BY Aurelia Mbokazi-Kashe
Sun International’s Table Bay hotel is known for its sweeping views of Cape Town over the V&A Waterfront and fun-filled, luxury holidays. This is also where Executive Chef, Lindsay Venn, is championing sustainability while serving sumptuous meals fit for royalty.
Chef Lindsay is passionate about pursuing a zero-to-waste policy in the hotel’s kitchens. Waste that would ordinarily end up in landfill sites is separated at the source to be recycled. This ensures that plastic and other pollution do not end up in the ocean.
With sustainability at the heart of his cooking, the measures introduced at the hotel include a levy on all their seafood dishes to raise funds for the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation. Also, guests know the origins of every fish on their plates.
What is your personal favorite food to eat?
I eat a curry atleast once a week.
How would you describe your overall cooking philosophy?
It has a good balance of flavours and is not complicated.
What is your signature dish at the restaurant?
500g T-Bone with Café de Paris butter, bordelaise sauce, and hand cut fries.
Which wine works best with this dish?
Meerlust Rubicon 2018
What are some of the measures you have to ensure that your kitchens run sustainably?
We ensure that vegetable off cuts are used in stocks. We sort out vegetables according to stock base versus flavor profile we are looking for in the dish. For example, broccoli and cauliflower stalks are used for purees and soups while carrot offcuts are dried and turned to carrot dust for garnishes on plates. Other vegetable trimmings are used to make our Kimchi or pickles.
We also prepare bones and trimmings from all meats, poultry and fish to enhance natural flavours of various dishes, and our left over bacon from breakfast goes into a bacon jam.
RECIPE
The Table Bay’s Cape Malay Spiced calamari, served with a Bo Kaap Siracha mayonnaise.
Ingredients
Baby calamari 150g
Flour 50g
Salt 10g
Rajah curry spice (mild) 15g
Mayonnaise 50ml
Cape Malay pickle 50g
Curry leaves 5g
Sultanas 10g
Cape Malay pickle (Make the day before)
50g onions
30ml brown vinegar
20ml water
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
Pinch of chili flakes
1 cinnamon sticks
¼ teaspoon cumin
Put ingredients in a pot and reduce by half. Place in container for use the following day.
METHOD
Mix flour, salt and curry spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix salt and curry spice for seasoning.
Clean squid tentacles and slice the baby tubes in half lengthwise. Combine mayonnaise and curry spice.
Deep fry curry leaves in hot oil until they stop popping. Mix the calamari with the flour mix above.
Deep fry squid until golden brown.
Remove and put on paper towel to drain oil. Lightly season with curry salt
Put warm Cape Malay pickle in centre of plate, add fried, seasoned calamari on top of pickle.
Garnish with sultanas, deep-fried curry leaves and decorate plate with curry mayonnaise dots.
