Lesego Semenya moves in fine dining circles, but he’s very down-to-earth, and is on a mission to take South African food to a whole different level
He’s opinionated, yet down-to-earth. He’s big, burly and tattooed, but he produces the finest, most delicate cakes and other culinary creations. And he’s committed to taking the snobbery out of food, but also wants to push South Africans’ food boundaries.
Lesego Semenya is a mass of contradictions, and one of South Africa’s most accessible celebrity chefs. He’s as comfortable judging Top Chef on television as he is tweeting about football, vetkoek or fine wine. And it’s exactly this authenticity and accessibility, and his willingness to share his expertise with others, that have made him so popular.
We asked him a few questions about some of the change he’s gone through in his life, and also asked him to share his most requested festive recipe with us, to help you to feed all the relatives this holiday season.
You weren’t always a chef. Tell us how you went from corporate to kitchen.
I’m not one of those people who can say I grew up cooking from the age of five. It wasn’t always a passion. I was a process engineer before this, and I won the job when I was at varsity. They offered me a pay check, and I took it. I left Wits in my first year. I went for the money, not the passion.
I started my working career in corporate, and was put on the entertainment committee, and we were responsible for organising annual events, so I was involved in liaising with the hospitality industry. I found I was always fighting with people, about pricing, about food, and I thought, why am I always fighting? And so I left the committee and the company, because I realised I didn’t love what I was doing.
I travelled South Africa for a year. I would find a B&B or a hotel, and then just explore. And then the idea hit me. Hospitality was the place to be. I like to cook, and I like to entertain. I suppose I could’ve opened a restaurant and hired people to do the cooking, but I decided to bite the bullet and go to chef school. I enrolled at the Prue Leith Chef’s Academy because of the timing – it’s a three-year diploma squeezed into 18 months ‒ and I qualified as a chef.
What is the biggest misconception people hold about what it means to be a chef?
People assume that it’s just about putting food on a plate. But there’s the health aspect. There are different dietary requirements to consider. Then there are religious requirements. Jewish people, for example, eat different foods depending on the day. So you have to know your story.
You also have to know the cuisine of every country in the world, and then use your knowledge to make that accessible. And then there’s those guys on TV. There is so much work that goes into TV cheffing! There really is so much to the industry. An executive chef is like a CEO. You have to understand the financial side. If you make a change to the menu, you have to understand the impact on the costing, and so on.
What’s the biggest misconception about food?
People assume that cooking means a lot of time. I was giving a class the other day, and the people there were amazed that you can make jam at home! They’re so used to it being something processed that they buy in a can. They think they need lots of time, and that it’s tedious. But you can have fun.
The festive season is coming up. What festive recipe are you most asked about?
It’s really simple, but people always ask about malva pudding. They have people coming over, and they want to make it. And the most popular recipe on my blog is always magwinya – vetkoek!
What do you love about being a chef?
The creative aspect. I try to take every Monday off, and then I just play around with recipes and different combinations. I love that. I also love the reaction you get from people when they eat the food. I love the entertaining part of it.
What is the most challenging part for you?
The number of hours you put in for the amount of pay you get out. It’s very hard work. After three years, only about 20 per cent of people who enter this industry are still in it. In other countries it’s not as bad, but chefs really aren’t appreciated in South Africa. A lot of them end up leaving both the country and the profession.
What do you love about change?
The unknown. I enjoy that. I like to go into things haphazardly. I like the surprise factor. I worry about the consequences later. I just try and see what happens.
What do you hate about change?
Some change takes a while to adapt to. And often you’re outside of your comfort zone, like when I did Top Chef. When I look back now, I realise I really didn’t know what was going on.
How do you approach things you want to change about yourself?
I like lists. I guess it’s the process engineer in me. When something has failed, I sit down and write a list as to why. I like to assess things and figure out what went wrong.
What’s the most challenging thing you’ve done?
I think the change of career. I went from the plush Sandton house and big salary, right into the unknown.
What would you most like to change about the way South Africans view food?
I think I’d like to open up their minds a little. We’ve been so secluded from the rest of the world, and in many ways South Africans are still stuck when it comes to food. I’d like to show a more creative side to South African cuisine. For example, I once trended on Twitter for three days because I deboned chicken feet and made a terrine. People were very upset. They said I was messing with their culture.
Who do you look up to in the culinary world?
Gordon Ramsay. Sure, he plays up to the camera, but he’s not being something he’s not. It is a tough industry. Perhaps he over-dramatises it a bit, but I think he keeps it real.
Is there a book that has changed your life?
Richard Branson’s Screw It. Let’s Do It, which is all about how he created Virgin. He just jumped blindly into things and succeeded by being crazy. I guess that’s why it appeals to me.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Chocolate. And old-fashioned slap chips, covered in vinegar and cooked in old, greasy, unhealthy oil.
Where is your favourite place to go on holiday?
Game reserves. The Kruger National Park is my sanctuary. I go there whenever I can to get away from it all.
Chef Lesego’s Marvellous, Mouthwatering Malva Pudding
Ingredients
For the pudding:
30ml/2 tbsp butter
125ml/½ cup sugar
1 large egg
15ml/1 tbsp apricot jam
5ml/1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125ml/½ cup milk
250ml/1 cup cake flour
A pinch of salt
15ml/1 tbsp vinegar
For the sauce:
125g butter
185ml/1¼ cups sugar
65ml water
185ml/1¼ cream
5ml vanilla extract
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light, by beating it with a paddle in a mixer or by hand, with a wooden spoon.
- Add the jam and beat it in, followed by the egg. Mix well.
- Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk.
- Sift the flour and salt together and then add to the butter/jam mixture
- Add the bicarb and milk mixture, and finally the vinegar.
- Grease individual moulds or a deep oven dish, and pour the batter in.
- Bake for about 45mins or until the pudding is golden brown. If you’re using individual moulds, it will take less time, so keep an eye on it.
- To make the sauce, melt all the ingredients together in a pot on the stove and pour it over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven.
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