By the Fig and the Olive

By the fig and the olive

Cultivated  9400 years before Christ already,  the Romans were the first to feast on the fig. Seductively shaped like a round buttocks, inky-black skin and the way the flesh yields when slightly pressed between two fingers......how can it NOT be seen as the Fruit from Paradise?

 

It is said that the red-faced Adam and Eve clad themselves in fig leaves after sinfully indulging in the forbidden fruit and after that, fig leaves can be seen throughout ancient artworks – covering the genitals of nude statues or gods in paintings or sculptures. In the Bible, Jesus sought a fig tree when he was hungry and in the holy Qur’an, there is an oath which rings: “By the fig and the Olive” I swear.  Muhammad states that if he had to mention one fruit which descended from Paradise – it would be the faithful fig.

Eaten fresh, dried or in spreadable preserved form, the fig does not disappoint. Though not very fragrant on the nose, the fig is robust with rich flavour – its sweetness similar to that of dates or raisins, even though it is not dried. Beautifully shaped and coloured, you can find them in shades of black, to purple to green. Inside, though, they are all painted with hues of pink.

The gluttonous Romans feasted on them, the gods searched for them, Jesus nourished the hungry with them and apparently Buddha achieved enlightenment under a sacred fig tree....... all I can say for sure, is that when my teeth sinks into the soft tendrils of this sacred fruit, I suddenly become a roman goddess – nourishing myself with its  flesh.... and finding myself in Nirvana.

 

Elsebe Cronje

Salt and Pepper

The 2 main seasoning ingredients to lift the flavour of any dish. In such a way that the flavours burst in your mouth and do something similar to a happy dance on one’s taste buds. It can lift the flavours of even a simple dessert dish.  

Salt is seen as of the purest ingredients and products in some cultures.  It is believed to keep out all bad energy, ghosts and even demands.

Pepper was seen as a very expansive trading item.

Then you get all the salt and pepper saying:

Like: back to the salt mines; eat someone’s salt; to have something hung up and salted; and then also the more common rub salt in the wound; salt of the earth and worth ones salt.

In Afrikaans it’s said that something is “Peper duur” and another is pepper someone or something with something.

Well the Pink pepper corn as I allocated is not a pepper corn. It is in fact a berry of 2 trees that are native to Brazil and Peru.  And these berries are related to the cashew nut and mango family. The flavour and aromatics are citrus with pepper and that is why it compliments all types of dishes so well even desserts.  The American has also managed have the trees grow wild in California, Texas, and Florida. The pink pepper corn can also refer the ripeness of the red pepper corns. They have the texture that is more fluffy almost hollow.

For the salt that accompanies the pepper I have Himalayan Pink salt.  It is commonly known as rock salt from Pakistan. These wonderful from pink to almost translucent white salt crystals are mined in the second largest salt mine in the world that is situated 300km from the Himalayas. These salt crystals contain up to 84 minerals, and have a good amount of iodine that is very good for one self and for ones off spring if you should conceive.  This wonderful range of reddish to white salt can be used as bath salt, table salt or for brine.

Recipes:

Pink pepper corn Macaroons with a Himalayan Pink salt Ice cream:

Pink Pepper corn Macaroons:

30ml corn flour

165g almond flour
20ml pink pepper corns- grounded
200g icing sugar
200g caster sugar
120g egg whites

 

Whisk egg whites till soft peak
Add icing and caster sugar- spoon by spoon
Mix the corn flour, ground pink peppercorns and almond flour in a spate bowl
Fold the flour mix into meringue
Pipe and let it stand for 5-10min
Bake at 120˚C for 23min

 

Himalayan Pink Salt Ice cream:

500ml milk
250ml cream
8 yolks
200g sugar
1 vanilla pod- seeds
15ml glucose
10ml Himalayan Pink Salt

 

Scald milk, cream and vanilla
Cream yolks, salt and sugar together
Add hot liquid to egg yolk mix while whisking
Return to heat until thicken
Leave to cool and churn.

-Lovley Lize

"Black Magic"

Garlic, one of the most underrated aromatics within cooking. Everyone goes on about the importance of salt and pepper and how essential it is to make a killer dish, I say they are wrong!

Garlic is an aromatic that lays the foundation of a good dish or meal, it’s that one ingredient that is not seen as ‘high class’, but packs a power full punch. It’s the Mohamed Ali of aromatics. You know when it floated through a dish like a butter fly and you KNOW when it stings like a bee.

Black Garlic is the all new and improved aromatic - the Mike Tyson if you want to call it that. Black Garlic is not a garlic variety; it’s rather original garlic in an aged state. Garlic contains sugars and amino acids. When it is metabolised, the element melanoidin is found. This results in the garlic turning black. The Garlic is placed in a sealed container and kept at 60˚c for six weeks. You can keep the garlic in for longer periods because the process will just further. 

Garlic has plenty of antioxidants which help to fight against diseases and your common flu and cold infections and does not get destroyed in the process; acid cytosine was found to have increased within the black garlic due to the process it goes through.

And No! Garlic does not keep vampires away; it would if there were such things as vampires. There is one true myth about garlic and that’s “garlic breath”, but being a garlic fanatic I have come up with a way to solve it …everyone should just eat garlic!

 

-          Gourmet Garth

Quince: Beauty in a Bottle

 

 

Quince - a somewhat peculiar fruit.  Is it in fact an overgrown, deformed pear?  To me, it resembles the rock slopes it is found on, with its robust shape – not one looking the same- with its grey and brown stains on its slightly furry outer layer.  This yellow-green produce is truly the ugly duckling of the apple-family.

In my opinion this might simply be the reason for its numerous uses- because this isn’t really a spectacle fruit we rather transform it. We put it in glass.  The natural high acidity in the quince lends itself toward making a quince wine.  In its turn the high level of pectin found in it makes it an excellent contender for preserves.  The most striking, pink blushed preserve.   And that’s the way I’ve come to see beauty in this unattractive yellow-rock-fruit. 

Anyone who has ever made a preserve knows that it’s a process of endurance.  Love, care and a lot of time is put into that little glass jar.  A little bit of yourself is canned in that jam jar.  So naturally every culture’s preserve will also look a bit different.

The Lebanese dress up their jelly with a pomegranate paste to be enjoyed with shank and other meat.  Portuguese make quince cheese, their Spanish neighbours use the pectin-bomb-jam for terrines and Italians make a mustard like preserve.

 For me, my family makes a plain Afrikaans kweper konfyt.  Simply a process of cooking the fruit, passing the pulp and waiting for the sweet aroma which calls you for a final taste before it is sterilized in bottles and placed prominently on the highest kitchen shelf to showcase, your  now truly beautiful quince. 

All said, yes the quince is ugly.  But when you know the treasure that it holds, you can see the beauty despite its exterior.  A natural gift you can interpret in your own little jar.

 

Lady Liezl

Dragon fruit:

Dragon fruit or maybe to some more commonly known as the ‘beautiful pink fruit’, is native to Mexico, South America and the Central America. It comes from the cactus plant, Hylocereus, which only blooms at night time and has large, white, fragrant flowers that are just as beautiful as the fruit itself.  The fruit comes in 3 colours: two have pink skin, but with different coloured flesh of which one is white and the other one red, while another type is yellow with white flesh.

This red skinned fruit can weigh up to 1kg and is even used in some folk medicine to reduce headache symptoms. It has a juicy flesh, but regrettably has a dull and bland taste with a mild sweetness as most people would describe it. Almost like a melon or kiwi fruit.

The seeds can be dried and used for numerous things- the best of which would be to eat it just as is. Like I believe- natural is always best. It is unpretentious and genuine. 

Dragon fruit can also survive temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius which is probably why they originated in Mexico.  It contains several vitamins and antioxidants and is also very low in calories for those who are on a strict diet- although I think that food is too glorious to waste your time and energy on dieting and not be able to enjoy the contentment that food gives you…especially dragon fruit sorbet on a hot summers day!

 

- Marvellous Mareli

Introducing the Foodlightwriters team:

(In order of the pictures from the left hand corner)

Since the age of 7 I wanted to be a chef. My passion for cooking started with me helping my mom in the kitchen. I'd always give her a hand where I could, even if it was just to break eggs into a bowl for her...Little did I know that it was there where the foundation of my cheffing career was built.

In 2011 I packed my bags and came to the beautiful Cape Wine lands to start my studies at the ICA.

My food philosophies are:
To use only the freshest produce and ingredients.
Only to use good quality meat.
I believe in 'nose to tail' cooking.
Never stop learning from anybody.
It is about the food and customer not just money.

I am a chef with passion, dedication and the desire to make a name for myself in the industry one day! Follow me and join me in my growth within the industry…

-Gourmet Garth

To be lady like when confronted with food is difficult.  It might even be near to impossible.  When a tall, dark cake covered with a glistering chocolate ganaché  is placed in front of me, I can honestly say that a thought such as ‘I want to put my face in it’ is probably passing through my mind. 

As a Chef I’ve been trained and become accustomed to fine dining etiquette, foams and spheres and 14 smaller portions rather than a Sunday roast – all aspects that add to my admiration for the art of fine dining.  Yet I am also captivated by the beauty of a simple raw candy striped beetroot, without all the make-up chefs can paint on it.

However presented, for me it comes down to this:  Food is the only art form that entices all five the senses. It is the experiences with food that entrance me, that make me utterly in love with food.  So please pardon me if I am sometimes not too lady like when it comes to food, for I want to know that I’ve experienced food in all its forms and facets and indulged in my love… my food.

-Lady Liezl

 

 

artist. naturalist. lover of delectable things.

Food is Love,

Love is All.

My aspirations include seeing the world in all its tastes, textures, smells and sounds and to make my life - a living work of art.

It is good to be aware of the feel of the world around you.

It is good to see the world through the lens of beauty.

Showering in salted caramel? Yes please.

-Exquisite Elsebe

I have a great love for good food- if it is off the braai, at a sit down dinner in an excellent restaurant, or even to indulge in a nice cold apple. 

One thing that I have to get used to is being able to get produce from my garden. To select the perfect vegetable and pulling it out of the ground to see how gorgeous it is, has a certain thrill to it.

My love for pastry and desserts come first in the kitchen.  I enjoy working cold section as well as larder section, but pastry section is my love. Pastry and desserts are like the round off to the perfect meal.

My heart lies in the kitchen.  I love the thrill of the kitchen and all the adrenaline. The kitchen becomes your home and the people become your family. Food is definitely my passion in life.

-Lovely Lize

Being a chef was what I dreamed about for most of my life- or rather, being a pastry chef. My family refers to me as the ‘Queen of Cakes’, because my life literally revolves around eggs, flour, sugar and butter- the key ingredients to making any kind of cake, cupcake, tart or pastry.

Baking takes time, concentration, patience and sometimes a lot of effort, or as we were taught in chef school, the 4 P’s of pastry- persistence, patience, perfection and precision. It is a form of art that I find comfort in.

To know me you need to know that I can be a very stubborn person- just like a cake can be when the icing doesn’t want to set or the meringue just does not want to fluff enough. Thus we need to reach an agreement- which of course always has to come from my side. I mean, can you see a cake understand a humans mind?

I’m very enthusiastic and eager to learn. I try to rather see the positive in life and enjoy challenges immensely. I’m a sensitive person (although you should probably not say this when you are a chef) and of course....I am in love with food!

The contentment that a piece of freshly baked bread with farm butter can give you is immense. The satisfaction that you get when people eat your food and cannot get enough is marvellous. The glee a single cupcake can give you is mind-boggling.

I call myself Marvellous Mareli, because the concept that food brings people together, is absolutely marvellous.

-Marvellous Mareli

Hatching

Hatching from being JUST a chef...

To being a glamorous food stylist, a creative food photographer, an inspiring celebrity chef or an innovative food writer! We are all embarking on our dream food journeys, each with our own unique destination. 

We invite you to follow us on this journey as we expose you to the enticing world of FOOD.