanilla panna cottas are a perfect dessert for your next gathering or holiday party. Your guests will love them.

In Latin America, warm salads offer grilled meats their proper accompaniment. Give this calamari and chilli salsa your best shot!

My brother recently returned from a business trip to France, where he had what he called the ‘best chicken meal’ of his life. This recipe, reconstructed from memory, is the happy outcome.

Everyone has his or her favourite samoosa filling. For this case hardened foodie hack, a potato samoosa is the food of any numberof gods. The filling, called aloo (potato in Hindi), is just one of the outstanding potato curries thatKwaZulu-Natal and the Indian subcontinent have to offer.

If you’ve got a working oven, why roast in a pot? This splendid collection of techniques and delicious flavours answers this riddle.

Attempting unfamiliar cuisines often means encountering unknown or unavailable ingredients. In the case of food from North Africa and the Levant, preserved lemons are an absolute must. One downside: they take three weeks to mature!

Italian cuisine is loaded with astonishing soups. There is, for example, zuppa pavese, a chickenbased bowl of greatness topped by sourdough bread and a poached egg. At the greatest height, however, is minestrone, a classic with a thousand variations. Here is the version I cooked a few nights ago.

Vegetables are a healthy addition to a braai or any other meat-based meal. However, the way you cook your veggies can make the difference between a great dish and a simply ‘okay’ one.

Couscous may have originated on this continent, but the addition of avocado gives this dish a distinctly Mexican look and taste.