Herb Gardens
Since time immemorial herb gardens have played an important role to any master cook or chef, indeed to most discerning cooks, whether professional or amateur. By far the majority of private homes throughout the world make daily use of herbs. Sadly, few of them are able to make use of an herb garden and have to make do with those horrible little glass jars of dried herbs. But, believe me, there is nothing better than collecting a bunch of fresh herbs from an herb garden before starting to prepare a meal. Of course, the variety of herbs in your garden is going to vary from person to person, but there are a few which are essential, and these are Parsley, Thyme and Sage, Rosemary, Basil, Mint, Chives and Marjoram. There are plenty of other herbs but these eight form a pretty good nucleus around which an herb garden can be built up.
Few restaurants have their own herb garden, mainly because there is just no room to plant one, the majority of restaurants being in city centres. There is one restaurant of note, though, that does have its own herb garden, and that is Prue Leith’s. Prue Leith’s is part of the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine and is situated in the grounds of the old Lyttleton Manor House in Centurion, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The college premises include a fully equipped demonstration kitchen, a large teaching kitchen, a lecture room and the 60-seat Prue Leith’s restaurant. Outside there is a boma, which is used for outdoor adventure cooking, a tea garden, a swimming pool and an herb garden.
The college hold courses that culminate with students being awarded the Prue Leith Diploma, a catering diploma that is recognized the world over. In order to be accepted into the college students must have reached the age of eighteen years and have passed their Matric Examinations. The Diploma course at the college lasts for eighteen months over three semesters and starts in January and July of each year. The Prue Leith College was started in 1996 in response to the increase in demand for the training of reliable catering staff in South Africa, and produces chefs who are qualified in cooking, restaurant service, wine, kitchen management and financial controls. There is an underlying philosophy that in order to retain academic knowledge, that knowledge learned in the classroom should be put into practice as soon as possible. For this reason students are given extensive exposure to the workplace at as early a date during their course as possible.
Students are put to work in the Prue Leith Restaurant from their second week on the course, and here they wait on table, take orders, prepare and cook all of the meals, making good use of the college’s own herb garden (Prue Leith’s is one of the few restaurants in South Africa that can boast its own herb garden), and serve the meal orders. They also staff the bar and front of house positions as well as acting as Maître d’Hotel.
