Coffee, cuppa joe, java, jamoke or joe – whichever way you call it and however you stir it, there is no denying the creamy smooth brew of a good cup of coffee.
The next time you are looking for an unconventional way to add that wow factor into your family meals, take a warm sip of inspiration from your next cuppa Joe.
“Coffee is one of those ingredients that is so versatile that you can infuse it into your cooking to flavour dishes,” says chef Naledi Toona.
“When making your steaks, coffee plays as a tenderiser. It has several roles but most importantly can be used instead of brown sugar or honey to break down the meat fibres and reduce the saltiness.
“Not everyone is a coffee lover. Sometimes it becomes overpowering, so the key thing is finding the balance of all flavours so that the coffee flavour is not overpowering.”
We meet the 38-year-old chef at the rustic industrial kitchen of The Cooking Kitchen in Parkwood, north of Johannesburg. Petite in stature, she commands the kitchen with impressive culinary grace. She guides guests through a masterclass on the unique uses of instant coffee granules and coffee sachets in our home cooking.
“Instead of using sugar, take your coffee sachet, especially the ones that you know are quite sweet and add them to your dishes so that it reduces the saltiness of the dishes,” she says referencing a mushroom sauce to accompany a coffee rub for the steaks.
“You can add it into the custard for a coffee-infused custard,” which she infused to make the traditional malva pudding with a twist.
“It works beautifully for the homemade or store-bought custard – simply add the grains when you are warming up so it gives you that coffee flavour. The dehydrated milk substitutes will add to the creaminess of the mushroom sauce or any pasta dish.”
Toona's culinary expertise as a food educator helps mothers and children lead a healthy lifestyle.
“I love taking classic recipes so that they are not something completely new or that people know and adding ingredients to it,” says Toona.
“When I tell people I’m a chef, they ask me about the restaurant I work at. There is so much more about the culinary industry than just the food.
“There are different careers in culinary. I love working with children and the educational aspect of food. I love talking about nutrition and how we can avoid lifestyle diseases by eating proper diets.”
The Serowe native, in Botswana, says that her decision to become a professional chef is something that she didn't take seriously at first. In hindsight, she recalls how her family life had prepared her all along.
“Funny enough, I never saw myself as a chef. It was a hobby, which I didn’t realise but in hindsight, my mother had always been pushing me in the kitchen,” she says.
“I come from a family of cooks. We never hired catering for a family event, everyone would pitch in. My sisters and I grew up in the kitchen and started cooking from a young age in primary school. All my aunts and grandmother are great cooks, but I am the first professional chef in the family.”
After quitting her administrative job and dabbling in corporate catering, in 2016 Toona took the leap of faith and pursued her culinary qualification at the HTA School of Culinary Arts in Randburg.
“What made me decide to go into culinary and enjoy cooking more was after I married and started my own family. I realised how much I loved cooking for my small family,” says Toona.
Instant coffee-infused malva pudding
Ingredients
- 3 sachets of your favourite coffee
- 2 Tbsp butter/margarine
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp apricot jam
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup cake flour
- pinch of salt
- 100g butter/margarine (for sauce)
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup cream
- 5ml vanilla essence
Method
- For the pudding, preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Mix the butter and sugar until it becomes creamy. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the apricot jam.
- In a cup, mix the bicarbonate and milk until fully dissolved.
- Sift the flour and salt together and add half to the creamed mixture. Add half the milk and mix. Then add the remaining flour and milk mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Pour equal mixture into individual ramekins then bake for 25-30 minutes. You may use a muffin tray.
- Bring the Jacobs caramel mocha, water, and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer and keep stirring for about two minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and cream.
- Pour over the hot baked pudding.
- Serve with warm custard.
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