For more diary entries, take a look at Singita’s diaries or check out Singita’s blog for fun reading.

– The Gourmet Review

Enjoy a quick tour of Singita Ebony Lodge. This luxury destination in Kruger National Park, South Africa, is the ultimate luxury destination.

– The Gourmet Review

Singita’s Executive Chef Loraine Pienaar at Singita Ebony Lodge is talented, creative and passionate about being an executive chef.

Fortunately for us, Chef Pienaar has agreed to answer some questions about working in this exotic luxury safari lodge, among the African “Big Five,” rated one of the world’s best dream destinations. Hope you enjoy the interview.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserve

 What is the best question you have ever had from guests?

 I had a guest once ask me, ”What kind of meat is oxtail?”

Who most influenced your love of cooking?

What inspired me was probably my grandma’s Sunday lunches. She went all out with 3 meats, 4 vegetables, 2 salads and 2 starches. The way it brought everyone (we are a lively bunch that loves and fights passionately) together; it was one place where all of us actually agreed. You can influence people with food.

Where did you learn to cook?

I have to say Maze restaurant in London and the exeutive sous (later head chef of Maze Prague) took a lot of time teaching me. I learned about the science of cooking and that really really interests me.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserves

What is the process you go through to get new recipes on the menu for the restaurant?

I do not go sit down and create a dish. If I have to define the creation of dishes I will say it is a combination of books, TV shows and dreams. I am Afrikaans, but I dream in English and I am running a kitchen in three quarters of my dreams (or so my family say that has seen me sleep). The other part of creation is chatting to my team. There are so many different personalities in the kitchen all from different cultures and backgrounds. Different personalities and combinations compliment each other and we learn together.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserves

Do you do much cooking when you aren’t working?

I do believe not to take your work home (psychiatrists say it is unhealthy), but I do cook “homey” food at home. At home, friends and family all are chefs in the kitchen with me. Everyone adds their say ( not tolerated in the restaurant) with wine and laughter flowing.

What is your favorite food you cook at home?

Shellfish – especially prawns or any tapas where it is very interactive and everyone is getting in there.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserve

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Changing someone’s life for even twenty minutes, eating a dish that makes you feel good and warm inside. When you get higher up the ladder you get to teach and inspire other chefs and change their future and the way they see themselves and food.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserves

Do you have some secret ingredient combinations that you use on a variety of  dishes that might be thought of as your signature spice?

Signature spice…really difficult when there are so many to use!!! I’ll take the easy way out and say salt. Salt makes everything taste better…even sweet cakes get salt. I also use a lot of fruit in my menus.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserve

What is your personal favorite dish on the menu?

Foie gras on thinly sliced ripe nectarines, pear and saffron chutney and buttery brioche. (Just have it once in your life and a small portion, then always yearn for more…it will never be as good as the first time.)

Where do get most of your ingredients?

We try to get most of our produce local. Just outside the reserve we have a small local community that we promote and support. They set up a local vegetable garden which we buy from.

Courtesy Singita Game Reserves

What are some fun tips or shortcuts for inexperienced chefs that you could suggest?

Experiment and taste everything you cook.

What is the most interesting food that you have ever cooked?

I did an experiment on what effect food and the different cooking methods have on someone. Not only aphrodisiacs,but also stimulants and moods. I will never admit to the guinea pigs.

NOTE

Personally, if you love to cook, I can’t think of a more exotic and adventuresome setting that that of exquisite Singita Ebony Lodge in South Africa. Our family looks forward to returning to Kruger National Park for another wildlife safari and sumptuous meals prepared by Chef Loraine Pienaar!

– The Gourmet Review

Salad Courtesy Singita Game Reserve

Singita Game Reserve’s Executive Chef Loraine Plenaar shares the signature recipe for herb vinaigrette recipe from Singita’s Ebony Lodge.

HERB DRESSING VINAIGRETTE RECIPE

1 clove of garlic crushed, peeled and chopped

Generous bunch of mixed fresh herbs: flat leaf parsley, basil, chives, tarragon

1.6 fluid ounces red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

5 fluid ounces olive oil

Salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Remove the herb leaves from stalks and chop finely with a very sharp knife.

Mix the chopped garlic and herbs, vinegar, sugar and mustard in a bowl.

Slowly pour the olive oil, mixing all the time with a whisk or handheld blender.

When all the oil is blended, season to taste.

Wolfgang Puck is back for the 17th year catering the 2011 Oscar after party at the Governor’s Ball. It wouldn’t be the same without his smoked salmon with caviar and creme fraiche (this year on flatbread) and his signature chocolate oscars. The oscar award ceremony culminates weeks of anticipation, after oscar nominations are announced for the coveted oscar statute.

Whether its checking out 1600 Dover sole filets at 3:41 that just arrived Friday for the Pan Roasted Dover Sole with Fennel, Olives, Haricot Vert, Tomatoes, Lemon, Sherry, and Olive Oil (as a nod to The King’s Speech) or the butler served Vegetable Paella with Saffron, White Wine, Chili, Parsley, which was sure to please Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck never disappoints. Of course, every guest will take home a 24 karat edible Oscar for desert.

– The Gourmet Review

Chinois Grilled Lamb Chops Courtesy Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck’s recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops from Chinois Restaurant is easy to prepare and delicious to eat.

– The Gourmet Review

Executive Chef James Babian at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai always goes the extra mile for making its guests comfortable. And so it was that our trip to this dream destination came to an end.

We had an extraordinary Thai dinner our last evening, prepared just for us by Executive Chef James Babian.  You’re probably wondering what was so special about this dinner. It all started when I asked for a Thai restaurant referral for my husband on the Big Island.

Next thing I knew, there was a message from the hotel’s Executive Chef James Babian, asking my husband’s favorite thai food and when my husband might want to enjoy a Thai dinner. (So, to General Manager, Robert Whitfield, a special thank you and so glad I directed my question to you!)

Chef Babian offered to make any Thai food we wanted. All he needed was  an hour’s notice – afterall, most of the ingredients, from the thai basil, to the lemongrass and chilis were grown in the herb garden on the hotel property.

So, after much anticipation for our dinner, we started off with tom yom soup. It was beyond delicious. Most thai food is salty, but this dinner was punctuated by fresh herbs, which seemingly exploded with every bite. By the way, when I shared this taste sensation with Chef Babian, he opined that in addition to using freshly picked herbs,  the water used for cooking was Evian. Imagine!

Next, the beef salad. The secret is always in the ingredients. I’m told the decision to use local, organic ingredients at the Four Seasons Hualalai is more expensive, but worth the difference. Over 160 local farms supply the resort’s restaurants, and most of the ingredients used for dinner were organic.

It’s a small world on the Big Island in Hawaii. Chef Babian’s baby daughter was delivered many years ago by the same doctor, now retired, that delivered the fresh lettuce, tomatoes and herbs for our dinner that morning.

Then we had my husband’s favorite – pad thai. This dish raised the bar for Thai restaurants forever. Finally, rice pudding with slices of fresh mango finished our meal. Coupled with the ambiant sound of surf crashing on the beach just feet away, my husband and I didn’t want the night to end.

So, until our next visit, we bade goodbye to Chef Babian and “Tic,”  the lovely lady who served our meal. Tic was born in Thailand and advised Chef Babian to guarantee our Thai meal was authentic. Thank you both for a great dinner – best thai food my husband and I have ever eaten. Above all else, thank you, Robert, for connecting us with Chef Babian, allowing us to satisfy our Thai food cravings at the hotel and the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai for another great trip in paradise.

And so, as I write on the plane returning to the mainland, and until our next visit,  I will remember Chef Babian’s secret to cooking – regional, seasonal and artisanal.

NOTES:

Chef Babian was kind enough to share his recipes with me. They will be featured this week. What a difference healthy ingredients makes to these dishes, so remember Chef Babian’s advice on ingredients.

Chef Babian has appeared many times on The Food Network, has been honored to cook  at the James Beard House in NYC and has won countless culinary awards.

– The Gourmet Review

Courtesy Four Seasons Hualalai

Executive Chef Nick Mastrascusa is Chef de Cuisine at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai’s Beach Tree. This casual beach restaurant is a long way from the more urban Four Season’s 57 Restaurant in New York City, where Chef Nick worked before moving to Hawaii. His knack of knowing what people like for both casual and elegant dishes was honed while going out to dinner six nights a week in New York.

Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Chef Nick is charismatic and absolutely passionate about his food. Of course, he has stellar culinary credentials, starting with a master’s degree from the prestigious CIA, otherwise known as the  Culinary Arts School at Greystone in California. What sets Chef Nick apart, however, is his uncanny ability to create fresh, creative, yet simple dishes that appeal to both guests and residents alike on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Ceviche Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Inspiration comes from all sources and oftentimes from family. The ceviche, for example, was inspired by Chef Nick’s wife, while fishing one summer in Uruguay. The original fish Chef Nick used in Uruguay was “Corvina,” but in Hawaii he uses Onaga (red snapper).

Another family inspiration is seen in Chef Nick’s popular mango gazpacho, where the addition of fresh mango and ripe,  yellow tomatoes is added to an otherwise traditional gazpacho. This dish reflects both Italian and Spanish influences on the menu. Not so surprising, since Chef Nick’s father is from Sicily and his mother from Spain. “This is where Spain meets Hawaii!,” says Chef Nick. One word describes both the ceviche and the gazpacho. Delicious!

Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Whether it’s a fabulous salad, a simple wrap, a shared plate in the al fresco lounge or the fresh fish of the day grilled to order, you will find  both casual lunch and elegant dinner options. Every dish will reflect Chef Nick’s creative flair and is guaranteed to be home made using absolutely fresh ingredients. Whether it’s the  beef caprese salad, carpaccio with citrus and avocado, pan seared scallops with corn puree, fresh salads or even lobster ravioli, you will love the food.

Tonight’s Specials!

The menu is changed three times a year and every night there are specials. The board for today’s specials feature opah, which is a deep red, orange bodied fish rich in flavor, due to its fat content, and  found in the Hawaiian Islands. Lucky diners!

Fresh Produce Farm to Table

Only the best ingredients will do  for the Beach Tree. Chef Nick was proud to say that the Beach Tree Restaurant uses more than l60 ingredients from local farms. He opened a box and pealed back newspaper that was covering a freshly picked variety of young lettuce. The multi colored selection, shown in the photo above, was destined for that night’s salads. Talk about fresh!

Imported From Italy

What can’t be grown or caught on the Hawaiian Islands is flown in from wherever the best can be found. That means if Chef Nick needs prosciutto, you can be sure it’s being flown in from Friuli, Italy. In fact, he confesses to eating about 10 slices of prosciutto a day to keep his energy up.

What about Parmesan cheese? That would be the 90 to 100 pounds of Parmigiano Reggiano flown in from Parma each week. Extra virgin olive oil? Aged balsamic vinegar? Of course, that would be flown in from Villa Manodori, next to Modena, Italy. Chef Nick calls the EVOO and balsamic vinegar “The boyfriend and the girlfriend.”

OO Flour is the secret!

Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Even the flour used to make pizzas, pastas and breads is imported from Italy. It’s called “OO” because the flour is ground extra fine. It comes from the winter harvest, and this hearty wheat flour boasts more protein than normal flour. The OO flour for the  thin-crusted pizza better holds the sauce (and is healthier) than normal flour. I could honestly eat  the flat bread all day.

Courtesy Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

One guest shared with Chef Nick that the pasta dishes, from the lobster risotto, lasagna with veal osso bucco, rigatoni, fettuccine, linguini, gnocchi, or papardelle,  at Beach Tree rivaled those at restaurant Cipriani. Now that’s a compliment!

One of Chef Nick’s specialties is his paella. Before opening the Beach Tree restaurant, the owners of the Four Seasons were flying to the hotel to sample the proposed tasting menu. everyone had heard about Chef Nick’s paella, but the specific chorizo, saffron and rice had not yet arrived from Spain. So, the tasting had to be postponed. Chef Nick would not allow substitute ingredients, even if it meant delays for the tasting, much to the chagrin of hotel management.

Finally, several weeks later, all the ingredients from Spain were in the kitchen. For the official tasting, Chef had four enormous paella pans for serving, each one so large that it required four waiters to present to the diners. Today, guests can get their paella individually served, or if you are curious to see these enormous paella pans, you’ll have to bring a crowd and have a catered affair.

The People Who Make It Happen

Chef Nick starts our interview by saying that it is a team effort that makes any restaurant successful. During my tour of the kitchen, Chef Nick  introduced me to every member of his culinary team and wanted to make sure I had a photo of  each one. I wish I had room to share the faces that reflected the enthusiasm behind every dish that leaves the kitchen. Each one clearly loved working in what can best be described as a setting fit for Hawaiian royalty.

– The Gourmet Review

Home made whipped cream is so easy and quick to make. Perfect for strawberry shortcake.

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon confectioners sugar or powdered sugar (in a bind, you can use granulated sugar)

DIRECTIONS

Chill mixing bowl and beaters for approximately an hour in the refrigerator, so the ingredients remain cold while preparing the whipped cream.

Add cream and vanilla to the chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixer or Kitchen Aide on medium speed. Check consistency periodically. As it starts to hold shape, add the powdered sugar. You can use a sifter to add the powdered sugar. This will remove any lumps in the sugar. Then turn mixer to high speed to finish.

Remove the bowl after the cream stands and salutes you – actually, just until the peaks hold their shape.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. The cream will hold its consistency for 3 – 4 hours.

– The Gourmet Review

Courtesy Wolfgang Puck

Ever wondered about the proper etiquette for opening a champagne bottle? No one knows the answer to this better than Wolfgang Puck. He’s the master at creating the perfect mood for any special occasion. Make sure you remember these tips to look like a pro.

If you’re popping the question this Valentine’s Day or raising your glass in celebration of a great quarter at work, savor more bubbly when you open your next bottle like a pro:

• Champagne should be served at 45° F. To achieve this quickly, allow your bottle to rest in a bucket of ice for at least 20 minutes.

• Towel dry the bottle completely, so it’s not slippery or wet.

• Gently score any foil, if present, and remove it with your fingers.

• Point the bottle away from any guests or breakables.

• Gently loosen the wire cage and remove it completely. Drape your towel over the top of the bottle and grip the bottle firmly.

• Slowly turn the bottle versus pulling the cork. Listen carefully for the sound of air escaping, signaling that the bottle is open.

• Opening the bottle slowly reduces the dramatic “pop” that many people associate with a party atmosphere, but doing so ensures more bubbles in your glass and better tasting champagne.

• To preserve the bubbles while pouring, tilt your champagne flute slightly and pour the liquid down the side of the glass like you would if you were pouring a beer.

• To keep your champagne chilled, avoid holding the glass by the bowl and use the stem instead. Enjoy!

– Wolfgang Puck

on The Gourmet Review