Guests literally feasted with their eyes at a food and wine tasting at Mundo Vida in Umdloti on Thursday, November 7.
Head chef Duke Garratty presented his dishes on different crockery like wood, slate and terra cotta making quite an impression before a single morsel had been tasted.
The food itself did not disappoint and Garratty took the opportunity to stray from the  restaurant’s menu.
“I try wherever I can to create signature dishes. Flavour however is my main goal. I create big, bold flavours with classical French techniques and always try to be as different as possible.”
His four course meal, complemented by wine from Strandveld, began with a Roasted Prawn Salad, followed by Beef Tataki. Next on the menu was Grilled Line Fish with Tempura Mussels, with the grand finale, a Strawberry Maison served in a jam jar for dessert.
Mundo Vida was started by Joni and Don Wilkinson, with the support of chef Garratty, in 2008.
According to Duke, his step-father Don was an incredible mentor to him, and both he and Joni plan to, not only continue Don’s legacy, but to put Mundo Vida on the list of top coastal restaurants in South Africa.
Garratty’s recipes from the day:

 

Grilled red roman, lemon & dill risotto, caper cream, courgettes, red capsicum & tempura mussels

Recipe by: chef Duke Garratty

Recipe yield: 4 portions preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour allergens: garlic, dairy, shellfish

For the fish:

4 fillets red roman (pin bones removed)

1 chilli (de-seeded)

10ml fresh dill

10ml lemon zest

20ml Maldon salt

For the risotto:

10ml cooking oil

1 lemon (zested)

30 ml lemon juice

1 medium onion

1 cup Arborio rice

1 tsp crushed garlic

500ml fish stock

150 white wine

50g butter

30ml fresh dill

30ml grated parmesan cheese

For the sauce:

200ml fish stock

300ml fresh cream

50g capers

1 lemon (zested)

For the mussels:

12 mussels (on ½ shell)

*see Tempura batter from “roasted prawn salad recipe”

Oil for frying

 

For the stir-fry:

2 baby marrows

1 red pepper

10ml fresh oregano

½ tsp crushed garlic

20ml olive oil

Micro herbs for garnish

For the risotto:

• Warm the fish stock and add 200ml water to it
• In a frying pan add 50ml cooking oil and sauté the onions and garlic until translucent.
• Add the lemon zest and rice and coat the rice with the oil from the pan. Allow to toast for about a minute
• Deglaze the pan with white wine
• Gradually add the stock to the rice a ladel at a time and allow the liquid to cook off the rice before adding another ladel. You should be stiring continuously but gently so the rice does not stick, but also so you do not break it.
• The rice is cooked when it is soft but not mushy and retains its shape nicely with a little bite in the centre (it will be about 3-4 times its original[dried] size)
• Finish with butter, dill parmesan and a squeeze of fresh lemon

For the Sauce:

• in a small sauce pan, reduce the fish stock down into a sticky glaze, this stage is just before burning point so be very careful with it and do not let it burn or your sauce will be ruined
• add cream, bring to the boil and reduce by a third of its original quantity
• add capers, a squeeze of lemon and a little sugar to balance the sauce out

For stir-fry:

• cut vegetables into thin strips lengthways and then lengthways again.
• Heat a small frying pan and sauté the veggies with olive oil, garlic and oregano until soft

 

For mussels:

• Lightly dust mussels with flour and dip into tempura batter
• Fry at 180 degrees for 2-3 minutes until golden and crispy

 

For the fish:

• Combine salt, lemon zest, chilli and dill and season the fish with this
• Heat a small frying pan and place the fish in, skin side down.
• Fry for 2-3 minutes until skin is crispy and golden and the sides have begun to turn white.
• Turn the fish, ad a knob of butter and finish in a hot oven for 4-5 minutes

 

 

Beef Tataki

1 ½ Kg Beef Fillet – nicely trimmed

Marinade

100g Fresh Ginger – chopped fine

100g Fresh Garlic – chopped fine

30ml Fresh coriander

100ml Soya Sauce

100ml Medium Cream Sherry or Mirin

150g Sugar

Wasabi Mayo

200 ml Wasabi powder

100ml Basil oil

200ml Cooking Oil

5 Egg Yolks

1 tsp Salt

60m Lemon Juice / White Vinegar

100g Jasmine Rice

2 Mandarins

50ml Sugar

Pickled Ginger

Ponzu & sesame dressing

50ml Kikkoman “Ponzu Dressing”

30ml Sesame Oil

½ tsp Sambal Oelek

2 Tbsp Sugar

1 bunch Spring Onion (use white part only)

30ml Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients for marinade in a large bowl

Add beef (whole) and marinate for 24 hours

Remove from marinade &p at dry with a kitchen towel

Get a pan / flat grill very hot, so oil is smoking. Sear fillet on all sides – you need to get a nice dark colour (approx 1 min per side)

Remove from the heat and cover with plenty of ice. Once cool, pat dry & wrap tightly with cling wrap. Refridgerate overnight.

Wasabi Mayo

Add all ingredients to food processor, turn onto pulse function, slowly drizzle in oil. Cool in refridgerator.

Segment both mandarins / oranges. Squeeze juice out of left overs

Sprinkle with sugar & marinate for 30 minutes

Add to a small pot and reduce the juice until sticky. Remove from heat and cool.

In a dry pan, toast rice until golden brown. Remove from heat and blend until it has consistency of sand.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl

Make small rosettes with picked ginger

Slice Beef and assemble

Roasted Prawn Salad

4 Duck Eggs

200g Baby Spinach

150g Chorizo

2 Small Red Onions

For prawns:

1 Box 16/20 Prawns (good quality)

Crushed garlic

1 chilli de-seeded and finely chopped

Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

1/2 Lemon

For Balsamic onions:

Red Pepper

150ml Balsamic Vinegar

100g Sugar

Smoked paprika dressing

50ml Smoked Paprika

1 White Onion

100ml Red Wine Vinegar

300ml Sunflower Oil

Sugar to taste

1 Tsp English mustard

For tempura sweet potato

1 Sweet Potato

100g Corn Flour

100g Cake Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

500ml Sparkling Water

1 Tsp Salt

Oil for Frying

• Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl
• Clean the prawns. Cut down the length of the back ½ cm deep and remove vein. Rinse clean under running water
• Marinate the cleaned prawns for 15 minutes before cooking
• Place eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil. Time for 6 minutes Remove from heat & place the eggs in ice cold water. Once cooled, peel and set aside.
• In a small pot add onions, balsamic vinegar and sugar, bring to the boil, reduce heat. Tis is ready when it has a sticky consistency and it can coat the back of a spoon without running off. Set aside to cool

• Add 50ml of oil to a small frying pan & sweat onions (on a low heat) until sweet and transluscent in colour. Remove from heat & cool
• Once onions are cool place in a blender. Add red peppers, paprika, red wine vinegar, mustard, sugar
• Turn on blender and slowly drizzle in the olive oil
• Slice chorizo lengths ways & then lengths ways again. Cut into 4cm lengths
• Sauté in cooking oil until crispy
• Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk in eggs. Add sparkling water. Consistency must be slightly thinner than pancake batter
• Wash and peel sweet potato. Slice thinly with a mandolin.
• Dust sweet potato in flour, dip into batter and fry at 180 degree C until crispy
• Add prawns and marinade to a hot pan and cook through, 3-4 minutes, add butter, remove from heat, squeeze with lemon
• Assemble salad

Smoked Salmon Cornettes

Cornettes

¼ cup + 3 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sugar

½ tsp Maldon Salt

100g soft butter

2 egg whites (cold)

Black Sesame Seeds

• Add dry ingredients to a bowl
• Lightly whip egg whites & incorporate with dry ingredients
• Make a cornette shape out of tin foil
• Refridgerate
• Make a stencil of a circle 8cm in diameter
• Place stencil on corner of a baking tray/sheet
• Spread the mixture thinly onto stencil with back of offset spatula
• Repeat process til sheet is full, leaving 3 cm gap between each one
• Bake at 180 degree C for 3-5 minutes, will be unevenly coloured
• Curl around the tin foil cornette moulds, place seam side down
• Bake for a further 2-4 minutes until an even colour

Smoked Salmon Tartare

100g Smoked Salmon (good quality)

1 small Red Onion

20g Capers

Juice & Zest of 1 Lemon

½ tsp Salt

Finely slice the smoked salmon, capers and red onion.

Combine with lemon & salt

Red Pepper Crėme Fraiche

1 Red Pepper (roasted & skins removed)

200ml crème fraiche

20ml Balsamic Reduction

• Blend (in food processor) crème fraiche, red peppers & balsamic to ensure smooth consistency
• Add crème fraishe and continue blending
• refrigerate