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shop Woolworths biltong

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Find the recipe for Chamoy sauce here.  

Now to get started:

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This spiky Pokémon-like, fractal flower is a mesmerisingly beautiful heirloom vegetable with Italian origins. This is cauliflower and broccoli’s flamboyant sibling – firmer and crunchier than cauliflower but similar in flavour. Chartreuse in colour, it’s so much more than just a pretty face. Romanesco is that otherworldly green veggie that begs to be taken home and explored, making it one of the most impulsively purchased vegetables of all time. Probably.

Sometimes, I just toss it into my trolley with no clear idea what I’ll do with it other than knowing I want to at the very least admire it whenever I open the fridge.

 

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Identifying Romanesco

Romanesco grows best in cool weather in full sun and sprouts into a large head about 16 cm in diameter, much like cauliflower, with a thick central stalk and large, dark green leaves. How to choose a Romanesco? Look for sharp points, a vivid green colour, with no discoloration or brown spots, and make sure the head is sturdy and not rubbery and soft.

What does Romanesco taste like?

Its flavour is often described as nutty, mild and sweet. When cooked, it acquires an earthy flavour but it may turn bland and slightly bitter if overcooked. It can wear a myriad outfits and look spectacular in all of them. It lends itself to all manner of flavour and maintains its main character status on a plate.

Cooking with Romanesco

Romanesco is a dynamic veggie and there are so many ways to prepare it – your safest bet is to treat it as you would broccoli or cauliflower. Finely chop it into a frittata; roast the florets and toss them with a dressing of lemon, olive oil and herbs; boil the whole head and roast in a mixture of oil, spices and yoghurt; or cut into steaks and throw on the braai as in my recipe below. You could also tempura the florets to make a crunchy snack and dip it into a citrusy aioli. Maintain those attractive fractals by not cutting the florets too small, but if you’re keeping it raw, it’s best to slice it into thin, delicate slices and toss into a coleslaw.

Shop Romanesco at Woolies today.

If you have some on hand right now, make the very best of it with these recipes:

Organic baby leaf salad with pickled Romanesco, spelt and walnuts

Find the recipe for organic baby leaf salad with pickled Romanesco, spelt and walnuts here. 

Braaied veggies with curried onions

Find the recipe for Braaied veggies with curried onions here. 

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Preparing the calamari

When coating the calamari, make sure all the pieces are individually coated, making sure to shake off any excess flour. If you’re using small calamari, this will be light work, but if you’re using larger pieces, cut it into thick rings and soak in milk for about 30 minutes before cooking. Season your flour well – this is the crucial step in flavouring your calamari.

Tips when frying calamari

Heat an adequate amount of oil to fry the calamari, rather have a lot than a little. And be sure not to overcrowd the pan when frying, as that may cause the oil to cool, which means the calamari won’t crisp up. When the calamari is cooked, drain on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil, there’s nothing worse than oily calamari!

How to avoid tough calamari

To prevent your calamari from becoming tough and chewy, take care not to cook it for longer than the allocated time. Remove it from the hot oil as soon as it crisps up and turns light golden brown. As a rule, fry tentacles for 1 minute, and 2-and-a-half minutes for the tubes, and no longer.

Step-by-step fried calamari

Ingredients: 

180 g flour
80 g cornflour
1 t baking powder
2 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t smoked paprika
500 g calamari, cleaned
canola oil, for frying
½ cup mayonnaise
2 T gochujang paste
lime wedges, for serving

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Tempering chocolate refers to the controlled heating and cooling of chocolate to give it a shiny appearance and a crisp snap. Tempered chocolate not only looks impressive, it also adds a ‘preserving’ element to the finished product. Tempered chocolate won’t melt as quickly as regular chocolate and acts as a secure shell for whatever soft filling is inside. There are a couple methods of tempering, which are seeding, tabling and a process of heating and cooling the chocolate to a specific temperature (using a thermometer) depending on the type of couverture you’re using.

What do I need to know about tempering chocolate?

There’s no two ways about this, tempering chocolate is a rather fiddly process, one that requires patience and specific tools. In classic French patisseries, you might find an automatic tempering machine, but failing that, you’ll get by with a thermometer, a metal spatula and a non-stick silicone baking sheet or wax paper. Once you’ve got your kit sorted, you’ll also need somewhere to melt the chocolate – either in a microwave or in a double-boiler, which you can make by setting a glass bowl over a bowl of barely simmering water.

What can I do with tempered chocolate?

Tempered chocolate is mostly used to cover filled chocolates and other friandises, but it can also make an impressive garnish for desserts or cakes.

A note on the chocolate

If you’re going to temper chocolate, you could probably make do without any tools but you won’t get very far if you’re not using the correct chocolate. If you’ve ever noticed the word ‘couverture’ on a chocolate bar, this is the chocolate you’ll want to reach for when tempering, as it literally translates to ‘covering’. This chocolate has a higher cocoa butter percentage and generally contains less additives such as vegetable oil, flavourings, milk powder or soy lecithin. For tempering success, look for chocolate with at least 32% cocoa butter as this will give the finished product that desired glossy shine. You can temper all types of chocolate, provided they have a high enough cocoa butter content. Glen Williams, owner of Foxcroft restaurant and bakery in Cape Town stressed this to us:  “Spend the extra money on proper couverture, if there are any ingredients other than cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla and lecithin (and milk solids for milk chocolate), then don’t bother trying to temper.”

Not sure what to do with your tempered chocolate? Here’s some inspiration. Find our step-by-step guide on how to temper chocolate below the recipes.

Chocolate mousse, espresso sabayon and chocolate shards

Get the recipe for chocolate mousse, espresso sabayon and chocolate shards here.

Two-ingredient magic shell

Get the recipe for two-ingredient magic shell here.

Christmas Yule log

Get the recipe for Christmas Yule log here.

Temper chocolate in 6 easy steps

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