Being a student foodie

There might be some student readers out there that do not get massive allowances. Been there, done that.

The problem was that I still loved food. I had a few secrets to eating well on a budget.

Cough up for long lasting luxuries

I firmly believed that basic condiments should include balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard. I built up my spice rack slowly, firstly investing in a few pre mixed Ina Paarman's  spices, loved the garlic and herb.

I also always had filter coffee and limited myself to one cup a day to make sure I could afford it.

Everyone has that one or two luxuries that can be justified.

Must haves

Instead of spending a lot of money on bread and pasta, I just made sure that I had all the ingredients. Flour, eggs and baking powder.

Proteins on a budget is a bit harder. I had canned tuna as a backup, frozen sausages and when I wanted to treat myself, I would buy a small steak at Checkers. I don't know whether Checkers still has their 100g steaks.

A herb garden

Yes, this does not seem simple and it probably isn't. I lived in a garden cottage and the land lady had a herb garden. She encouraged us to make use of it, and I did.

I made sandwiches with seeded loaf, rocket leaves, Dijon mustard and tomatoes. It was good, easy to make and filling. I made salads with with tuna or sausages. And I jazzed up homemade pizza with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

Moral of the story, if you want a cheap way of making food much better, get a place with a herb garden or (like my boyfriend did) get a girlfriend with such a place.

The power of flour (rhyming accidental)

Learn how to improvise with what you have. If you are really broke, you can make a pancake like thing with flour and water (not advised). Knowing the basics you can use a base muffin recipe to make any type you need!

Instead of Mc Donald's for a midnight snack after going out, I made cheese muffins (1 cup flour, 1 cup cheese, 1 cup liquid, baking powder and lots of spices) it was sometimes faster than standing in a long queue.

Pancakes with melted cheese and Ina Paarman's garlic and herb hit the spot. And if I knew about this then I would have done it weekly: Make your own gnocchi 

Basically, be creative, try to learn new techniques and make sure you invest in the right things.

Koeksisters for life

Ok, so this article might be a bit bias as it involves my best friend's mother.

I used to hate koeksisters (all you non South African readers, it's like a doughnut dipped in sugar syrup, just entirely different) as they were just these overly sweet soggy stuff. So, when I started visiting my friend 15 years ago, I wasn't interested in tasting her mother's (Tannie Petro) koeksisters.

I can still remember eating my first real koeksister... I was 10, we were in Parys, and I just fell from my bycicle on a tar road. I was in shock, needed sugar, and so I took my first bite. I was hooked.

I thought that this was for all koeksisters, but it wasn't, only those of Tannie Petro. So for the next 15 years I've joined the club of fans, promoting them to friends and family who in their turn promoted them to their friends and family.

Why do I love them?

Good question. If you concentrate on that first bite, you will hear a soft crunch as the sweet shell is broken to reveal the meatiness that is firm, soft and juicy. You will notice hints of cinnamon and ginger breaking the sweetness and you will be filled with a childlike happiness.

      

When you've returned to reality, this is why I'm writing about it today:
Huletts koeksister champion competition

It is the opportunity to make someone's (who has been making koeksisters for 30 years) dreams come true!!! Yes, I might be bias, but I believe that Tannie Petro can win. If you live in the Joburg area and want to taste before you judge, send me your email address and we will get you your taster.

If you have tasted these koeksisters, please vote (standard SMS rates apply, you can vote as many times as you like and you can also vote online).

SMS Koeksister followed by either, Robindale Spar cnr of Malibongwe and Gaiety, Randburg or Tuismark Tuisnywerheid 129 Milner Av, 19 Northcliff Centre, Montroux, Johannesburg to 32113 before 30 May. You know they totally deserve it!

Wine rack

I have a two bottles of wine waiting for a bit better event than "the two of us are making dinner again". I have limited cupboard space and would like to start collecting more wines (less than 140 litres though to prevent falling a victim of potential new liquor laws).

The solution was to buy a basic wine rack at Mr Price Home which could hold 10 bottles which seems like a good amount for someone living alone.

The problem?

Only one of the bottles could fit. This made sense as the other bottle was a magnum bottle. So, I had this wine rack with only one bottle of wine. It looked dreary, so I went shopping. I was so excited to finally have a wine collection ranging from a Nederburg Lyric to a bottle of wine "The Chocolate Block" which I will also save for a bit better occasion.

The next problem?
Almost none of these normal sized bottles would fit into the rack. I returned the rack, and now I have a problem that there's more than two bottles that need a home.

Temporary solution:
The bottles are in my lounge, underneath the side table until I can get a wine rack that can take normal sized bottles.

Famous fish from The Famous Fishhoek Co.

To equalise the negative, I will have to make a post on a restaurant that never lets us down: The Famous Fishhoek Co.

This is our go-to-restaurant (like normal people that go to Spur if they do not know where they want to go). It is basically a family restaurant in Pretoria. The menu is embedded with South African homour, the staff is always friendly and efficient.

The wine:
Not your platinum wine list, but there are a few decent dry whites.

The food:
Their hake and chips are perfect. They have right to talk about their "Famous beer batter".

They have a unique selection of salads which gives you a taste explosion. As with many places, you unfortunately have to order this taste explosion as a main meal as the portion size is quite big. Their sushi is good and the other fish is ok.

The one downside is their prawns, here you will have to rely on my boyfriend's opinion as I am allergic. He says that the spices do not compliment it and that there are much better places to eat prawns.

I will continue going there as they are decently priced and reliable.

Mistake I will never make again

My boyfriend and I have been very lucky in our dining experiences we have had over the past year and a half (I use this time frame as we were poor students before that).

It grieves me that the first post I will make will be about a mistake we made to confuse the restaurants Karoo Cafe and KAROO - Cattle and land

I had a big craving for fillet and so as we have heard many good things about "Karoo" we Googled it, saw that it was close by and went. We ended up at Karoo Cafe.

The decoration was peculiar (very Karoo farm) and we enjoyed browsing the second hand books wile waiting for our food. The wine list was short and sweet, and I ordered a bottle of La Bri Affinity 2009 which would have gone perfectly with a good fillet.

The food:

Our waitress took her sweet time to bring the food, we could hear the kitchen bell ringing for a few minutes while she was socializing at another table. I ordered the 200g beef fillet (Served with mash potato or rice & vegetables) and my boyfriend ordered the Karoo lamb chops (3 Chops and a caramelised onion & pap tower served with salad).

My fillet was tough and my boyfriend's lamb chops were dried out and flavourless (I might be used to my perfect lamb chops I make on the braai). The pap was like rubber which have been might be the idea, I have never had pap in a restaurant before.

I can commend them for the mash... It was delicious, but I cannot justify paying more than a R100 for good mash.

All in all, it was a bad experience and we actually gave less than 10% tip, something we never do having waitered ourselves. We are planning to try out the other "Karoo" this weekend and I hope that my fillet steak craving will be satisfied there.