A full house of guests lapped up the first serving of the 2019 Herald Cooking Masterclasses at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Newton Park last week.
Capsicum chef Lynette Steffens showed guests how to make Vietnamese rice-paper spring rolls accompanied by a Thai peanut dipping sauce.
A team of Capsicum students then guided guests stepby-step through the process, giving them the confidence to make their own eye-catching platter.
It was FNB attorney Yangama Mvinjelwa’s first-ever cookery class.
“This is awesome and it was surprisingly easy – it was just the folding which was the difficult part,” the Woodlands resident said as she sat down to enjoy her meal of rice-paper rolls filled with crispy vegetables and sauteed prawn and chicken.
With a glass of dry rosé, chardonnay and merlot from Three Peaks or juice in hand, the kitchen crew did not take long to get into the swing of assembling the colourful appetisers.
Capsicum campus principal Beryldene Bain put the appeal down to the fun factor of having a night off the daily domestic grind.
“You get to come and play in our kitchen and the best part of it is that you don’t have to clean up!”
Glendinningvale couple Jute and Liz Vermaak said they had booked their places to celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary.
“It’s a learning curve for me – my family always said I must go on a cooking course,” Jute Electrical owner Jute said as he sliced and diced.
Liz was thrilled to let her creative juices flow and skip the dirty dishes – “I love it!”
The Thai evening on Thursday was the first in a series of four with Indian food on the menu for March 28, Chinese on April 11 and French on May 2.
Steffens said she had started the Masterclass series with a more modern twist on traditional deep-fried spring rolls, presenting a recipe which used raw vegetables and rice-paper softened in warm water.
“At the start of the evening they were hesitant when they saw it was a healthy option but at the end there were clean plates,” Steffens said.
The classes cost R350 and run from 6pm to about 8.30pm at the Capsicum studio at 67 Newton Street in Newton Park.
Your ticket includes a welcome drink, Capsicum head chef host, basket of ingredients, dining experience, complimentary chef apron and Three Peaks bottle of wine.
Buy your tickets online at Quicket or in person at The Herald office at Newspaper House, 19 Baakens Street, Central – but you’d better be fast as the Indian and Chinese nights are already sold out and there are only a few tickets left for the French dessert masterclass.
The third and final series of four masterclasses will be held later in the year. For more information, contact Berna Walters on (041)504-7135.