Notes from the Cape

This was a really difficult list to put together, there are so many things that I really would be lost without. I have tried to keep to the important things, without reverting to the obvious (such as wooden spoons). I hope you enjoy it.

Sharp Knives
These are almost the most important thing to have in your kitchen. How can you slice, dice, chop and score without good knives? These do not have to be very expensive professional knives, but just a good set of sharp kitchen knives. Personally I would recommend at least a carving knife and a few multi-purpose knives that can also be used at the table when serving steak.

Cleaver
The cleaver is a very versatile kitchen implement. It can be used to break heavy bones, to cut hard-skinned squash and pumpkin, and is perfect for dicing veges and chopping fresh herbs. You can also use the side of a cleaver to crush fresh garlic.

Wooden chopping board
So, now that we have got both sharp knives and a cleaver, we need a suitable board on which to cut. I always prefer wood, mainly because it does not blunt the knives, but also because it provides a solid and firm surface on which to cut. Try to get a solid piece of wood, as opposed to separate pieces that have been glued or laminated together (they often split). For those of you concerned about health, wooden boards may be more hygienic that plastic board – the jury is still out. Try to have two or three different sized boards, and when preparing food, avoid putting raw meet and vegetables on the same board.

Grater
The grater can be used to grate almost anything (except for meat). Although we mainly use ours to grate cheese, it is also used in our house to grate fresh onion (add to a potatoe salad for a variation), cucumber, carrot, courgettes and potatoes (to make potatoe burgers). Try to get a grater that has several different sized holes.

Pestle and Mortar
This is great for grinding up herbs and spices, and also for making dressings. (For a simple salad dressing, mash a few fresh herbs with salt and pepper. Then add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and you have a great dressing.) Although fresh herbs are always better, dried herbs really release their flavour when they have been bashed about a bit. This is particularly useful with the range of ‘rubs’ that are now available. We actually have three Pestle and Mortars, and they are all used.

Grill Oven
Lois inherited our grill oven from her mother. It is really old (and looks so), but it is the best grill I have ever used. This is not to be confused with an oven; it is a standalone counter-top grill. We use grill everything from burgers to fish to melted cheese on toast. I personally prefer to grill rather than fry meat, it is so much more healthy. Our grill also has a rotisserie attachment, which is great for cooking whole chicken or cuts of meat. You can also use the top to keep food warm, or to heat up breads.

Wok
We love stir-fry’s – they are quick and easy to make, and there are so many flavours to experiment with, especially with the huge range of oriental ingredients now available. The Wok is really the only way to ensure that the veges are crisp and retain their fresh flavour. Of course you can use a wok for loads of other things, such as steaming dim sum, or for frying samosa’s or spring rolls.

Dishwasher
This has to be the number one think in my kitchen. For day to day cooking it’s a nice-to-have, but it is an absolute lifesaver when hosting a dinner party – it just makes life so much easier.

Ok, so its only a list of eight, but all of these are used in my kitchen on a regular basis, and all would be missed if they were not there. They really do make for better cooking and tastier food.

(in no particular order)

Prelude No 1: Bach
This is the first in the series of 48 preludes and fugues for the Well-Tempered Clavier, in which each piece is written in a different key. These preludes are a very early example of the link between music and mathematics. Bach is  referenced in great detail in the book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, a must read for anybody interested in human thought, creativity, mathematics, music or artificial intelligence.

Prelude No 20: Chopan
Although it is a very short piece, it is extremely stirring. This piece of music shows clearly what can be done simply by the use of harmony, with very little melody. It is one of those pieces where you have to open the piano up as much as possible, and play with total disregard to neighbours. I always love playing this prelude. I hope my neighbours love hearing it!

Rhapsody in Blue: George Gershwin
A piece of music that is really a link between classical and modern music. Written in 1924, it could have been written last week. Gershwin also wrote Summertime, a piece made famous by Louis Armstrong, and played by covers bands the world over.

The Maple Leaf Rag: Scott Joplin
This is just such a fine piece of old-time ragtime music. It always takes me back to the old western movies. Published in 1899, Joplin received a 1c royalty for each copy sold. This gained him a stead income, since over 500 000 copies were sold over the next ten years (the name comes from the Maple Leaf Club – where he used to work).

Sonata in C: Mozart
This is the first ‘serious’ piece of music that I learned. Although it is not particularity complicated, it is very typically Mozart and I still enjoy playing it.

O Fortuna! from Carmina Burana: Carl Orff
The older South African readers will remember this as the song from the Old Spice advert. With a full choir, orchestra and two piano’s, this is a very moving piece. It can only be listened to live, or played really loud on the hi-fi.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor: Bach
Bach’s famous piece for the pipe organ is best heard in a church or cathedral (Lois tells me you must be in the organ loft itself!), but almost as good on a CD. Don’t even think of listening to this played on anything but a pipe organ.

Ride of the Valkyrie: Richard Wagner
This piece is from the music drama The Valkyrie, which of course is part of the four music dramas which are collectively called Der Ring des Nibelungen, or more commonly just The Ring Cycle. To perform the complete cycle takes over 16 hours!

Moonlight Sonata: Beethoven
A piece of music which always relaxes me. To me, Beethoven was a bridge between the classical and romantic era’s of music. It is remarkable that a composer who went deaf in later years could write such beautiful music (he was not deaf whe he wrote the Moonlight Sonata).

Bohemian Rhapsody: Queen
Okay, I know that this is not strictly classical, but if you examine the piece, it has many classical influences. The structure is very operatic, and there are many choral influences in it. This is a remarkable piece of music, made even more so by the fact that it was recorded in 1975, when the studio technology was far less advanced than it is today (when it was recorded, Queen were told that at 5′ 55”, it was far too long and would never get radio play).