Johannesburg is a bustling metropolis, the biggest in South Africa, interspersed with leafy suburbs and edged by dust-swept townships where children play impromptu games of football. It is through these areas, brimming with life and plenty of sunshine, that Benny Masekwameng drove and made several stops, shopping for ingredients for the summer lunch he was preparing for his closest friends. His final stop was at his childhood home in Alexandra, where he called on his mother, Ma Margaret, requesting her help in overseeing the lunch.
Benny and his friends, whom he has known since he was a young boy, have regular get-togethers so they can look back at the old days and stay in touch with their lives currently. It is also the perfect excuse for Benny to show off his culinary skills and spoil his friends with whatever he thinks up. However, this being South Africa, and summer, it usually ends up as a braai. This time round, Benny’s friends tasked him with preparing something a little different.
He took to it, as the cliché goes, like a duck to water, and delivered with a delectable menu of confit salmon, rack of lamb and trifle. In the kitchen, Benny announced that he was going to “twist things. We’re going to start with the dessert and end up with the starter.” Dipping into the past with a favourite dessert, he decided he would prepare individual trifles, which would have jelly in them – a sweet treat he and his friends had loved, growing up.
Keeping it local, he whipped together a mouth-watering Amarula custard that would have an elephant drooling. When it came to the lamb though, Benny decided to reach further afield – all the way to France. Masterfully handling the rack of lamb, he applied an elegant French trim to his main course.
What would a tender serving of lamb, served with such style, be without a good red wine? Benny did not disappoint and created a delicious jus for the lamb, using a Cabernet Sauvignon. This smooth red added just the right touch, but Benny pointed out that a Merlot would do just as well.
Benny’s mother has always been a huge inspiration for him in the kitchen, starting with the days when she established her own vetkoek business and, thereafter, started cooking lunch for factory workers in Wynberg. Here Benny cut his teeth in the culinary world, and to honour his mother and all she had taught him, he decided to serve the lamb with creamed spinach, adapting one of her much-loved recipes.
Even though he was trying to stay away from the braai for the divergent and delicious menu he had created for his friends, the glorious South African summer tempted him. Before long his mother was basking in the sun, but still keeping a careful eye on Benny as he chargrilled the vegetables that would accompany the lamb.
Benny’s twist was complete as he finished off with his starter. The pink flesh of the Scottish salmon, sourced from La Marina Foods in Greenstone Hill, looked utterly delectable. Before long it was sizzling in a mixture of oil, thyme, bay leaves and pressed garlic cloves. To heighten the flavour he prepared a green sauce vierge made up of fresh herbs with lemon juice and garlic.
With his experience as an executive chef, plating dishes with flair comes naturally to Benny, evident from the gorgeous presentation of the salmon confit. For a personal touch he added a slice of his mother’s avocados to each plate. These he had plucked straight from her garden, bringing a little bit of home into the mix.
As Benny put his finishing touches on the starters, his friends arrived to see what he had cooked up. After graciously thanking Ma Margaret for all her help, the boys eagerly tucked in. They were impressed with the starter, and delighted at the lamb; but it was the jelly in the trifle that sent them tumbling down memory lane, before ending off lunch with a game of football as the sun set on another perfect summer’s day in Jo’burg.