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Good food we serve at the restaurant


Delta!

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Finally, something on the menu changed or was brought back from previous menu's.

 

The Pissaladiere was replaced with a "jewels of the forest" (a wild mushroom tart). Puff pastry spread with cream cheese, onion marmelade, brown + white Shemeji and Shiitake mushrooms, served with thyme ice cream.

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And an old dessert that was brought back(although terrible timing, since meringue doesn't work well in spring/summer)

Passion fruit Meringue, served with passion fruit lemonade jelly

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And this is a dessert from Delaire Graff, Where I am going to work. A taste of caramel.

A small creme brulee, a small creme caramel, caramel mousse/gel, caramel popcorn, a profiterole with caramel creme pat, covered with caramel sauce and maldon salt, and garnish is deep fried mint.

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Delta!

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Wonderful looking deserts. Theuns, do you ever watch Top Chefs Just Deserts? :bounce: The second to last episode had them working with savory and sweet deserts, focusing mostly on savory deserts. Savory seems to be a new thing for the North American palate when coming to deserts, but I'm loving the trend. All of your deserts remind me of what I was seeing in that last episode.

 

Basil, rosemary, seasalt, yum

 

:)

 

gogo

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Wonderful looking deserts. Theuns, do you ever watch Top Chefs Just Deserts? :bounce: The second to last episode had them working with savory and sweet deserts, focusing mostly on savory deserts. Savory seems to be a new thing for the North American palate when coming to deserts, but I'm loving the trend. All of your deserts remind me of what I was seeing in that last episode.

 

Basil, rosemary, seasalt, yum

 

:)

 

gogo

 

Nope, I haven't watched Top Chefs. I don't have TV.

 

The Maldon salt on the Profiterole just breaks the intense sweetness from the caramel sauce. but savoury desserts is not something I have any experience in yet... would like to know a bit more about that.

 

Delta!

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  • 3 months later...

some more photos of Delaire Graff. I have been working there for almost 4months and I haven't posted any pictures and things have changed...

 

the Petit Fours/mignardise/friandise served after the meal with Coffee/tea will always be Macaroons and Marshmallows, but we are allowed to play around with the flavour, the icing and the garnish.

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The Chocolate dessert when I just started working there was this...

Chocolate soup, white chocolate parfait rolled in honeycomb, chocolate brownie, white chocolate and coconut sorbet, chocolate swirl tuille filled with white chocolate mousse, chocolate granita and garnish is a chocolate quill.

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The new Chocolate dessert...

Chocolate salami(chocolate brownie compressed with honeycomb and white chocolate), hazelnut praline, chocolate crumble, Franjelico jelly, Chocolate "air", dark chocolate ice cream and white chocolate and coconut sorbet.

post-15332-0-62329800-1327607261_thumb.jpg

 

Pistachio Nougat.

Pistachio nougatine with Turkish delight, strawberry dust, pistachio dust, rose geranium Ice cream, and strawberry mousse.

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Delta!

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Strawberry meringue: Strawberry ice cream, covered with vanilla creme pat, black pepper shortbread biscuits, deep fried mint, meringue, and served with macarated strawberries and strawberry granita

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This dessert was also on when I just started working there, and I like preparing the components and plating it.

Double malt Ice cream sandwich:

Carob sauce, double malt Ice cream sandwich, carob jelly, mascarpone mousse, parsnip and carob cake, carrot crisps, dried parsnips and deep fried mint for garnish

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The Double malt Ice cream was changed to the Red Velvet Cake.

Red velvet beetroot cake, served with beetroot jelly, beetroot carpaccio, sous vide peaches, muesli crumble, apple and rhubarb compote, and goats cheese Ice cream garnished with micro herbs.

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The red velvet has also been removed and replaced with the Apple Panna cotta(quite a tricky thing to make, but the brilliant Pastry chef Natasha O'Connel has accomplished so many wonders!)

Apple Panna Cotta, Pineapple carpaccio, mango spheres, mango sorbet, apple and rhubarb compote, muesli crumble, litchi jelly and pansie flowers

post-15332-0-13091800-1327608065_thumb.jpg

 

 

Delta!

Edited by Delta!
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Geez, that's some posh looking grub mate.

 

Bet it don't come cheap ?

 

 

Nope not cheap at all! but the quality is excellent, and the kitchen is big, with lots of staff that must get paid every month.

we get a lot of overseas tourists, especially in our hot summer months!

 

Some of the platings has changed, and I don't have any starter or mains pictures, because I spend all my time in the pastry kitchen. we also bake fresh bread every day, at the current time it is campania, ciabatta and Challah(an enriched bread)

 

Here is the link for the estates site,

http://www.delaire.co.za/

 

Delta!

Edited by Delta!
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Well it all looks wonderful, and they say "you get what you pay for" . But, with my wages, I'll have to stick with cheese on toast, lol !

 

If my numbers come up on the lotto, I'll give you a shout mate.

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Wonderful presentation Theuns, I've missed your food writing friend! :hugs:

 

This part here that you wrote:

 

The Double malt Ice cream was changed to the Red Velvet Cake.

Red velvet beetroot cake, served with beetroot jelly, beetroot carpaccio, sous vide peaches, muesli crumble, apple and rhubarb compote, and goats cheese Ice cream garnished with micro herbs.

 

Made me think of something that brad is doing...he's currently working on project for net, and one of the recipes is called "red velvet" ...is this word famous for desert of kind of cake or sweet? Is it famous because of the beet root?

 

Gonna take your food writeup with me to work in my head this morning as energy boost

 

:dance:

 

gogo

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes the red velvet is a famous cake, but the way of making it red changes, common ways of making it red, is by using red food colouring, using an alkali(most commonly buttermilk) in combination with pure cocoa powder, or using beetroot juice or a combination of the 3. It is usually prepared as a layer cake topped with a creamy vanilla icing or most popularly, cream cheese icing.

 

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Delta!

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The color is especially entrancing. I'd never seen or heard of a cake called Red Velvet before, and having worked in desert place for many years, was delighted and amused to hear of it.

 

:)

 

gogo

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I think it must be something which my wife calls Roter Samtkuchen (Red Velvet cake). Seems the cacao here in germany is not acidic because it is mainly created with the dutch cacao process. If in contact with acid (butter milk, lemon juice) it will turn slightly red. My wife said it was more red when she was young, so she adds redbeets for colour and having it more juicy. Also because of it being not acidic you have to use baking powder and not baking soda?

 

So is this red velvet named because of:

cacao turned red

red food colour

redbeet

cherries

?

 

South africa has probably dutch processed cacao?

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  • 1 month later...

What a good day I had today... went in early toady(I was only supposed to work a 3-close, but went in at 7, good thing because Natasha the pastry chef has not recovered from her operation yet and didn't come in today).

Just after 9:00 the Executive chef's assistant came into pastry asking if the birthday cake is ready... I looked at Hillary, He looked at me, we were both stunned and asked "WHAT Birthday cake?" :Just_Cuz_21:

 

Someone had ordered a rich Chocolate and berry cake for 12 guests having a celebration lunch and they are arriving at 13:00. Neither of us have ever made a cake for paying guests before, never mind someone paying R 450-00!

 

Hillary said If I make the cake, He will continue prepping for lunch service and do service. My knees almost went weak. I started by making a chocolate sponge cake, melting chocolate with some cream for ganache, and melting more white choc and dark choc for decorating, I made a berry coulis, got some Strawberry Butlers liquer, made white choc and berry icing and prayed like I haven't prayed in a long time...

 

after a surprising short 12minutes of baking time the chocolate sponge was done and had risen very well, I cut of the top to make it even, cut it into 2 even sized squares and soaked it with stock syrup, some of the liquer and coulis, then I piped the icing on, layered a square of dark chocolate brownie on, piped icing on top of the brownie, put the second piece of sponge on top and poured/spread the ganache over and around to cover nicely. It then went into the Fridge so that the ganache won't run of. I had spread some of the melted choc on silpats and let them set in the fridge, I cut them into rectangles to stick on the side, and write "Happy Birthday" with white choc on a big piece. I then covered the sides with the choc rectangles, and placed the bigger written piece on top with gooseberries, raspberries fanned strawberries and choc squares...

 

The result... my First Choc cake for paying guests! :sweating:

 

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the cake went out to the table when they wanted dessert, and after they had "ooohed" and aaaaaahed" was brought back to the kitchen for us to cut.

 

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they took the pieces that they couldn't finish home because "it is just to good to leave"

I haven't been so proud and happy in a very long time! :4rofl::BlobRed::bounce::3lmao::):P:lol::yay::woot:

 

Delta!

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Theuns, I have forgotten how good a writer you are, this great write up had me thrilled. Good job, and congratulations on the accomplishment!. A huge cake like this under the pressure of having to create it for paying customers as well as a surprise, with results like this are nothing short of spectacular.

 

The oohs and aahs...that's what it's about eh? Customer appreciation and love for your craft. Well done sir, and you have a great eye for color and design.

 

Watch out, someone's gonna steal you away from that restaurant in the middle of the night!

 

:oooo:

 

gogo

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  • 4 weeks later...

I made another birthday cake, for VIP guests(one of the managers ex bosses, who is very respected in the hospitality industry) was there on Sunday with 13 other guests for lunch.

 

Atleast I knew before hand about this one, but they didn't specify what they want or the amount they were willing to pay... So I had free reign.

 

I did some thinking on Saturday night before going to bed, did some brainstorming(with a baking book or 2), thinking about types of cakes, and available ingredients, and time required, and fell asleep with 2 options... A carrot and walnut cake with mascarpone icing, or a caramel cake with toffee ganache and spun sugar/caramel nuts.

Woke up on Sunday morning with the cake from my dream-thinking-state. I'm going for the carrot and walnut cake with mascarpone icing.

I started with the base that I altered a bit from the book, (using olive oil and small amounts of walnut and hazelnut oil for flavour instad of veg oil, and adding lemon and orange zest and juice for flavour and moisture). Baked it. Then I started on the icing(where the recipe was just a form of inspiration). Whisked butter with icing sugar, vanilla seeds, lemon and orange juice and zest, and kept whisking and adding more icing sugar till the right consistency. Added the mascarpone and whisked on a slow speed so that it just incorporates, and the mascarpone won't split, and added a bit more icing sugar to firm it up. I took a small amount out and mixed in some beetroot powder to make it purple(to use for writing) Once the cake came out of the oven I let it cool slightly, and cut it into the desired size and cut of the top to make it level. It then went into the fridge to cool completely otherwise the icing will melt.

 

Once cool I covered the one with icing and placed the other half on top, covered with more icing and smooth it out(warmed the palette knife with a blowtorch and worked very fast. Covered the sides with icing and used the same trick to smooth it out. I then covered the sides with crushed honeyed walnuts, and wrote "Happy 60th Birthday" with the purple icing. Transferred it very carefully on to a plate fit for presenting. And put it back in the fridge.

 

The rest of the kitchen staff indulged themselves on the off cuts of cake and left over icing. And many asked for the recipes. The head chef was very impressed and kept coming back for another piece of off cut cake(very unussual behavior)

 

I'll post foto's once I'm back at my computer.

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I made another birthday cake, for VIP guests(one of the managers ex bosses, who is very respected in the hospitality industry) was there on Sunday with 13 other guests for lunch.

 

Atleast I knew before hand about this one, but they didn't specify what they want or the amount they were willing to pay... So I had free reign.

 

I did some thinking on Saturday night before going to bed, did some brainstorming(with a baking book or 2), thinking about types of cakes, and available ingredients, and time required, and fell asleep with 2 options... A carrot and walnut cake with mascarpone icing, or a caramel cake with toffee ganache and spun sugar/caramel nuts.

Woke up on Sunday morning with the cake from my dream-thinking-state. I'm going for the carrot and walnut cake with mascarpone icing.

I started with the base that I altered a bit from the book, (using olive oil and small amounts of walnut and hazelnut oil for flavour instad of veg oil, and adding lemon and orange zest and juice for flavour and moisture). Baked it. Then I started on the icing(where the recipe was just a form of inspiration). Whisked butter with icing sugar, vanilla seeds, lemon and orange juice and zest, and kept whisking and adding more icing sugar till the right consistency. Added the mascarpone and whisked on a slow speed so that it just incorporates, and the mascarpone won't split, and added a bit more icing sugar to firm it up. I took a small amount out and mixed in some beetroot powder to make it purple(to use for writing) Once the cake came out of the oven I let it cool slightly, and cut it into the desired size and cut of the top to make it level. It then went into the fridge to cool completely otherwise the icing will melt.

 

Once cool I covered the one with icing and placed the other half on top, covered with more icing and smooth it out(warmed the palette knife with a blowtorch and worked very fast. Covered the sides with icing and used the same trick to smooth it out. I then covered the sides with crushed honeyed walnuts, and wrote "Happy 60th Birthday" with the purple icing. Transferred it very carefully on to a plate fit for presenting. And put it back in the fridge.

 

The rest of the kitchen staff indulged themselves on the off cuts of cake and left over icing. And many asked for the recipes. The head chef was very impressed and kept coming back for another piece of off cut cake(very unussual behavior)

 

I'll post foto's once I'm back at my computer.

 

I can't tell what I enjoy more... the quality of your writing, or your genius with making beautiful food on the line. Theuns, is this your calling, you gonna be a pastry chef instead of savory? Or a mix of both?

 

Does one make more than the other? I think you're already making a name for yourself, you're coming through for the team with high quality items when the weeds are in action, and dang, is your food good!

 

:)

 

gogo

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Here are the photos of the Carrot and walnut cake.

 

Just after finishing.

post-15332-0-61945400-1336110490_thumb.jpg

 

The Layers after it was cut.

Cake, covered with Icing, another layer of cake, and covered with icing again, and the sides are covered with crushed honeyed walnuts

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There were 14 guests at the table, and to make sure everyone got an equal slice, I cut the cake into 4, and then quartered each quarter again to give me 16 slices, the 2 left over pieces almost caused a fight to break out in the kitchen between chefs and front of house, seeing how everyone thought it was their right to taste a piece... :butcher:

Luckily I tasted some of the off cuts with leftover icing, so I stayed well clear of the battle field. :whistle:

 

Delta!

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It's a gem! This is my first post of the day, and you have gotten me stomach a growl. Tween this and the chocolate one, was one your favorite? Next time, when you make one of these beauties you should sell tickets to the cut offs

 

:devil:

 

gogo

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It's a gem! This is my first post of the day, and you have gotten me stomach a growl. Tween this and the chocolate one, was one your favorite? Next time, when you make one of these beauties you should sell tickets to the cut offs

 

:devil:

 

gogo

 

 

Some real nice cake there my friend.

 

Chuck in a cup of tea, and you have a deal ! :D

 

:bow: thank you! thank you! :bow:

 

I don't really have a favourite, but the one I'm the most proud of, is the Chocolate cake, because it was totally unplanned, and came as a big surprise for me, and I was very glad that I could meet the expectations that the guests had. (I think I might have gone WAY over budget on the chocolate cake though... :blush: ).

But the chocolate cake was specified and clear about what was expected... "A Rich chocolate and berry cake".

The carrot cake was completely unspecified, I was just told to make a cake for 14 guests, and it could've turned out that they are allergic to nuts, or just don't like carrot cake.

 

Had equal amounts of fun making both though :4rofl:

 

And your previous question about wanting to be a pastry or savoury chef? Definitively a pastry chef... it is way more fun, more precise, and in my opinion more beautiful! It requires more detailed and precise work, and following the recipe every time will always give consistent results. In Larder/cold kitchen and/or hot kitchen, it is more about seasoning, tasting and judging if more seasoning, cooking time, etc is required. While working at Brasserie de Paris, I had to work on desserts and starters, and quite a few of the main courses as well. At Delaire Graff, I'm way more focused on pastry, although I have worked in Larder/cold kitchen a few times.

 

Delta!

Edited by Delta!
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It's a gem! This is my first post of the day, and you have gotten me stomach a growl. Tween this and the chocolate one, was one your favorite? Next time, when you make one of these beauties you should sell tickets to the cut offs

 

:devil:

 

gogo

 

 

 

Some real nice cake there my friend.

 

Chuck in a cup of tea, and you have a deal ! :D

 

:bow: thank you! thank you! :bow:

 

I don't really have a favourite, but the one I'm the most proud of, is the Chocolate cake, because it was totally unplanned, and came as a big surprise for me, and I was very glad that I could meet the expectations that the guests had. (I think I might have gone WAY over budget on the chocolate cake though... :blush: ).

But the chocolate cake was specified and clear about what was expected... "A Rich chocolate and berry cake".

The carrot cake was completely unspecified, I was just told to make a cake for 14 guests, and it could've turned out that they are allergic to nuts, or just don't like carrot cake.

 

Had equal amounts of fun making both though :4rofl:

 

And your previous question about wanting to be a pastry or savoury chef? Definitively a pastry chef... it is way more fun, more precise, and in my opinion more beautiful! It requires more detailed and precise work, and following the recipe every time will always give consistent results. In Larder/cold kitchen and/or hot kitchen, it is more about seasoning, tasting and judging if more seasoning, cooking time, etc is required. While working at Brasserie de Paris, I had to work on desserts and starters, and quite a few of the main courses as well. At Delaire Graff, I'm way more focused on pastry, although I have worked in Larder/cold kitchen a few times.

 

Delta!

 

I have come to have a deep appreciation of the art, time and science that goes into proper pastry making. I've watched two seasons of Top Chef Desserts, and I can never understand how they are able to be artists and tasters extraordinaire with a touch of scientist thrown in. The precision needed to to be a master of this art confounds me, and makes for unbelievable drama, tears and cheerng when the recipes done right.

 

Have you seen this trailer yet from the Pastry Kings about the boceuse d'or done every five years? As good entertainment as any:

 

 

Most of my favourite cakes have funny names:

 

Donauwellen (waves of the river Donau):

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Donauwelle

 

tp69229,1294263430,donauwellen-rezept.jpg

 

Bienenstich (stung by a bee)

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Bienenstich

 

fruchtiger-bienenstich_20080717103947102.jpg

 

German precision making it's move on cakes... I welcome it! I had just learned about another one which one of the competing chefs created with multiple layers sandwiche one on top of the other, cut like a gem..

Baumkuchen -- the King of Cakes!

... king of cakes?

 

I shall crown it with my teeth and apetite

 

:D

 

gogo

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  • 2 months later...

Made another cake, this time for an anniversary. 25 years of being happily married and a chef who hasn't even been in the industry for 4years has the task of making the cake(they got married the year before I was born...) :heart:

 

They just wanted a chocolate cake (my favourite thing to work with)... so I started with a devils food chocolate sponge, baked it, and cut each cake in half to give me 4 layers. I wanted to soak each layer with some Nachtmusik(a dark chocolate liqueur) but the bar didn't have any, so Chef Christiaan(the head chef) suggested I make my own chocolate liqueur. MWHUHAHAHAHAHAHA! :crazy: (mad alcoholic chef sticks out it's head) so I melted some dark chocolate, and mixed in a bit of milk to make a smooth chocolaty sauce, and then added some Franjelico hazelnut liqueur to make a smooth creamy chocolate liqueur, and it had some kick in it... :Just_Cuz_21:

 

Smothered the 4 layers in the liqueur, and piped chocolate icing on to 3 of the layers, layered them on top of each other, smoothed the outside and made a chocolate ganache to cover the outside(added the left over liqueur), made chocolate curls, and melted some white chocolate, spreaded it out on a silpat mat, and wrote with dark chocolate "Happy Anniversary", I then used spatulas and tongs to make it 'wavy' before I took it to the fridge to set. Covered the sides of the cake with the chocolate curls, stuck the white chocolate in, and took it back to the fridge to let the chocolate set.

 

post-15332-0-14646000-1343899239_thumb.jpg

 

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This is your best looking creation yet. You know, you're on your way to becoming famous eh? ^^

 

lol years from now, peeps will read about your cooking chronicles here, and go, that's him thats , Theuns! And even though your many thousands of miles away from me, I still feel like I'm a part of your fabulous journey of delectable delights. This last chocolate write up with your description of the liquers (nacht music...isn't that from brahms or beehtomven?) must have made you awfully popular with the staff... any crumbs leftover to go around?

 

:)

 

gogo

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