Sam Woulidge's Confessions of a Hungry Woman

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Sam Woulidge
Photo: Jurie Senekal   

Now this is my kind of cookbook. Sam Woulidge’s Confessions of a Hungry Woman (Random House Struik) reads like a food diary full of beautiful and also riveting stories. The Cape Town-based journalist, Woolworths TASTE Magazine food columnist and popular food blogger’s new cookbook has just hit the shelves. Confessions of a Hungry Woman offers a look into Sam’s life and the colourful people with whom she shares her love for food.

Don’t be fooled by the eclectic cover design. This is a book that will be as valuable as any classical Kook en Geniet or Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals. The recipes vary from simple salads and stews to delicate pastries and challenging dishes by celebrity chefs like Reuben Riffel and 95 Keerom sensation Giorgio Nava. You can expect more than just a book full of food inspiration from South Africa’s experts in the kitchen – the book includes a collection of Sam’s best columns. She will take you on an incredible food journey starting in 2006, when she left South Africa to join her doctor husband, Jacques, who was working on cruise ships at the time. Four years later Sam returned home to face many challenges in and out of the kitchen. And so she turned to her friends for inspiration.
 

I dare to say that you will find yourself taking this book to bed ...

 

Title: Confessions of a Hungry Woman
Publisher: Random House Struik
ISBN: 9781432300081

Click here to by the book from 
kalahari.com
.

Hi Sam. Let’s jump straight in. The cover of Confessions of a Hungry Woman is an eye-catcher. Are you pleased with it?

Yes I am, but I’m also quite nervous about it. Baring your soul is one thing, but baring your arms is something quite different! It was the publisher’s decision to put me on the cover, and as I’m most definitely not a typical cover girl, as far as I was concerned a photograph of myself was out of the questions. The cover artwork eventually chosen is by the enormously talented Karin Miller and I do love it, because it’s a version of me, but the cake, the pomegranate, the sea and Table Mountain make me look good.

The book’s title on the cover is flocked!? It’s textured, almost like a fuzzy, velvet material. This is something, I must admit, I have only ever seen on children’s books. What made you decide to do this?

I wish I could take the credit for deciding on the flocking, but it was all the doing of Beverley Dodd, the book’s designer. She wanted something tactile, something sensual, something surprising on the cover, and orange flocking quite clearly fits that bill!

Would you please share some behind-the-scenes stories about the process of creating this book?

While creating this book was sometimes exhausting, it never felt like work. Firstly, I already had the columns from Woolworths TASTE, but I was also spending time with some of my favourite people. It was like a wonderfully extended master class: I watched my friends work in the kitchen, saw how they prepared the food, chatted over endless glasses of wine and then happily ate the fruits of their labour. Jurie Senekal, the photographer, has a way of blending into the background, so that, eventually, people forget he’s there, and that’s when he takes the wonderfully intimate portraits that he does. He captures fleeting interactions and moments that others may miss. The hard work came when I had to recreate all these recipes myself. Cooking is not my first love. Eating is. So it was more work than pleasure initially, but then I gained confidence and I started getting things right, and starting loving the satisfaction that cooking well brings. Poor Jacques, though … sometimes he just wanted a salad and there I was forcing three-course meals on him and demanding that he sing my praises …

 

Sam and her husband Jacques while they were sailing through the Norwegian fjords.
Photo: Leo Hamburger   

The book features recipes by many fantastic cooks, like the well-known chef and restaurateur Reuben Riffel, winemaker Adi Badenhorst and the brother-sister duo Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy. Essentially this book is a collection of 14 of your foodie friends’ stories. What was the brief to each participant?

The brief was really simple: Prepare a meal for six people. But make sure that the recipes are easy enough so that I can recreate them in my own kitchen. This, of course, meant that many of my talented friends had to rein themselves in, because they are more talented and skilled than I am, but I think that each menu is reflective of each person or team, and their particular style of cooking.

 

You wrote on your blog: “The book that is proof that I actually managed to achieve something during the past year filled with such loss.” Would you care to tell us more?

My mom, who I am exceptionally close to, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and the fight to live has been brutal. I also suffered a miscarriage after many, desperate years of battling infertility. Completing the book during this time was my proof that despite heartache I could still function. We are all stronger than we think … 

Sam, Jacques and their friend Ali du Toit
Photo: Peter du Toit   

What is it about a love of food that can form the strongest bonds between people?

In think food is a language of love. People will make someone their favourite food to show them they care about them, are happy for them, or wish to comfort them in some way. For most people there is an emotional response to food or certain foods. Food triggers memories, and these shared memories connect us is some way. I once wrote that ”For South Africans, food often gets spoken of when people try and explain who they are in this often divided country. When we need to remember that that which binds us is often stronger than that which divides us. When the young Afrikaans girl tells of the sweetly-sour taste of karringmelk pudding her grandmother made her, and when her Zulu friend recounts how her grandfather drinks amasi. And they realize how similar the flavours are. Or when the milky sweet sameness of melkkos and boeber are discovered. Or when we realize that there are few South Africans who don’t love the taste of charred meat.”

Has any meal ever brought you to tears?

I cried into the rice pudding I made for my mother when she first started chemo. But mostly I express my delight in food with laughter and not tears. During a lunch I had at The Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant in Bray in the UK, I had to control myself, because I wanted to laugh out loud with pure joy at his genius, the flavours, the thinking, the sheer beauty of the meal. [In a previous interview Sam described this meal as the best she’s ever had.]

Sam and her mom Marie
Photo: Jacques Badenhorst   

 

What is the worst meal or food experience you’ve ever had on a cruise ship?

I never much liked standing in line for my food. And on ships the endless buffets will kill you. But again it’s about choice: you don’t have to do that – you could always go to one of the many on-board restaurants. But having said this, some buffets are nicer than others and there were some pretty spectacular ones at sea. And I happily queued for those!

 

Your husband Jacques doesn’t eat raw avocado or crayfish. How do you deal with that? 😉

Well, as previously disclosed, Jacques eats guacamole, despite expressing a loathing of avos. Go figure. And I have no problem with his not eating crayfish, as it means there’s more for me. But I could not have married him if he didn’t eat oysters. That was non-negotiable. We were not put on this earth to eat oysters alone.

If you had to set the perfect dessert menu for any restaurant, what would be on it?

Something with chocolate. Something with cinnamon. Something with cream. Something hot. And something cold. And something that reminds me of my childhood.

Confessions of a Hungry Woman features a selection of articles which have appeared in your monthly food column Woolworths TASTE magazine since 2006. What is the single biggest lesson you have learnt about column writing since you started?

I think I learned how to say more with fewer words. I know that I can sometimes be long-winded. Ek gaan haal altyd ‘n storie agter die bos uit. And when I first started the column I was given about 1 000 words to write, and of course I always wrote more. And it wasn’t always necessary or better. Then about 18 months ago the format of my column changed and I had to write a column of 600–650 words. Initially I was quite hurt by this (self-doubt issues etc … ”Don’t they like my writing? Do I bore them? Same old-same old …?”), but then I saw it as a challenge: to write more in less. I learned to treat words with more respect. To choose the right words. I think my writing has become tighter – but give me half a chance and I’ll drag it out … like now …

A selection of recipes from the book.

Photos: Jurie Senekal   

If any food could help you to overcome writer’s block, what sort of food would it be?

In this instance I will resort to clichés. Coffee and chocolate. Every time.

I read a piece where you talk about the immense challenges of writing (one’s lack of confidence getting in the way) and the “satisfaction of having ? [is die kursief opsetlik / in die oorspronklike?] written”. When did you truly find your voice as a writer?

I really battle to write. I obsess too much. I never really think something is good enough. But writing authentically, with your own voice, is easier than, say, trying to write intellectually, or dramatically. I always tell people to write the way they speak – that way your writing reflects who you are. And people can either relate to you or not, as the case may be. I know only one way to write and that is with my own voice, I wear my heart on my sleeve; what you read is what you get. That’s the risk I take.

I’m a great fan of narrative therapy. That we are a product of the stories we can tell. I like people’s stories more than I like their opinions. So I want to ”hear” (read) them tell their stories.

There are as many “food bloggers” out there as there are “social media strategists” and “photographers”. You have blogged about the wonders of Google recipe searches and food blogs for finding inspiration. But what sets the truly brilliant food bloggers and sites apart?

Honesty and authenticity. And kindness. I can’t bear blogs that bitch.

You often review other cookbooks. Which new books are on your shelf right now?

Recently our great friend Bigbigjoe gave us Secrets of the Red Lantern – stories and Vietnamese recipes from the heart by Pauline Nguyen. And another friend, Lesley, gave me a much-desired copy of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem. Both these books are books to read as well as cook from. I read cookery books for pleasure long before I learned to cook from them. That’s never going to change!

Quick quiz: What is the first thought or feeling that crosses your mind when it comes to the following?

Cinnamon: Pancakes and happiness.

Fish sauce: The intense desire to go back to Asia. Fish sauce is an essential ingredient in Thai and Vietnamese food and I love those styles of cooking and those intense flavours.

Coriander (my favourite herb): Stink bugs. Because my friend Roelf says that what they taste like. But I like it and use it liberally.

Pomegranates: I think of an essay written by AA Gill on pomegranates which I first read in Tatler 1998, when I was living in London. I’ve kept a copy of it all these years. It is a beautiful, evocative piece of writing in which he describes the sadness of the fruit. Thinking back it was probably a defining moment for me and years later when I started writing about food and memory, it was most likely this piece which inspired me. (The essay can be found in his book Table Talk.)

Peanut butter: And honey on wholewheat toast. Also how, annoyingly, it sticks to the rood of your mouth. And how it is Max, our labrador’s, favourite treat.

 

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Kommentaar

  • I am so excited about this book, I've been following Sam's blog and love her writing. I had my best meal recently at Oep ve Koep in Paternoster, started with a watermelon, maasbanker bokkom and pickled onion salad followed by mussels flavoured with smoked snoek. It was unbelievably good.

  • Interessante titel (kom van die blog af). Die inhoud van die boek sal seker net so interessant wees! Nog 'n gehalte kookboek.

  • Lezel Barnard

    Ek is absoluut mal oor die titel van hierdie boek!  Bykans onmoontlik om mens se gunsteling ete uit te sonder ... daar is net te veel! Ek onthou die heerlikste wonderlikste geregte by Die Gaatjie in Paternoster, die lekkerste vis en chips in Kalkbaai, en veral my Ma se lamsboud, braai aartappels en groente...haar groenboontjie bredie of kerrie, my Pa se tjops en braai broodjies oor die kole...ens ens ens !!!

  • Anita Steenkamp

    My lekkerst ete was by Summerfields toe Lienkie nog die chef daar was, Springbok. En dit van iemand wat gewoonlik wildsvleis haat

  • Patricia van Niekerk

    Oh my hat, just looking at the title of this book, made me think "Oh my word, this is my kind of woman!" but seriously, there are so many places & meals I've had, but one that is quite memorable is "Die Strandloper" on the beach, Langebaan. The variety of fish & the way it was prepared - oo lala... the Waterbloemmetjie Bredie, fish curry, smoked Angelfish, crayfish, mussels followed by the Moerkoffie, koeksisters, roosterkoek, fresh bread with farm butter and home made jams (Sjoe! hoe kwyl my mond dan nou!) And to think, most of the dishes were done on an open fire! Gods' food & nature = Blessings!

  • The best meal I ever enjoyed was in the kitchen of a wine estate in Stellenbosch some 15 years ago, where we sat around a large square table looking onto an enormous hearth with a roaring fire. The delicious three-course meal was served with paired wines. The most memorable course was dessert: a large home-baked milk tart, served with a generous spread of ginger jam on the top and a dollop of whipped fresh cream. This unusual combination of tastes, together with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, was absolutely awesome!!!

  • Definitely one of the best was the Fillet Camembert at Cynthia's Indigo Moon in Pretoria. Tender beef fillet covered with Camembert cheese and a red current and green peppercorn sauce. YUM!!

  • verushka ramasami

    Love love this book. Have entered so many competitions to win one. Best meal I ate was in London with friends at a north african place called Souk.fab music, mezze platters for sharing, belly dancers, hookahs, low seating with cushions everywhere. Love the arab way of eating a shared meal. Taste sensations were on high alert experincing loads of textures and flavours.

  • My lekkerste ete was op Riversdal toe die Wawiel-restaurant nog deur Leon besit was en daar die lekkerste seekospotjie in 'n miniatuur swart driepootpotjie voorgesit is deur die beste kok ooit, Mary, en dan vir hoofgereg die calamari-steaks. Heerlik hoor.

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