Current Position at Prue Leith Acadmey

Qualification

Experience in the Hospitality Industry

Why I teach

I am fascinated by food - by the pleasure that different tastes give to the intricacies and history that every ingredient brings to the table. To me one of the most important aspects of cooking that young chefs need to learn is respect and an understanding for the ingredients they work with.

How to show off the best visual characteristics of the pear, for example, and how to extract the maximum amount of flavour from it. Only once you understand ingredients, you can produce pleasure on a plate. There is much irresponsible use of ingredients in restaurants in South Africa and also poor knowledge of the amazing local ingredients (and their quality) that we have. I would like to change that.

What is the first real cookery book that you bought?

I own more than 1000 cookery and food related books. I can't exactly remember who was first but highlights definitely included Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat, Liam Tomlin's Season to Taste, Thomas Keller's French Laundry, Gordon Ramsay's 3 Star Chef. Some of my best recipes have however been from rather unlikely sources!

What are you reading right now?

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Who has inspired you in this industry?

Michel Roux, (actually both Roux-brothers and Michel Jr), Gordon Ramsay, Damian Pignolet, Anthony Bourdain, Rick Stein, Neil Jewel, Bernard Loiseau, Anna Trapido.

How do you feel about the hospitality industry in South Africa?

We are a hospitable nation. Entertaining comes naturally to us. We can be brilliant at this if we realize the importance of service and accept that the flavours of our continent are immaculate. We can take lessons in precision and technique from the French masters, but we have a sufficient flavour repertoire to pull from. We need to show off our rich culinary history.