While scanning a restaurant menu or shopping at your local fish market, you may have come across calamari.
This aromatic delicacy has become a South African staple, often eaten by Christians in lieu of meat on Easter Friday.
Table Bay executive chef Lindsay Venn has recreated the traditional pickled hake and onions dish using calamari, in an effort to present diners with something different.
“I’ve put a retro spin on a traditional dish, taking it to a new level and serving it warm instead of cold,” said Venn.
Venn aims to develop the next generation of chefs, a challenge due to the gap in skills.
“I love seeing the spark and excitement in chefs’ eyes when they learn something new and just want to do it every day till they have mastered it,” he said.
Spiced calamari
Ingredients
150g baby calamari
50g flour
10g salt
15g Rajah curry spice (mild)
50ml mayonnaise
50g Cape Malay pickle
5g curry leaves
10g sultanas
Cape Malay pickle (Make the day before)
50g onions
30ml brown vinegar
20ml water
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp coriander seeds
Pinch of chilli flakes
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp cumin
Put ingredients in a pot and reduce by half. Place in a container for use the following day.
Method
Mix flour, salt and curry spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix salt and curry spice for seasoning.
Clean squid tentacles and slice the baby tubes in half lengthwise. Combine mayonnaise and curry spice.
Deep fry curry leaves in hot oil until they stop popping. Mix the calamari with the flour mix above. Deep fry squid until golden brown. Remove and put on a paper towel to drain the oil. Lightly season with curry salt.
Put warm Cape Malay pickle in the centre of the plate and add fried, seasoned calamari on top of the pickle.
Garnish with sultanas and deep-fried curry leaves and decorate plates with curry mayonnaise dots.
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