There are very few things we have to do in this world but EATING is the most important!
Therefore one could say the world revolves around FOOD!
So follow my Culinary Journey
300g Dark Chocolate
300g Yogurt
4 Egg Whites
1/2 Punch Brown Sugar
Melt the Chocolate in a double Boiler. Whisk the Whites with a pinch on Salt till soft peeks. Add the sugar and whisk till stiff. Once the Chocolate has molten fold in the Yogurt. Once that has emulsified carefully fold in the Whites. Refrigerate for at leased an hour and Serve!
10 eggs yolks3 cups milk
2 cups cream
2 cups Jack Daniels
1 cup Powder sugar
¾ cup brandy
1 teaspoons ground nutmeg
Make it a family thing! Separate the ingredients to 5 members each getting 1/5 of the recipe in front of them then all sit around... stir the yolks with the sugar till the mixture turns very pale. Mix all the liquid together and slowly add them into the egg whist string. add the nutmeg last and drink away... this way it becomes a family event and everyone has fun with it. This is what we do in my family.
Tip: For the Healthier version use Soy milk and no cream.
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Water
1 packet Yeast
Pinch Sugar
Pinch Salt
Put the Flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the Yeast. Pour a bit of the Luke warm water into the yeast and mix. Add the Pinch of Sugar to the Yeast to help Activate it!
When the bubbles appear mix all together adding small amounts of water till it all comes together into a dough.
Kneed the bread for 10 minutes and cover. Let rest till it has risen to double its size. Take the dough and cut into 4 pieces. With a rolling pin roll them into flat circles. Het a frying pan dry or with Olive oil. Put the pita one at a time and fry till brown and there are visible bubbles on the top side. Then turn it around and brown the other side. Once done serve or let cool. Bag them and refrigerate. If using later just turn oven on 380'F for 10 min to heat through.
2 6oz Salmon Portions
2 Large Sweet Potatoes
1 knob of Butter
1 Splash of Milk
1 Pun net Oyster Mushrooms
5 Chestnuts
1/2 cup White Wine
1 clove Garlic
1 Large Zucchini
Chives
Salt
Peel and Cut the Sweet Potato into small dice. Put into Boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Once done stain and push the potato through the strainer to make it very fine. Add a knob of butter and put aside. Chop the mushrooms roughly and into a frying pan with some oil. Fry until they are brown. Chop up the Chestnuts and add to the mushrooms. Add the Garlic and the Zucchini at the end. Put the Salmon skin down in a hot pan with oil. (This is so that the skin does not curl). Fry till one third is cooked through and the skin is nice and brown and Turn to fry the other side. In the Mean time add some milk and salt to the potatoes and mix well. To the Mushrooms we now add the wine and salt. Once the salmon is almost ready squeeze the Lime over the salmon and serve with the Sweet Potato Mash and the Chestnut Oyster mushrooms
3 cups Beetroot and Stems
1 1/2 cups Vinegar
1 1/2 cups Water
1 clove Garlic
1/2 inch Ginger
1 inch Lemon Grass
Pinch Salt
Dice the Beetroot and the Stems. Fry in a Pot with a bit of Oil. Chop the Garlic. Ginger and the Lemongrass and add to the Beet. Add the Sugar, Vinegar, Water (Stock made from all the off cuts). Bring to the Boil and cook for 30 to 45 minutes, until it becomes thick.
Place into a bowl and store in the Fridge.
You can use Beetroot Chutney on Bread, Seafood, Meats and Chicken but works really well with Venison.
2 lb Mussels
2 Carrots
1/2 Red Onion
1 clove Garlic
1/2 inch Ginger
1 inch Lemon Grass
1 Lime
1 cup Wine
Cilantro
Cut the Carrots and the Onion into Julienne. Fry the Carrots off first in a bit of Oil, as they take the longest. Chop up the Garlic, Ginger and Lemongrass. Once the Carrots are half cooked add the Onions, Garlic, Ginger and the Lemongrass. Toss the ingredients in the pan and add the Mussels. Cover and let them steam a bit. After about 1 minute open the Lid and add salt. Toss the pan to mix the ingredients and close up. Open after another minute and add the wine and close up. 1 Minute later open up and leave open for a short wile and serve with all the juices
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Im a Chef by trade and have had the honor working in many Restaurants and Hotels around the world. I am a first generation Chef. I learned the passion for food when I was a child from my Parents who loved to cook! I loved to bake bread with my dad.
Sour Dough Rye Bread:
White Flour 290g
Rye Flour 290g
Water about 400ml
Yeast 50g
Spices - Caraway, Aniseeds, Coriander, Salt 15ml
Mix the flower, make a hole, place the yeast, molasses or brown sugar plus half the warm water. Let the lot
ferment, then mix with the machine to a dough, that finally does not stick to the fingers. If too wet I add flower. Placed the dough in the mold, cover it with a towel and let it rise. Then turn it onto a greased tray and
bake it at 210 degree for 45 min. and switch he oven off but leave the loaf for another 10 minutes.
At the age of 12 I made my first Chocolate Soufflé .... and knock on wood not one flop to this day... and I was hooked. In High School holidays I started to work in the Royal Hotel in Durban. This was to see if I was made for this Industry. I started as a Dish wash and doing all the Shitty jobs. But you know I still loved to be there. On the days off I used to work in the Pastry Kitchen were I got more love for the Desserts.
After FinishingHigh School I went to the Institute of Culinary Arts and Studied for 2 Years. Were I was failed in my Final Exam because the Principal had an issue with me because I was good and she just could not deal with that. I made a Final Diner menu:
Pan fried Foie Gras served with Fanned Poached baby Pear and Champaign Jelly
Trio of Pepper Mousse (Red, Green and Yellow)
Pineapple Sorbet served on a Chocolate Spoon
Trio of Fillet ( Individual Fillet Florida, Mignon and Carpet Bagger)
Mango Sorbet on a Chocolate Spoon
Trio of Cream Cheese ( Dumplings, Pancake and Mousse)
This was a menu compiled by a Student who wanted to show as much as he could in one Sitting. The food was all well proportioned and the other 10 guests were overwhelmed by my capabilities! So After finding out that I had failed I went to the Opposing team and they thought I was more than qualified and gave me my Chef Diploma.
Well that’s all in the past but it was the foundation of what I was out to prove that I was a Chef and could learn as much as I could possibly learn in one decade. This decade took me on travels that I could never imagine possible. I traveled to Austria were I worked in a five star Hotel, Bio Hotel Stanglwirt. www.stanglwirt.at. Wow what a place, all made in wood and all the stars go there so its a high profile place. I worked there for one year learning the Pastry Kitchen and how to push out high quality food to hundreds of guests.
I also learned how to work fast and accurate which is quite an important trait to have in this industry. Stanglwirt is a Hotel and Restaurant with real Austrian Style food. The classic Vienna Schnitzel to Slow Roasted Pork Neck.
Classic Vienna Schnizel:
Veal Loin
Eggs
Flour
Bread Crumbs
Butter
Cut the veal loin, butterfly style and tenderize. Pane the schnitzel.
In a thin steel pan place a big knob of butter and slowly fry the schnitzel on both sides till golden brown. Serve with Parley potatoes and Cranberry jelly.
I then moved on to a Michelin Restaurant were I helped out for four weeks in Graz.
Working in a Michelin Restaurant was a really an experience to learn how to work with precision and perfection. I worked the Starter and Dessert section.
Sour Milk Herring Terrine with a Apple and Beetroot Vinaigrette:
Terrine: Herrings
Sour Milk 250ml
Gelatin 2 leaves
Seasoning
Mix the Sour Milk with the seasoning and the Gelatin. In the terrine mold fill the mold to half and place in the herrings. Fill the mold with the rest of the sour milk and place onto the refrigerator to set.
Brunois the apples and the beetroot mix with a vinaigrette and serve with a Lola Rosa, Rose.
I then got the Job as Sous Chef in Sport Hotel Austria in St Johann in Tirol were I also spent one year. Here I learned allot about ordering and how to refresh food..
My two years I spent in Austria were a great learning experience because I could fly to different places on holiday. I wanted to see the world but never as a tourist always as a local. I spent Weekends in London, Days off in Hungry, a hop to Switzerland and go wherever I felt like going. This to me was the best drug in the world. Traveling taught me how to be myself and everybody ells. The only disadvantage to all this is that you end up loosing who you really are but u can be anything you really want to be. I could walk through a strange city looking like I’ve been there all my life.
In my holidays to South Africa a friend of my mothers was opening a Restaurant called Tiffany's. They needed some advice in the running of a Restaurant so I helped and made sure there grand opening was amazing. They asked me to finish my season in Austria and come run the Restaurant with a percentage of the ownership. Which I accepted, seeing this is what every Chef wants in there career. So I finished my season in Austria and returned to South Africa to run this Restaurant. It was a great opportunity which I took on. I made my own menu and loved to prepare it. I made something for everyone. I had a menu for the hungry, fine dining, vegetarian and kids.
Ivar is a Culinary Trained Chef who Apprenticed in the Royal Hotel in Durban and Trained at the Institute of Culinary Arts in South Africa. He has worked in Restaurants and Hotels. Ivar has Traveled form South Africa through Europe to Eastern Europe. Run his own Restaurant and Cooking School. His latest Adventure was to jump on a 40ft Race Yacht and cross the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Town to the Bahamas and is now working on Yachts.
