Cheryl wanted to run a series of trial dinners to get the girls comfortable with running decent set menus for dinners in leu of the up and coming flower season. The few flowers I saw were absolutely stunning and being a world renowned tourist destination, the season has the locals taking a beating by hordes of tourists flocking in and out of this tiny 'dorp'.
The town has one SuperSpar that is the only place that you can possibly get anything that involves food and supplies. All be it a very nice one, they do have major difficulty in consistency regarding what they have in stock, especially in the fresh produce department. I walked to the shop everyday in the hopes that the delivery truck had updated with some new surprises :)
The way I wanted to structure the training was to teach the girls recipes and basics that they could use and expand on and could also run in time with the trial dinners that Cheryl was putting in place. Came up with some draft menus....
The first dinner was only for 4 which included Cheryl and myself as sitting guests.
Starter: Mediteranean Vegetable tarts with a basil cream cheese sauce
Main: Pan fried pepper fillet steaks on braised redwine cabbage, potato fodants, carrot puree and grilled zucchini & rosemary jus
Dessert: Tipsy pecan brownies with Chantilly cream and alchy chocolate sauce or Bread and butter cappucinos
The dinner went down a treat and was really loved by all. Most rewarding of all was to watch Gwen and Hilde, the cooks that I had to train, go from making standard toasted sandwiches to baking their own confections and searing their own steaks!
We did 2 more big dinner nights, one on the Sunday night and another on the Monday. Within all the manic service and trying to get all the preperations done I didn't manage to take photos of all of the food. The one dessert that we did that was a real hit but unfortunately was camera shy was a Rooibos infused Creme Brulee with chocolate shortbread. So we ran the 3 desserts for all the dinners and then varied the choices of starters and mains.
Left: Chicken and leak pies with butternut mash, honey glazed beetroot, chargrilled baby-corn and crunchy leak garnish.
Right: Cream of sweet potato and onion soup with herbed creme fraiche and crispy basil leaves.
After a truly amazing week working 14 hours a day teaching girls who truly have a passion but only require the confidence and the know how, I really feel truly rewarded by having the chance to impart with the knowledge I have to help better the lives of others.
I would like to thanks Cheryl Spilsbury for this wonderful opportunity and for a truly wonderful week at
Yellow Aloe Guesthouse
Po Box 196
Clan William
8135
South Africa
Office : +27 27 482 2018 Fax : +27 27 482 2018 Email : yellowaloe@mweb.co.za
Website : www.yellowaloe.co.za
Cheryl is currently looking for a chef to manage her kitchen at Yellow Aloe, please contact her for more details as it is a wonderful opportunity to manage your own kitchen!!!
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