Best of British
British master chef Ed Baines is heading for Johannesburg in October to participate in an unusual food and music event. He will be one of three celebrity chefs coming out for Delicious, an entertainment and culinary extravaganza to be staged on October 5 and 6 at the Blue Hills Equestrian Centre.
He will join two other famous names on the British culinary landscape Aldo Zilli and John Burton Rice as well as international superstar Jamiroquai, who will add a musical note to the proceedings.
These culinary maestros will introduce South Africans foodies to their own signature dishes, which they will create at their own pop-up restaurants at the event. Baines is a high profile celebrity chef. He has appeared regularly on TV and is best known for his role as a judge on Britain’s Best Dish, which has just completed its sixth season.
He has also published two cookbooks Entertain was published in 2001 and his second, Best Of British was published in 2009.
This will be Baines’ fourth trip to South Africa. He says they will be serving dishes made famous by Randal & Aubin. “We are combining some of our most popular dishes, which will be big on flavour and are using fresh tuna, beef, seasonal produce, lamb and Madagascan giant prawns.”
On the desserts side, he will be doing some classic British and French puddings. Asked about career highlights, Baines says the one that stood out was the creation of Daphne’s restaurant in Chelsea when he was a young chef. But a crowning glory was the opening of his own restaurant, Randal & Aubin Soho.
“I have watched it become an enormous success and we have been going for 17 years now.”
Ed Baines
On food trends, he said there were restaurants that specialised in one or two things that appealed to the younger generation. But as youngsters become more knowledgeable about dining they expect more – and that’s where Baines saw potential in the return to a more classical type of operation with six to eight starters, six to eight main courses and five desserts.
Asked about his favourite food, Baines replied: “Ossa Buco Milanese. It’s just incredible; because it’s a difficult thing to do well, but if you get it right, the sensation on the palate is just incredible.”
His advice to new chefs is that they must forget any element of glamour, because that doesn’t exist. “Be prepared to work extremely hard and gain as much knowledge as you possibly can in your early years.
“And don’t rush through the learning process, because with food there is always an awful lot more than meets the eye. Anyone can make a dish, but it takes a long time to make it so that it’s memorable and that’s the whole point of a chef, to cook things that people will always, always remember.”
His future plans, he said, are to open a restaurant in the countryside and have a smallholding for growing vegetables and to farm. He described his passion for food as being there from the first day.
“I was a greedy baby and I always delighted in tasting new food,” he grins. His mother, he remembers, was very broad-minded in her shopping and in her interest in cooking and always tried new ingredients and recipes, all of which had a strong influence on him.
“Almost all my childhood me-mories revolve around food; a trip to Naples I remember as sourdough pizza; in Majorca it was the taste of fresh calamari fritters. Memories from my buggy include deli counters, fishmongers, butchers and bakers in and around Chiswick where I grew up.”
Baines reveals that he spent his early years looking for the toughest challenges and best training which took him from Park Lane to Monaco, Queensland and back to London, then off to Milan and Tuscany.
“After this experience I was in good shape to meet the challenge of setting up and running the kitchen at Daphne’s in Ken-sington. I stuck to a continental philosophy of only the best seasonal ingredients and a delicate approach to all things food. My staff were international and together became the most successful restaurant in London throughout the nineties.”
