My Experience at Col Cacchio, Gateway, Durban.

I thought it would be ideal to upload this post on the weekend as many of you might be going out for lunch/supper? 

I've been to Col Cacchio many times before and I must say, I haven't been disappointed. Not once.

Col Cacchio is not a Halaal restaurant and therefore I only have the Veg items when I go there. So if you are not Muslim, you should definitely try out some of their other Menu items!

The experience I am going to share today is about the last time I went there which was about two weeks ago with my friends, Ahara & Nafeesah. 

Every time I go to Col Cacchio, my order is the same - One Pomodoro pasta in penne & for a drink I have a Kola Tonic & Lemonade with lots of ice.

The Pomodoro pasta is just tomato and basil. But its DELISH. So if you're more of the chilled tomato kinda pasta person, this one is for you! They make the flavours in a simple tomato dish just stand out. However, this time I ordered the Pomodoro pasta with wheat free pasta, not penne, for an extra R5 since I'm on this whole change of lifestyle kinda thing. It tasted even better!

My friend Nafeesah was visiting Col Cacchio for the first time with me. She ordered a Montanara. Unfortunately, she found it HORRIBLE. & I could see why. It was just filled with a thin liquid that looked like olive oil? & it tasted blah too. The Montanara is made up off Artichokes, Spring Onion, Thyme, Cream, Garlic Pangrattato & you can add Italian Parmesan. If these ingredients sound like your cup of tea then go ahead & order it! But for us, never again. Nafeesah ordered a Passion Fruit & Lemonade for a drink.

My other friend Ahara ordered pasta for the first time from here. She decided to try the Funghi Bianco. This pasta consists of Exotic Mushrooms, Cream, Herbs & you can top it up with Italian Parmesan. She absolutely LOVED it. If you're the creamy mushroom type of person, try it! I would like to try it out too once I'm over the phase of loving the Pomodoro which I don't think is going to be anytime soon. For a drink, she ordered the Virgin Strawberry Dacquiri. 

Another pasta I would love to try when I go there next time is the Creme di Gamberi. This pasta consists of Pomodoro Sauce, Cream, Prawns & Cherry Tomatoes. Just typing it is making my mouth water! 

One more thing I love about Col Cacchio is the way they prepare their beverages. I love Kola Tonic & Lemonade with Ice but it is very sad when restaurants don't serve it correctly according to how I like it. Many restaurants pour such a lil amount of Kola Tonic in the Lemonade that you can hardly taste any Kola Tonic at all! In these cases, I'm always asking for an extra shot of Kola Tonic which I have to pay atleast R5 or R6 for which I don't agree with as I am already paying atleast R20-R25 for my drink.
At Col Cacchio, they prepare the drink the way it supposed to be prepared! There is enough Kola Tonic in my Lemonade, & of course the cherry on the top is the slice of lemon in the drink. I've never had to ask for another shot of Kola Tonic when I'm ordering from Col Cacchio. Money well spent!

Did I say that their service has ALWAYS been excellent? Even on a busy Saturday night? I will definitely be visiting them again for some more pasta!
 
I have taken pics of our food & our drinks for you guys to see! If you do decide to visit Col Cacchio this weekend, or have already ate there, let me know about your experience!

Our Pastas! From left to right, Nafeesah's Montanara (blah), My Pomodoro (DELISH) & Ahara's Funghi Bianco (Delicious)

Our drinks! Nafeesah's Passion Fruit & Lemonade, My Kola tonic & Lemonade (Look at the colour? That's how it should be!) & Ahara's Virgin Strawberry Dacquiri. 

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

MYSTERY BASKET PRACTICAL!!!

Now this practical, was SCARY! 

Lol how many of you watch the program 'Chopped' ? This was like Chopped! Obviously, much less hectic but shew, could I feel the sweat trickling down my forehead or what!

So there were two tables of ingredients. Table number 1 had the staple ingredients that we were allowed to use which were: 
Flour
Sugar
Oil
Icing Sugar
Baking Powder
Bicarbonate of Soda
Cinnamon
Salt 

Table number two had the extras we were allowed to use which were: 
Vanilla Essence
Eggs
Cream Crackers
Cream
Butter
Yeast
Cocoa Butter
Toasted Almonds
Caramel Sauce 

The bigger trick was that we had to use 8 ingredients only. Another trick was that we were allowed to use all ingredients from Table 1, BUT if we used an ingredient from Table 2, we had to scratch out one ingredient from Table 1. 

This made the process really tricky as we wanted or needed some extras from Table 2 but then which staple ingredient were we ready to sacrifice from Table 1?

The biggest rule of this 'Mystery Basket Practical' was that we had to have a nectarine somehow, somewhere in the dish. 

Oh, did I mention the number of pieces & types of equipment we were limited too? 

We only received: 
A balloon whisk
A large metal spoon
A large slotted spoon
Two normal size spoons
A large wooden spoon 
A pastry brush 
& ya that's it? We had to share the equipment with our workstation partner. That wasn't a problem, my partner, Sihle, & I get along very well.

We had two hours to create and present this dish. The silence that crashed on us when the clock started ticking was infuriating. You could just see that everyone is standing, LOST, with absolutely no clue with what they are going to prepare. There were some foul words too breaking the silence now and then haha, but once everyone had decided what to make & the ball was rolling, we were all back to our happy, cheerful selves once again. Not for long tho.

I decided to make a Malva Pudding. The issue was, I had no honey, milk or vinegar available in my Mystery Ingredient basket. I substituted the milk with cream & the honey with caramel sauce. I left out the vinegar completely (Had to pray that it would not flop without the vinegar). So that turned into a Caramel Malva Pudding. As for the nectarines, you know the sauce that you have to create to pour over the Malva Pudding? I added some nectarines into that sauce whilst I was preparing it & in the end, just used a strainer & kinda like 'pureed' the nectarines into the sauce. 

So I ended up with a Caramel Malva Pudding soaked in a Creamy Nectarine Sauce.

Overall, I am quite happy with this dish, the taste was AMAZING. The pudding rose well & was soft and moist. The only thing I would do next time is have a more creative plating presentation. I think in all that hype to get done, I was just trying to focus on finishing & didn't focus on presentation that much which is completely wrong off me. By the time I realized that I don't like my plating design, my Chef Lecturer, Chef Julia was ready to mark it. Sucks when this happens but next time I'll focus on presentation more. 

Not bad for my first ever Capsicum Style 'Chopped' practical? Haha.

Caramel Malva Pudding with a Creamy Nectarine Sauce

My workstation during the practical. Quite a bit messy. Took a break to take this picture as my arms were DYING due to me having to beat the sugar and egg until it's fluffy with a BALLOON WHISK. Today was the day I really appreciated having access to an electrical mixer at home, which now sits in the cupboard due to the very famous, Kitchen Aid. Technology makes baking so much easier than before hey?

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3 

Caramel Banana Nut Crepe

When I think of crepe, I think of comfort food! & that too, easy to prepare comfort food! A very simple process that we carried out yesterday too, just after we prepared the Mini Meringue Baskets (Previous Post).

The twist was making caramel sauce. I'm not a fan of caramel but to be honest, I really enjoyed making (& eating!) this caramel sauce in the crepe! Hmmm <3

Another thing I loved about this practical was BANANA. I'm not a huge fruit lover, but banana & strawberry are my favourite fruits! & of course, Litchis when it's in season!

So we sprinkled some cinnamon sugar all over the crepe, then some slices of banana, some more cinnamon and sugar, some toasted nuts & lots of caramel sauce! Roll it up & TADAAA! It was GOOD! 

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Mini Meringue Baskets

Yesterday we prepared Mini Meringue Baskets! It was literally a 4 step method.
You could fill the baskets with kiwi/oranges/strawberries/raspberries/goosberries/peach/grape but we filled it with some Mixed Berries and topped it off with a Mixed Berry Coulis that we prepared in one of our practicals before.

An ideal dish for all the sugar lovers out there! It's an extremely sweet dish but I must admit, I liked the texture of it!

Mini Meringue Baskets

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Vetkoek & Koeksusters

This by far was my most favourite practical! Vetkoek & Koeksusters Mmmm Hmmm!

We were studying about Frying & therefore, Vetkoek (Cookery method: Shallow frying) & Koeksusters (Cookery method: Deep frying) was the most yummiest practical to have to practice these cookery methods. 

The Vetkoek was made the non-traditional way (before any Afrikaaners jump in & say that my Vetkoeks don't look like Vetkoeks haha, kidding) - we made them to look like fat crumpets!

The Koeksusters do look like Koeksusters right? The only difference is that I decided to make cute, mini koeksusters; You could call them bite size. The picture below just shows their cuteness. I know I definitely made the right choice! :) 
 With Koeksusters, people make it different ways for example straight after the koeksuster has been deep fried, they dip it in hot syrup & serve or straight after it is deep fried, it is dunked in ICE COLD SYRUP & left there to suck up all the syrup and cool down. This process gets a lot of syrup into the actual koeksuster as the hotness of the koeksuster really absorbs all the ice cold syrup. This is the method we used & it was fun! & really tasty too!

Fat Vetkoeks & Braided Koeksusters! 

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Savoury Scones

Scones is something that you can have sweet or savoury. We made savoury scones by adding Macon & Cheese in them. Simple, savoury delicious item. Looks like a burger right? LOL.

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Apple Dumpling with an Apple Papillote

Let's start off with the Apple Dumpling

This was basically a peeled apple, cored, with raisins running down the middle covered with a pastry dough and then baked. This is a classic dish & the way you would eat this is to lift the outer shell of the cooked pastry which should easily come off & a steaming, cooked apple will be sitting there ready for you to eat!

The Apple Dumpling sat on top of an Apple Papillote. I have taken pictures of the process of a Papillote below. We basically sliced the apple, placed pieces of butter & the apple slices on a parchment sheet (like in the pic below) and sprinkled some spices on top of each slice like cinnamon & then more butter & then we twisted the parchment sheet so that all the heat is trapped in & all the flavors from the spices will absorb into the apple. When the Apple Papillote was done baking in the oven, we placed it on a plate & placed the Apple Dumpling on top. Plain, unflavored yogurt (on the side) goes well with this dish.

If you would like to know more about this dish, or the method then feel free to send me an email! :) The pictures of the process & my final product are below.

The final product - Apple Dumpling sitting on an Apple Papillote with a unflavored yogurt on the side.

The apple slices laying ready & seasoned on a parchment sheet.

Parchment sheet twisted so the heat will stay in the 'basket' once in the oven & the flavors will infuse well into the apple slices.

Apple Papillotes cooked & out of the oven.

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Spotted Dick with a Peach & Cinnamon Compote

Let me first explain what a Spotted Dick is since I know that's the only thing you're thinking about right now. It's a pudding. Actually, a very classic, famous British pudding. I won't say it's a cake but more like a round ball? A sponge? The word 'Dick' is actually a colloquial word for pudding.

Basically we had to make a dough and then place balls of that dough into greased dariole moulds (see below for a picture of a dariole mould) that are lined with parchment paper. The dariole moulds were then placed into a pot that had water coming halfway up the sides. The heat was set on low & the pot was covered with a lid. Obviously, the water started turning into steam and that steam is what cooked the dough in the dariole mould & made it rise. This was a steaming process. 

 The Peach & Cinnamon Compote was a hit for all the Peach fans out there. A very simple recipe which included Vanilla Extract, Butter, Cinnamon, Honey, Brown Sugar & of course PEACHES. 

The Peach & Cinnamon Compote doesn't only have to be paired with Spotted Dick; It could be paired with any other pudding or waffle.

To top off the Spotted Dick, we poured some homemade custard on top ( Chef Julia said that custard is a great combination with it ) & there we have it, Spotted Dick with a Peach & Cinnamon Compote!

My Practical

Dariole Moulds   

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Custard Slice with a Mixed Berry Coulis & a White Icing Mixture

Lets be honest. The custard slice flopped on this day - Want to know why? LOAD SHEDDING. Everything was going perfectly & then the lights go out. We use gas stoves at campus so we could carry on preparing the custard but the scary part was when it had to go into the fridge to set. The electricity did come back on, but say only 15 minutes before we had to put it in the fridge. So we put it in the freezer & left it in there for about a hour & a half but no luck, it just didn't set. However, looking at the picture below, could you even say that this dish was actually a flop? Not really hey? xP haha.

As for the mixed berry coulis, it was sweet sweet sweet, but that's how they supposed to taste like right? As instructed by Chef Julia, I just presented a lil bit of mixed berry coulis as you do not want it to overpower the custard which was the spotlight of the dish. 
Oh yes, & that's another reason why we used a biscuit like a cheese cracker rather than a tennis biscuit - *insert Chef Julia's voice* "NOTHING must overpower the custard" :) 

The white icing was just a quick mixture of sugar and water & one more ingredient. A lil bit of that drizzled on the top of the custard slice to give it a lil bit of sweetness. 

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Fruit Flower

I almost forgot about this LOL. The pic below is a fruit flower. We were given fruits & a picture of a fruit flower & Chef Julia told us to be creative & create a flower with a leaf & a sun.

As you can see below, I created the sun out of orange with the sun rays being lemon. Flower petals were lemon, the ovary (middle part of the flower) was a mango, the leaf for the flower was orange, the cloud was a pineapple & the grass was green apple with some mint. Not such a bad attempt, don't you think?

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Poached Pear with Creme Anglaise

Since we were learning about Poaching, this happened to be our first main practical. It's a Poached Pear.
We basically peeled the pear & let it 'poach' in a pot of syrup or stock if you prefer to call it that. Whilst that was poaching we created a Creme Anglaise. A Creme Anglaise is like a custard but a much thinner version. I won't lie, it was SO GOOD.

So yeah, a very simple & easy dish. The flavours absorbed into the pear was a great combination with the Creme Anglaise.

Next time tho, I would experiment slicing my pear another way in order to be able to present the pear in a really funky weird shape. As you can see, my pear looks normal even though it has been sliced. 

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

The First Practical

The first practical that was done at Capsicum was of course, a practical to learn knife skills! 

I think that's the first main thing a chef should know how to do, right?

We were given a whole lot of vegetables and fruits & had to practice the following cuts: Chiffonade, Brunoise, Jardiniere, Macedonian, Julienne, Wedges & the Diamond cut. I won't lie, I found it tough, especially because we had to hold the knife the proper way you're supposed to hold a knife ( was SO uncomfortable! ) & couldn't just cut anyhow.

Anyway, the picture below show what my cuts looked like. My Chef Lecturer, Chef Julia said that my wedges cut ( the orange wedges in the top left hand corner next to the diamond cut cucumbers ) was really good! LOL I guess practice will make perfect when it comes to the rest of the cuts :)

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3

Welcome to Frosted Amor <3

Welcome to Frosted Amor!                                                                                                     

A lil bit about me. My name is Naeelah & I am born and raised in Durban, South Africa. I am 18 years old, born on the 14th of May & I am currently studying towards my Diploma in Patisserie at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Durban.

The idea for this blog was given to me by my Chef Lecturer, Chef Julia. Since I LOVE pastry (mostly cupcakes, I am cupcake OBSESSED) & love taking pics of food that looks & tastes good, I thought this will be a fantastic idea!

So yes you could call this a food blog. More than that, this blog will capture all the food-memories of my journey towards becoming a Pastry Chef & journeys beyond that.

There will be many reviews of good food that I have experienced (& bad) in my home city, Durban.

I hope you all enjoy this journey & look forward to what the future holds as much as I do!

Until next time, keep your life frosted! <3