Here’s a look at our Durban leg of our food stories book launch.
It’s always nerve wrecking going to a new city, you never know how you’ll be received but we have to say, Durban was fantastic and the people there are just everything. Thank you for your kindness.
A huge Thank you to Exclusive Books Gateway for hosting us.
Thank you to NB publishers for making the second launch possible.
And another huge thank you to our Laager Rooibos family for supporting the launch and contributing so much to the success of this launch.
And last but not least, a huge thank you to Katherine Kidger for our absolutely gorgeous gowns, we looked like absolute princesses. Thank you.
With Love, The Twins xx
While Tebo was in the freezing state of Massachusetts, I lived in New Jersey with a Nigerian family – from the Yoruba tribe – who were then residing in the US.
Nigerians tend to stay true to their culture wherever they are in the world and that’s especially true of their food. That’s how I got introduced to the taste of palm oil, peppers, dried fish and cassava – the works. Then there was yam, a staple to almost all Nigerian dishes. Pound it or boil it, have it with your eggs in the morning or with your stew in the evening. It just works.
Plantains … glorious plantains, a side dish for any meal! When deep-fried, it’s called ‘dodo’; or you can have it as plantain chips when it’s dried.
Whenever Tebo came to Jersey, my host mom cooked for us. She’d be in the kitchen frying puréed tomatoes and chilis as the base for her rice. You couldn’t be in the kitchen if you couldn’t handle the heat; all those spices would send you into a sneezing frenzy clearing your flu as soon as you walked in. It all looked so complicated and intimidating to make, so I only learnt how to make these delicious flavours later on.
A personal favourite had to be tomato stew with chicken, and jollof rice served with a side of dodo. Yum! I can taste it right now.
We also used to snack on a lot of chin-chin: yummy, crunchy, cake-like biscuits that moonwalk like angels on your tongue. Serve these at the end of your meal with some good coffee; or, better yet, serve your guests some delicious puff-puff, a fried dessert popular in the winter.
We have to mention the street food. Among the most popular is suya, a spice rub for chicken, turkey, beef or whatever meat you feel like.
We had a very funny chat with our friends one day. It was a heated argument: which country made the best jollof rice? Nigeria or Ghana? LOL, it’s a real dilemma …
So, we reckoned we should try our own take on it. Who knows? Maybe South African jollof could be up for the prize.
Baked Jollof Rice with Chicken
Serves: 6–8 Prep time: 1 hour
At first we thought jollof rice was overrated. After we had it, we understood what the hype was all about. We reckon the best way to serve jollof rice is with chicken and dodo (deep-fried plantains). Let’s try the South African jollof. You never know, it might be in the running for the best jollof rice!
Ingredients:
4 tbs palm oil
6–8 chicken thighs
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 tbs crushed garlic
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
2 bay leaves
6 habanero peppers, crushed
1 scotch bonnet jalapeño pepper, deseeded and diced
1/2. tsp ground ginger
1/2. tsp ground nutmeg
1/2. tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili flakes
1/2. tsp salt
1/2. tsp dried thyme
1/2. tsp pepper
1/2. tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried ground prawn
1 tbs tomato purée
1 can (400 g) tomatoes
100 ml chicken stock
300 g Basmati rice, uncooked
Chopped coriander, to serve
Method:
01 Preheat the oven to 180°C.
02 In a heavy-base saucepan, add a little oil.
03 Brown the chicken thighs on each side and set aside.
04 In the same pan, add the rest of the oil and the onions. Sauté until soft.
05 Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, habanero and scotch bonnet peppers. Gently fry for 2 min. Add the spice mix and stir well.
06 Add in the tomato purée and canned tomatoes. Mix well. Cook for 10 min.
07 Add the stock and blend until smooth.
08 Add in the rice and chicken.
09 Bake covered in the oven for 30-40 min until the rice and chicken are cooked.
10 Scatter with fresh coriander and serve.
Spicy Garlic Turkey Suya
Suya is a spice mix created by the Hausa people from the north of Nigeria. Good luck finding the original recipe … all we know is it can be very, very spicy. It’s normally served with raw, sliced onions or cabbage to help with the heat (that didn’t help us at all the first time we tried it, but – hey – each to their own). With this recipe, feel free to adjust the heat to your preference.
Serves: 4–6 Prep time: 2 hours 15 min
Ingredients:
For the Suya Spice Rub:
1 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp smoked paprika
1½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 sprig of thyme, leaves picked
For the turkey:
500 g turkey, cubed
2 tbs palm oil
3–4 tbs dry spice rub (suya)
Method:
01 Mix all the suya spice ingredients together in
a bowl.
02 Mix the suya spice rub with the oil.
03 Rub the paste on the turkey to tenderise the
meat.
04 Leave in the fridge for 1–2 hours, or overnight.
05 Grill the turkey over medium coals for
7–10 min on each side, until well cooked.
“Twins in the kitchen? It’s always double trouble. We have so much fun – we sing, we dance, we make jokes, but we always get the work done,” say Tebo and Lebo Ndala.
Hailing from Pretoria, these 26-year-old siblings decided to turn their passion for cooking for their family and friends into a profession. They run a private chef business, freelance as assistant food editors and stylists, and are ambassadors of Laager Rooibos Tea.
They’re also recently launched their first cookbook, Food Stories: Our favourite recipes with love from the twins (Human& Rousseau, R350).
They tell us more about their food journey, their new cookbook and more:
From Mamelodi, where we were born, to Los Angeles in the US. That’s where we attended a cultural programme as well as studying at UCLA. We taught the Americans about our braai culture and learnt a lot about Thanksgiving festivities and the traditional dishes for the celebration.
We live, cook, eat and socialise together and it really helps that we really have the same interests.
Of all the recipes in our recipe book three favourites stand out:
Disasters in the kitchen? Yes, of course. We had a disaster hosting a flatbread pop-up by using the wrong pans and the breads got stuck in the pan! We had to redo everything with very little time to spare.
What’s next? We really want to become a household brand, travel the world and reach different people. And open a With Love From The Twins cooking school one day.
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 1h30-2hrs
never be too intimidated making meringues, it’s really not that bad and if you really want to know if you whipped your egg whites properly, place the bowl over your head and if the egg whites fall on you, it wasn’t whipped really well. Try again.
Meringue ingredients:
6 Egg Whites
1 1/2 C Castor Sugar
2 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 Tbs Lemon Juice
1/2 Tbs Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Draw a 4 inch circle with a pencil on the baking paper.
In a mixer, beat egg whites until foamy, gradually add sugar. Whisk on high speed for 6-7 mins until stiff and glossy.
Add lemon juice and vanilla. Sift in corn starch and whisk until blended.
Transfer meringue onto baking paper inside the circle.
Bake for 1hr30 mins, then turn the oven off and with the door closed, leave the meringue in the oven overnight to cool completely. Remove from the oven and cover using cling wrap and leave to rest.
Cranberry Mascarpone Cream ingredients:
1/2 C Cranberries
1/3 C Pomegranate Rubies
1 Tbs Castor Sugar
1/2 C Apple Juice
1 C Whipping Cream
1/2 C Mascarpone Cheese
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Rosemary Springs and Pomegranate Rubies to garnish
In a saucepan, combine cranberries, pomegranate, sugar and apple juice and bring to a boil. Stir until the mixture has thickened. Pulse in a blender until smooth and strain the mixture into a jug. Leave to cool completely.
In a bowl, beat the cream, mascarpone and vanilla for 3 mins until soft peaks.
Fold the cream with the cooled cranberry mixture.
Topping:
1/3 C Cranberries
1/2 C Sugar and 3 Tbs extra
1/2 C Water
Boil water with 1/2 cup sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool in a bowl.
Drop the cranberries into the sugar syrup and stir, freeze for 30 mins. Drain and reserve the syrup for later. Dump the cranberries into the remaining castor sugar. Make sure the cranberries are completely covered in sugar.
Leave to dry on the counter.
Assembling:
Dollop the mascarpone mixture into the pavlova. Garnish with the cranberries, pomegranate rubies and rosemary sprigs.
If you notice throughout the entire cookbook, we try to add a South African twist to every dish, that’s our style of cooking. We guess it’s a little reminder of where we come from, no matter where we are. Fat cakes are truly South African, best enjoyed during the winter season and this broth is so hearty, definitely one of our favorite winter dishes.
Ingredients:
Fat cakes:
1C Cake Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbs Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2C Lukewarm Water
Oil, for frying
Mussel Broth:
2 Tbs Sesame Oil
2 Red Chilies, finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
3 Spring Onions, finely sliced
2 Tbs Lime Zest
2 Sticks Lemon Grass
1/2C Coriander, chopped
1 Lime
1 Tbs Fish Sauce
1 Tbs Brown Sugar
300 ml Chicken Stock
1C Coconut Milk
1 1/2 kg Black Mussels
Method:
Fat cakes:
Combine all the fat cake ingredients together and mix well.
Heat oil in a pan on medium heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil. Fry until cooked and golden brown on both sides.
Mussel broth:
In a heavy based saucepan, add sesame oil, lightly fry the chilies, garlic, spring onions, zest and lemongrass.
Add in the fish sauce, brown sugar. Stir and cook on low heat for about 5 mins.
Add in the stock and mussels. Simmer for 10-15 mins.
Add chopped coriander and adjust seasoning. Stir in the coconut milk.
Simmer for another 5 mins, simmer till the mussels are cooked and the broth is aromatic.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 50 mins
Just know that anything that has coconut milk, coconut cream or coconut flakes tastes amazing, no doubt. You can easily impress your guests with this simple dish, just pretend you slaved over the stove for hours, don’t worry, it’ll stay just between us.
Ingredients:
2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Small Onion, finely chopped
3 Tbs Red Curry Paste
2 Spring Onions, finely sliced
1 Tbs Fresh Ginger, chopped
1 C Asparagus, tailed
1 C Broccoli Florets
1 C Purple Cabbage, thinly shredded
1 C Carrots, julienned
2 Tbs Fish Sauce
2 Tbs Soy Sauce
3 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Chili Flakes
2 C Rice Noodles, uncooked
1/2 C Vegetable Stock
1 C Coconut Milk
Handful Basil
Sesame Seeds, to serve
Method:
In a wok, heat oil, fry the onion and curry paste for 1-2 mins. Add in the spring onion and ginger and stir.
Stir in all the vegetables. Coat them in the curry paste.
Add in the fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and chili flakes. Stir for 2-3 mins.
Add in the noodles and vegetable stock. Simmer on medium heat for 15-20 mins.
Add in the coconut milk and basil and simmer for another 20 mins till noodles are al dente and veggies are cooked.
Divide into bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Serves: 8-10
Prep time: 45 mins
When making bread make sure you put a timer on for 10 mins, knead the bread for the entire 10 mins, don’t stop even when your hands get tired. Trust us, it will all be worth it. If your bread is sticking to the counter, avoid adding more flour (it will dry it out), add a bit of oil, it should work like a charm.
Ingredients:
2C Brown Bread/Wholewheat Flour
1/2C Cake Flour
1 Pkt Instant Yeast
2 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1/2C Lukewarm Water
1/2C Lukewarm Milk
2 Tbs Olive Oil
Antipastos:
Cured meats
Olives
Anchovies
Cheese
Tepanade
Chutney
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients into a jug, stir gradually into the dry ingredients.
Beat with a hook paddle for 2 mins on high speed. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 10 mins until soft and pliable.
Cover the dough and leave to rest until double its size.
Knock down and shape into a loaf tin or desired shape.
Cover with a kitchen cloth and leave to rise for about 20 mins.
Bake in the oven for 30 mins.
Once done, leave to cook on the rack before serving.
Serve with the Antipastos.
