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| Take 10 with Miss K | |||
Food24 takes 10 with chef Kirsten Zschokke to talk about life in the fast lane and her new venture, Miss K. |
Cordon Bleu diploma, five-star bush cuisine, cooking on the Grand Prix circuit with a British-based racing team, private parties and personal chef to high profile sportsmen... let's meet the woman behind Miss K.
1. Tell us more about your culinary beginning.
My mom is a fantastic cook so I grew up with wonderful chiffon cakes, home made pastas and generally good food in the house all the time. She always used good basic ingredients and kept it simple, healthy and light. She has had a direct influence on how I cook today.
2. You went from school to travelling the world as a personal chef to some very famous people. How did you get to that point in your career?
I completed a three year diploma at Silwood Kitchen in Cape Town. On completion, I accepted a job to work on a luxury game farm in the Timbervati region. It was a fantastic experience and I really got to explore my creative and practical side while working in the bush. Bush kitchens work very differently from city kitchens and being organised and flexible is a key factor in getting to grips with this kind of cooking.
I stayed at Ngala Game Reserve for 18 months and then decided to move on to Europe to gather more culinary experience. On arrival to the UK, I joined two freelance agencies and began working for clients in and around London. After three years, I decided to go on my own as I had gathered a large portfolio of clients. I started up my own freelance business and started travelling worldwide. I freelanced for 10 years until I thought it was time to finally get Miss K off the ground and return back to SA.
3. You were the personal chef to Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras, in most people's minds 'the dream job'. What's it like cooking for such successful and famous sportsmen?
It was great fun as they were both such wonderful people and very easy to please. For both of them, being on the road for most of the year, they really just wanted simple home cooked food but obviously with a healthy slant to all the food prepared.
4. Tell us more about your own place, Miss K, and how that's going.
I have always wanted to open a food café, since I completed my diploma at Silwood kitchen in Cape Town, a small place where locals could come and enjoy fresh simple food in an aesthetically pleasing setting.
While freelancing and travelling in Europe and the States, I had many wonderful experiences. Miss K evolved as a result of all these wonderful experiences. The shop represents for me a culmination of my cooking career for the last 10 years. It was quite difficult, initially to get it up and running but perseverance and hard headedness paid off in the end! Since Miss K opened its doors in January 2008, it has received wonderful press and we continue to get busier and busier each month.
5. If you had four friends for dinner, what would you cook for them?
Paternoster crayfish salad to start. Medium-rare, matured, rib eye steaks on the braai , with warm jacket potatoes and a rocket salad with Parmesan shavings.
Chocolate fondant puddings with Sinnfull ice cream to follow.
6. What do you like doing when you're not cooking?
Beach in summer, reading, shoe shopping, travelling – although I don’t have any time for that at present.
7. Your favourite restaurant in the world?
The River Café in London
8. Your favourite recipe book?
Where the Heart is by Karen Martini and also the
River Café Pocket Books: Puddings, Cakes & Ice Creams.
9. Best restaurant memories?
Nobu in New York and London, The Round Swamp in Long Island New York for lobster salad, Tom Aikens Kitchen in London for steak, and Billy Kwong in Sydney.
10. It's great to have you back in SA, what's your favourite thing about being back in Cape Town?
Llandudno beach
As a treat for afters Miss K has given us her favourite chocolate pudding recipe:
Recipe Type – Dessert
Main Ingredient – Dark chocolate
Ingredients:
125g dark bitter chocolate
125g unsalted butter
1 small cinnamon stick
2 small pieces star anise
melted butter
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
60g castor sugar
25g plain flour
icing sugar
Method:
Melt the chocolate very slowly over a pan of hot water with the butter, cinnamon and star anise. Meanwhile, grease 4 x 3.5cm high x 7cm diameter ring moulds with melted butter. Place on a greased baking sheet and line the sides and bases with baking paper, then brush with a little more melted butter.
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Beat the egg yolks, eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Remove the spices and pour the chocolate mix into the egg mixture. Mix well to combine.
Gently fold in the flour, transfer the mixture to a jug and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Pour the batter into the moulds. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pudding is firm on the outside but soft in the centre.
Carefully remove the puddings from the moulds and transfer to serving plates. Dust with icing sugar and serve with a green-tea ice cream if desired.
| story by Cathrine Shone: Food24 | |
| image by Food24.com | |
