Pretoria - When Monché Muller left Pretoria for the Western Cape in pursuit of her career in the culinary world, all she wanted was to produce good food.
Little did she know that - in partnership with world-renowned winemaker Schalk Willem Joubert - she would travel the world, and come back to put together a book of Europe’s finest foods.
Or that she would end up in a competition, pitting her against the world’s best for production of a food and beverage book.
The book, Harvest Table, brings together the meals and recipes that Muller learnt about with ingredients sourced in Italy, Spain, and South Africa.
The journey left the 32 year-old wise beyond her age about the world of gourmet preparation.
Speaking at the launch of the book at Forte Grill restaurant in Time Square, Pretoria, last week, she said: “The journey to writing a book of recipes began around a table.”
She was with the winemakers and others at Pink Valley Wines restaurant in Stellenbosch, where she is head chef.
Muller and and her team travelled through Europe to capture the experience of bringing together meals sourced, cooked and eaten there, which she then brought back home.
The book, published by Quivertree Publications, captures not only the recipes of meals people in South Africa have the opportunity to cook, but also provides an opportunity to understand what goes into getting the ingredients together. There are also pictures of the places of origin, chefs who cooked it and the final product from the different restaurants she visited. The purpose was to enhance the imagination.
“You do eat with your eyes first,” she said, explaining that food preparation was an art.
All meals were cooked in their presence and with their participation, and when they came back home, they cooked them again, only now with ingredients which would speak to the local people.
Some of the ingredients were unavailable in South Africa, except for the ones in the South African chapter; so every recipe has a local substitute.
Muller explained that while certain foods appeal to different people, everyone wants well-cooked food to satisfy the one thing all had in common - the need to eat.
“Take for instance, meat. Some of these European countries are not as big on eating meat as South Africans, but when they do they do it all the way.”
She mentioned that as much as she enjoyed all the countries she went to, if she could go back to Sicily, Italy, she would grab that opportunity without a second thought. “The cooking there, and the food, is honest, simple, yet so good....” And, once one had coffee in Sicily, she said they would never see coffee the same way again.
The expedition coincided with the outbreak of Covid 19, and during the trip in France, Omicron hit so coming back home was suspended.
“So we worked, shooting under tough conditions.” Wearing a mask for 22 hours straight was difficult, but the opportunity to explore the different cultures made it easier.
Muller runs three kitchens in the Western Cape, all which became part of the process to create the foodgasmic culture she craved. And the cherry on the top, she added, was becoming a Gourmand World Cookbook winner - and with the first offering!
In May she heads to Europe again for the final award ceremony honouring the best food and wine books, at which she will stand against the best in the world.
Pretoria News