Lost foods given new life at Palace of the Lost City

The Palace of the Lost City reclaims its legendary glory with a Michelin-starred partnership that celebrates the local ingredients of the North West province.  

Set in the magnificent, lush scenery of the Pilanesberg, the enchanting five-star hotel at the heart of the Sun City resort has embarked on an 18-month project, spearheaded by the acclaimed JAN Group, headed by SA’s first Michelin-starred chef, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen. 

The partnership, launched last month, will facilitate the revitalisation of the menu and beverage offerings at The Palace.

“I’ve been involved with the project pretty much since the start,” says 28-year-old Andrea Pick, executive chef of the JAN Group.

“Chef Jan spends most of his time in Nice, France, and so I go up to the North West in his place. I oversee that everything is taken care of. I work closely with Chef Jan and the executive chef at The Palace, Gino Fortune.” 

Pick said it was on a car ride from the airport with Van der Westhuizen that inspired the concept for the “lost” local ingredients.

“On the drive, he talks, shoots out ideas and plans. He kept coming up with ‘Lost City’ and he’s like: ‘What if we find the lost ingredients for the Lost City?’ It was the birth of the concept that we’ve been developing and recently launched the first phase of.”

Pick grew up in Northcliff, Johannesburg, and relocated to Cape Town after matric to live with her sister. Her passion for food and hospitality was sparked during her gap year.

“My sister spoiled me with outings, and we would have all these incredible meals. Behind each dish, you could see the passion and effort that went into the food. The dedication behind a small act of serving someone else. To me, that was powerful,” says Pick. 

“In that year, I realised I wanted to walk proudly like chefs inside the restaurants and everyone in hospitality, with a sort of fire inside of them. I wanted to be a part of it.”

Pick studied at the Prue Leith Culinary Academy, and got the opportunity to work with Van der Westhuizen as a student. 

“Chef Jan is a formidable brand and an incredible boss, and our team puts their everything into every single project, because we know it’s important,” says Pick.

The “Lost Ingredients” menu at The Palace honours the local food heritage of the region by plating it front and centre. These local food heroes include amaranth (a gluten-free grain), cleome (spider flowers), Jew’s mallow (Egyptian spinach) and cowpea (black-eyed pea), a nutritious and drought-resistant legume.

First up is the heirloom corn that made its debut at the Crystal Court breakfast menu.

Van der Westhuizen shares how he reimagines the humble heirloom corn as a “lost” ingredient. 

“I was curious about all the ways we could play with this household staple and give guests of the Crystal Court a full sensory experience inspired by an ingredient that has fed us for centuries. Corn has never really been ‘lost’ to us as South Africans, we wanted to celebrate its versatility and, in the process, we explored all the fun things we could do with its textures, colours and unexpected pairings,” he says.

“For this project, we spent a lot of time researching and tasting the heritage ingredients, learning how generations of South Africans before us have cooked with them, and paying that history a lot of respect. Our goal was to take ingredients that are familiar to South Africans and present them in a way that feels luxurious but is still deeply rooted. It’s about honouring tradition while inviting guests to enjoy these flavours in new ways.”

Corn Dombolo

 Ingredients

• 500g flour 
• 60g sugar
• 10g yeast 
• 6g salt
• 300g water
• 50g organic heirloom corn kernels, cut off the cob 

Method

• Mix all the ingredients and knead for 10 minutes.
• Divide the dough into two and place them in half-dome stainless steel moulds.
• Let them ferment until doubled in size.
• Bring water to boil in a pot.
• Steam the breads on a medium setting for 40 minutes. 
•  

Honey Mieliebrood 

Ingredients

For the mieliebread

• 120g mielie meal
• 120g flour
• 140g sugar 
• 15ml baking powder 
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 7ml salt 
• 2 cans cream-style corn 
• 2 eggs
• 800ml milk
• 300g sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 160ml vegetable oil

 For the butter sauce

• 160g butter, melted
• 160ml honey 

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Mix all the dry ingredients and the cheese in a large bowl.
• Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl. 
• Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.
• Grease a 40cmx40cm casserole dish with some butter, and pour the prepared mix into the dish.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until evenly golden.
• Remove the mieliebrood from the oven. 
• Generously brush on the butter sauce.
• Serve while warm.