SA's golden boy reveals handy hints and the essential tools that'll help you take your cooking game to the next level
SA's golden boy reveals handy hints and the essential tools that'll help you take your cooking game to the next levelSA's golden chef, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, will soon have a lot more on his plate.Much-lauded Michelin-star chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen has just announced that he is coming closer to home. He's been coaxed to open Klein Jan, an extension of his restaurant in France, out in the wondrously beautiful landscape of the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve.
He also plans on opening an incubation space in Cape Town to teach culinary students and his staff how to push themselves creatively in the kitchen. As such, we asked him for some tips that'll help home cooks to take their kitchen game to the next level.Although Jan admits that he is not"a knife guy, with a roll of special Japanese knives", the four that he does have he wields expertly and with purpose. They are always sharp because a sharp knife is a precise knife.123RF/dolgachov"People need a mandolin," says Jan,"and you need to know how to work with it.
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen plans to use ingredients from the area around the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve at his new eatery."Don't faff with sauces," says Jan. He believes that if you give the sauce the time to simmer and grow in flavour, you can take very simple ingredients and transform them into punchy flavours.As fun as molecular gastronomy is, Jan believes that there are too many chemicals in food as is.
As important as it is for professional chefs to be able to build up their knowledge and be able to go back to their documented dishes — a la the flip-card recipe trove Remy the rat pages through in the cartoon, — he believes home cooks should take notes too. It's a good practice to take photos of what you've made so you can see how far you've progressed on your cooking journey.Ask as many questions as you can. Questions are never annoying in the kitchen.
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