Quince & Cocoa

Hooray....quince is finally back in season.

A difficult fruit to eat on its own as has a very bitter taste. However, in preserving terms it is a fantastic fruit to work with. Very high in pectin (pectin is essential for preserving...not much pectin in banana so you never really see a preserved banana product) and goes a lovely colour when cooked.

The chutney is a really quite special - a strong flavour that we recommend with equally strong meats and cheeses. Especially good with venison and other robust meats. We have used raisins and the taste is both savoury with a bit of sweet. Enjoy also with a strong, mature cheddar.

The jelly is the best looking of all of our products. We use arrow root (natural stabiliser/thickener) as our thickener and this translates to a clear almost translucent red jelly. The taste is quite superb and can be enjoyed with meats - think replacement for a mint jelly as well as cheese.

Membrillo - this is a fruit cheese made without dairy. A bit of a confusing description, a better way of explaining this product is that it is quite a bit more solid than a standard jelly. It should be sliced and enjoyed with cheese - in fact a great accompaniment to a cheese platter.

We have bought some lovely cocoa powder from NoMu and will be cooking up a batch of our highly successful chocolate chilli sauce. Use it as a marinade for steak, chicken or fish - this sauce is a very loosely based on a Mexican mole sauce with Oded's interpretation.

Pop into the shop for a visit and a taste - we are open Mon-Fri from 8am to 6pm and Saturdays from 9am to 2pm.

April Newsletter

We hope you are all well and have been eating some good food...please let us know where as we would like to share this info with others. April already...where has this year gone?! It feels like just the other day we were planning our Christmas range – on that note, our Cranberry relish proved to be such a hit that we are now making it available all year round.

The good news:

Fridge – we have a deli fridge in the shop now so that means we have a lot more refrigerated products. Our mayonnaise (free range eggs and olive oil) and Baonnaise (baobab flavoured, eggless mayonnaise) are now available every day of the week. Tannie Zelda’s pickled gherkins, preserved lemon dressing, chocolate chilli marinade, hummus, baba ganoush & mahammrah as well as several other products will also be available on a daily basis. We are proud to announce that we now also stock Rudi’s Sausages (http://www.urbansprout.co.za/?q=node/3265) – if you have never had them before, get yourself into the shop for a taster. We know Rudi from the various markets we do and have always swapped a jar of preserves for a pack of his sausages.

Classes – our next class will be on Sunday 17 April and it will be a traditional Jewish cooking class. The menu will include chopped chicken liver (starter), Holishkes (main course - stuffed cabbage leaves with wild and cultivated mushrooms), potato kugel, carrot tzimmes and for dessert Oded’s famous cheese blintzes. The class will run from 11am to around 3pm on Sunday and will be R400 per person - we do have two slots still available, but the class is filling up quickly. Please note: Although we do not follow the rules of kosher, we do not use any pork/shellfish during the cooking process.

Quince – quince season is upon us again and we will soon be doing a batch of quince jelly, quince chutney and membrillo.

Twitter/website/Facebook – if you would like to follow us on Twitter, our screen name is OdedsKitchen. We have started a Facebook group (called Oded’s Kitchen) and are in the process of updating the website.

The bad news:

Markets – we will be trying to do as many markets as we can, however, the Franschhoek market is closing down for winter quite soon and the Tokai Porter’s Estate market is entering its winter trading times and will be closed if it’s raining.

Highlights since last mail:

Taste of CT – we had a very successful Taste of CT – hard work, but very rewarding. To all of you who came, thanks for stopping at the stand and for your various comments. As a result of the success of our new range of dips (hummus, baba ganoush & Mahammrah) we have decided to keep them on the menu for the foreseeable future. To all of you who took us up on our offer of free tickets for the show, hope you had a good time. The food was of an exceptionally high standard and we ate very well as a result!

Slow Food Talk – on Saturday we hosted a lecture on preserving for the Slow food movement (http://slowfoodmothercity.co.za/salt-and-vinegar/). The talk lasted around 90 minutes and included a lecture from Oded on the history of preserving, the techniques and applications thereof and finally a Q&A session and tasting of the range,. A big thanks to Michelle Matthews (http://www.michellematthews.co.za/) & Dax (http://www.relax-with-dax.co.za) for organising and publicizing the event as well as Jack Black (http://www.jackblackbeer.com/) for sponsoring the beer (a great accompaniment to the range).

Preserving Course – our course on preserving went down very well last month. Thanks to those who attended and we hope you have been trying out the various techniques learnt since then. Each participant assisted in the making of 3 preserves which highlighted 3 different techniques. A great intro to the world of preserving and an excellent grounding in the basic techniques.

Looking for a job?

We are looking for fun-loving; food-savvy people to (wo)/man a stand for us at markets. If you are interested please contact me - details can be found at the bottom of this mail.

Where to find us this week?

Markets:

Wednesday – Earth Fair (3pm to 8pm)

Saturday – Biscuit Mill; Stellenbosch; Tokai Porter’s Estate & Tokai Earth Fair

Tastings: (lunch time – between 12 & 2pm)

Tues – Food Barn (Noordhoek) & Organic Living (Constantia Village)

Wed – Spar (Somerset West)

Thurs – Spar (Woodstock & Cape Quarter)

Fri – Tokara (Stellenbosch) & Joostenberg (R101 between Paarl & Stellenbosch)

Eat, drink and be merry

Oded & Lewis

Cooking Classes - Preserving

Thank-you for visiting our shop/market stand and showing an interest in our cooking classes. Our next class is going to be a preserving course - Oded's speciality.

Oded will run participants through a brief introduction to the world of preserving and conduct a tasting of the current Oded’s Kitchen range (don’t eat before you come!). Participants will then take a walk to the local produce market where Oded will discuss the various items of produce that he will be using during the class.

Participants will then roll up their sleeves and don an apron and prepare and cook 3 preserves – which will highlight 3 different preserving techniques. The preserves will consist of a pickle, marmalade and salsa.

Each participant will be able to take home the preserves they have prepared during the class.

We have 4 complimentary tickets to give away for the Taste of Cape Town which takes place on 24-28 March to the first 4 people to sign up for the class.

Date: Monday 22 March (public holiday)

Time: 11am – 3pm

Cost: R400

Venue: Oded’s Kitchen (The Old Biscuit Mill, 373 Albert Rd, Salt River, 7925)

What to bring: Just yourself and comfortable clothing/shoes as you will be cooking for 4 hours. We will provide aprons, ingredients and all cooking implements (bring your favourite knife if you have one!)

Please book early to avoid disappointment as class sizes are limited to 11.

For bookings please contact Lewis on:

lewis@odeds-kitchen.co.za or tel: 021 447 0400

Regards,

Oded & Lewis

Introducing Oded's Kitchen

Greetings

I am proud to announce the establishment of Oded’s Kitchen – a company dedicated to creating gourmet products to please the taste buds. The creative culinary force behind the company is Oded Schwartz, an authority on kitchen crafts and author of over 10 books (Preserving is his most famous) – you can also catch him on local and satellite TV from time to time. Oded has been in the industry for over 30 years and has worked mainly in London for companies such as Fortnum & Mason, Tesco and Marks & Spencers.

Oded’s Kitchen offers a delicious and unique range of preserves, available for both resale (260ml bottles) and wholesale (1, 2.5 & 5 litre bottles) purposes. Batches are hand produced and limited in number to ensure our exacting standards are maintained.

Our initial product offering is below - note the range will change during the course of the year to take advantage of seasonal produce (denoted with an *):

Carrot & Almond Chutney - (based on an old Middle Eastern recipe for carrot jam called 'angels hair' this recipe is updated for the new millennium, incredibly versatile; great with cheese, cold and hot meats)

Harrief - (a smoky roasted red pepper and chilli sauce. A pasta sauce as is; mix with yoghurt to make a marinade for chicken/meat or mix with mayonnaise to make the perfect “peri-naise” dip)

Caramelised Onion Marmalade - (a sublime combination of flavours. Adds instant flavour to a stir fry during cooking or add a tablespoon to your pan after cooking and make a delicious gravy.)

Onion Konfyt - (sweet, delicious and great with pretty much anything! An original alternative to the traditional fig konfyt.)

Quince Jelly* - (a seasonal product – it looks amazing, almost too good to eat; great with pork and game meats or smother a piece of brie and enjoy.)

Quince Chutney* - (also seasonal – a fresh and young flavour; works great as a garnish. Just like “ouma” used to make...only better!)

Membrillo* - (a fruit cheese/jelly – one of the crowning glories of the Spanish kitchen, excellent on your cheese platter together with some hard, strong cheeses)

Moroccan Lemons* - (the cornerstone of any Moroccan dish or instant flavour to any dish)

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any additional info – pricing or trade enquiries are most welcome. We’d love to arrange a meeting for you to sample our wares.

Regards,

Lewis & Oded

21 June 2009

Great news – we are beginning our monthly cooking classes. Limited to 10 people maximum and taking place in Tamboerskloof in Oded’s actual kitchen. The classes will be hands on with participants getting involved in the cooking process. The first class will be taking place on Sat 4 July from 14:00 onwards – duration should be around 3 hours, but subject to cooking time.

The topic will be preserving and this will be divided into 2 main sections – a general intro to preserving (basic concepts, techniques & equipment) followed by cooking of 3 recipes including “Tannie Zelda’s Pickled Cucumber”.

The price for the course is R400 and this includes notes, recipes, a couple of jars to take home and a small meal.

We are planning on doing a class on the either the first Wed or Sat (please let us know which day you think will be better) of each month with other topics being:

1. “Mediterranean Sauces”

In this workshop the participants will be able to make and experience some of the most intriguingly delicious yet simple sauces of the Mediterranean - the cradle of western cuisines. The sauces will include the ancient Roman Agro Dolce, Sauce Verde, the Greek inspired Sokodilia, Provencal and Sicilian anchovies and caper sauce and the North African Charamola - all these ancient classic flavouring sauces are claming their place in our contemporary fusion based kitchen. At the end of the workshop the participants will be able to sample the sauces, together with a roast chicken, cheese and a delicious glass of matching wine as well as to take home a sample of the sauces they made.

2. “And you thought the cucumber was boring “

This short history of the humble and very Jewish gherkin, tells a fascinating story of the role the cucumber has played in domestic preserving of the Old World and therefore in many of the colonies of North America, Africa and the rest of the former British colonies. How the dill pickle became one of the most identifiable image of Jewish American food. The participants will be able to make and taste relishes such as olive oil relish, cucumber relish, Mustard pickle, sweet and sour dill pickle and many more icons of the Jewish delicatessen store.

3. “Slow & Mellow – fire and smoking”

A fair weather (no rain allowed!) course in which the participants would be able to taste and experience simple and affective methods of smoking fish and meat. Methods like tea smoked fish, marinated smoked chicken and smoked marinated brisket will be discussed, explained and consumed at the end of the workshop, together with a delicious matching wine and salads.

4. “Preserving Master Classes”

Building on the first preserving course – adding additional skills, tips and recipes (this class will be on a more frequent basis as and when there is sufficient demand)

At each class participants will receive recipes and notes and in most cases get to take home a little bit of what has been cooked during the class.

Sign up for 4 classes and receive a free Oded’s Kitchen Apron!

If you are interested in attending one or multiple courses, please contact me on my email.

We are proud to inform you that we are now readily available in these fine stores:

Andiamo’s (Cape Quarter); Sinn’s Deli (Wembley Square); Main Ingredient (Sea Point); Organic Living (Constantia Village); Organics Alive (Muizenberg); Michael’s (Rondebosch).

If you would like to arrange for Lewis to come round and give you a tasting, please contact us on lewis@odeds-kitchen.co.za or 0848040748.

Our range now consists of the following items:

Carrot & Almond Chutney

Quince Chutney & Quince Chili Jelly

Onion Konfyt & Caramalised Onion Marmalade

Smoked & Roasted Harrief Sauce

Ginger Relish

Vanilla Products (Pods, Syrup, Sugar, Paste, Extract & Powder)

Pickled Gherkins

Preserved Moroccan Lemons

Cheese Biscuits made with Gruyere and Extra Mature Cheddar....yummy!

That's all for now...happy eating...

Lewis & Oded