Casalinga chef Rausharn Griffin loves to cook with farm grown produce, has a passion for food and loves what he does. Here's why.
He never wanted to be a chef until the bug bit. Now, executive chef Rausharn Griffin whips up delicious meals at one of Johannesburg’s favourite retreats, Casalinga in Muldersdrift.
He’s been there for five years with no plans to move on, because he just loves what he does.
Growing up in a family of cooks, food was part of Griffin’s life from an early age.
“Food has always been a part of our life and culture at home,” he said.
His mother, a chef who owned her own catering company and a restaurant in Ireland, and his grandmother, a skilled cook, instilled in him a deep appreciation for culinary arts.
Yet, despite this influence, Griffin initially pursued a different career path.
He was just drawn to cooking; it was as if it were an inevitability in his life. It was only after spending time in his mother’s restaurant in Ireland that his passion for cooking was sparked. He then returned to Mzansi.
“Every time I was bored, I was cooking something. When my friends came over, I cooked,” he said. So eventually, he relented and studied to become a chef.
And then, life made magic for the guy who just keeps smiling.
Life made magic for Griffin
The universe rewarded him. By twenty-one, Griffin became the head chef of a large restaurant group, overseeing multiple establishments in Johannesburg’s leafy suburbs.
He went on to study traditional Cantonese cooking in Hong Kong.
“I studied traditional Cantonese cooking and came back to open a fine dining Chinese restaurant,” he shared. However, the Covid-19 pandemic shattered that dream and forced him to adapt, leading him to take on private chef work for a while.
For Griffin, the allure of food lies in its emotional resonance.
“I think it’s the feeling that comes with food,” he explained.
“Food is nostalgic, and it can remind you of a time that’s not so stressful in life.”
This philosophy is evident in his approach to cooking; he likes to create dishes that evoke comfort and joy. Griffin’s culinary creations are not just about taste but also about the memories and emotions they evoke.
“They say you can taste all of this, including passion and love, in a meal. I couldn’t agree more,” he said.
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Working in a high-pressure kitchen environment demands that you know your stuff, and managing a legion of kitchen staff needs strong teamwork and quick thinking.
“We very much have to think on our feet,” Griffin noted.
He said a supportive kitchen team, where everyone looks out for each other, is what running a kitchen needs more than anything.
“If one aspect fails, the whole kitchen fails,” he said. And the same, of course, comes with successes.
“If one aspect fails, it all fails’
Griffin’s most challenging culinary endeavour, a crushed quail scotch egg, was an exercise in precision.
“I had to soft-boil quail’s eggs, peel them, wrap them in chicken mince, crumb them, deep fry them, and then slice them, hoping the centre remained liquid,” he recounted. “Thankfully, it worked, because I had to make eighty of them for a function where I designed the menu. It was tough and extremely stressful,” he shared.
He simply loves what he does, and at Casalinga, where much of the produce is grown on-site or sourced locally, he has the opportunity to work with organic ingredients.
“We work with a lot of organic farmers and respect the effort that goes into producing quality ingredients,” he said. “Using this kind of produce makes a significant difference in the colour and flavour of the food,” he said. “It just tastes differently, better, more robust.”
Loves a bacon cheeseburger
“I don’t think there’s a limitation when it comes to being a chef,” he said. But when he’s at home, he enjoys the simple pleasures of home cooking.
“My wife would tell you that my favourite thing in the world to eat is a bacon cheeseburger,” he laughed.
Despite his expert culinary skills, Griffin appreciates straightforward meals when he’s not working.
Griffin said that his Irish heritage did not really influence his style.
“Traditional Irish cooking can sometimes be lacking in flavour profiles,” he explained.
By infusing South African flair and innovative techniques, he transformed classic dishes into meals that were a bit more interesting, he shared.
His experimentation with ingredients, such as deep-fried Brussels sprouts and thrice-cooked chips, took his Irish family aback somewhat, in a positive manner, he said.
“Cooking a potato three times instead of just boiling it once makes a world of difference,” he noted.
“Simple changes to the way in which you would normally cook a dish that’s been done a certain way for centuries.”
