Open letter to Mr John Key

Open letter to Mr John Key

Dear Sir

I want to thank you for the 8 best years of my life. New Zealand is a wonderful, beautiful country with the most amazing people. It was like losing the will to live when we had to leave on the 29th of December 2015.

In 2007 we really thought moving to New Zealand was the right thing after I was rejected by my own country for being white male and in a senior job. Yes it sounds harsh even unbelievable, but I was retrenched to make way for a person of colour as the company I worked for did not have enough B. E. E. (Black Economic Empowerment) points and therefore risked loosing their government contract.

Furthermore feel free to research South African employment ads of the time and you will notice almost all ads had the words “Affirmative Action” or “Black Economic Empowerment” in them, meaning, “if you are white, don't even bother applying”. Whilst looking into these facts also please look into the genuine facts and figures regarding the near genocidal proportions of murder on white farmers and, not far behind this, is the murder of innocent people, black and white, during house invasions and other property crimes.

This is the country you've sent us back to. After 8 years in a safe country, we are not equipped to live here anymore and are living in constant fear. But enough of the crime in South Africa. I'm sure anybody with half a brain and the ability to read and use the internet knows how bad things are in South Africa.

I have gone to your country as a relatively young man (44), yes overweight and with a damaged left knee, but I was healthy as and I walked without a limp. My knee was actually not to bad until the 22 February 2011 quake in Christchurch. (See my ACC claim regarding this.)Only mistake I made was being honest about my medical past on all the forms ever completed with regards to the immigration process. (And yes, I do know about a man who was diagnosed with kidney cancer just after he arrived in New Zealand, kept quiet about it and applied for and got permanent residency and then died of said cancer a few years later.)

As our case is well documented in the media all over the world, I don't see the necessity to explain it again, but it is with extreme sadness that I remember the two periods of forced unemployment in New Zealand and being made a liar in the media.

After telling us and confirming to a reporter that my 2011 residency and subsequently my work visa applications were declined due to my high BMI (Body Mass Index), and then later making me out to be a liar, saying my weight had nothing to do with it. Man how low can you go? I do realise that it wasn’t you personally, but ultimately the officials are answerable to you.

Furthermore, the fact that one has to cease working immediately when a visa is declined is inhumane (if I could use a stronger word without swearing, I would have used that). You won’t believe how quickly your funds disappear when this happen to you. How can you force people to stop working knowing full well that by taking away their ability to support themselves will also have a direct influence on their financial ability to appeal? It puts an unnecessary financial burden on the immigrant whilst having a negative effect on the employer of the immigrant and putting the onus on the community to help support the immigrant and their family.  The very people you are professing to protect against the financial abuse by my future health care. There can be no easier way to force unwanted immigrants to leave the country, even while they are in an appeal grace period, than by crippling them financially and forcing them to do the one thing average human beings fear most, begging for help.

After our situation with Immigration New Zealand in 2013, we almost lost everything and were left with a mountain of debt. Unfortunately, even though we were not allowed to work, we still had to pay all the day to day expenses of any household and somehow survive. If it wasn't for the financial assistance we received from Kiwis during this period the situation would have been far worst. The Kiwis that I got to know and love would rather help someone when they are down than kick them in the teeth.

Back to 2015, we were still trying to recover financially from the 2013 situation and now, for a second time in two years, we were forced to stop working. So please tell me, after we have spent all the money we had to settle in New Zealand (and believe me INZ and all their demands, was one of the biggest recipients), why no compassion?

I know we could have appealed on humanitarian grounds, but you left us bankrupt. We didn’t have the finances to do it then or now. For goodness sake, we couldn't even pay our own airline tickets back to South Africa. We can’t do it from South Africa either because we are both unemployed (there is no WINZ in South Africa) so that leave us with no, zero, zilch income.

We had to sell all we possessed on this earth to leave without being deported. I can send you pictures, or better still, send one of your diplomats to come and see for themselves, how we are currently living. We went from being gainfully employed, happy and living in a beautiful house to a double bed mattress, two suitcases and two plastic 60Lt containers, living in my cousin’s dining room in his duplex flat. I'm sure this is not the way he, his wife and their three daughters want to live, but if it wasn't for them we would have been on the totally homeless. Oh yes, in case you were wondering, nothing have changed in the eight years we've been living in New Zealand, white males are still at the bottom regarding employment, closely followed by white females. (I do know this as we both have been applying, unsuccessfully, for employment since arriving in December.)

Yes I made a mistake, I “unknowingly/naively” worked at the Honeypot Café/Geraldine Town and Country Club and waited until my visa was about to expire before I reapplied and did I know better, I would have made a plan sooner to amend my visa. Now suddenly, because of this, I'm not a bona fide worker anymore, after eight years? If it was up to the people we got to know me really well in the Geraldine area, we would be made citizens. Also, what happened to your promise early in 2015, to help ± 500 people on the South Island, that have been on work visas longer than five years, to get permanent residence? My wife and I were ecstatic when we heard this news and we were sure we were two of the ± 500. Also see the article about the shortage of good Chef’s (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/294585/not-enough-cooks-in-the-kitchen), and believe me when I tell you that I am an excellent Chef.

We are good people, I know it in my heart, asking you to forgive my mistake and let us come home. We have now reached rock bottom, no more money, no employment in the near future. I know you have the power to grant us a pardon.

Also please take into consideration that I was 44 when I started working in New Zealand, but I am 53 now, we built all our hopes and dreams on living in our beloved New Zealand, we spend all of our life savings to move and settle in New Zealand, how do I start from the bottom again.

Please have some compassion and let us return home.

It's been a while ....

After a few very nasty e-mails regarding my use of the English vernacular, I decided to stop my English blog.

However, I just can't help myself and so, here we go again.

For the record, and this will be the last time that I will be saying anything with regards to this subject, this is a blog about my love for food and cooking and not my love for grammar. I have chosen to do the blog in English as 99.9% of my friends and readers are comfortable with the language.
English, although very close to my heart, is my second language and if sometimes I get the tense wrong, or heaven forbid, commit a gross grammatical misdemeanour, well that is me and we all will just have to live with it.

Now, let me bring you up the speed with the doings of this fat chef over the last couple of months.

1. I have gained weight since we last met, actually that's not true, I gained quite a lot of weight and have decided to start with the dreaded diet again. The date is set for Monday, 1st December 2014 and yes, I know what month this is. I will keep you updated on twitter with regards to the diet (@thefatcheff if you want to follow me there).
2. I have lost my job at the Cashmere Club. Long story and maybe one day when it hurt a little less, I will share that.
3. The up side of this is that I have started working at The Honeypot Cafe. Wonderful Caff, outstanding food (we actually do all the cooking/baking ourselves), amazing staff and one old friend whom I have to thank for his support. Thanks Clyde!!!!!
4. I have started making work of my idea for a small business called "The Fat Chef". I have done most of my product development (sauces, spice mixes, mustard's etc.), label design and a few other things, but the hoops that you have to jump through before you are allowed to sell, man, it is just unbelievable. Lucky there is people like Chrissy (Thanks Chrissy) that took pity on me. She found all the legal stuff, printed it (almost as thick as the Bible) and now I am trying to make sense of it all, but I am getting there.

A group photo of the kids.

Two of my Mustard's

My two Chilli sauces

My favourite

So, as you can see, I still have a lot to say and will do so in the near future. I am also planning on sharing some of my most favourite recipes with you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please help by sharing my blog with as many of your friends as possible.

As always, please send your questions to thetoofatchef@gmail.com and I will, if at all possible, try to answer.

Forgotten kitchen toys.

Thank you so much for all your e-mails and well wishes, I appreciate them all and promise to always try and reply within a day or two (no, not to those that want to sell me rare but interesting articles at amazing prices), the real ones. Thank you Isobel Conradie from fairest Cape town in South Africa for this week 's inspiration with her question as to whether she can bake that no-knead bread in a slow-cooker/crock-pot. The long  and the short of the matter is , I don't know , but I do want to know .
The dough was mixed yesterday and has been doing its doughy thing since then, so soon we'll find out . I must admit that I have done a bit of reading on the matter and there are recipes, but I would like to bake a successful bread before I will believe it. Unfortunately, you will have to sit through the experiment with.
But first , a little more about Crock-pots also known as Slow-cookers. In 1970 in Chicago , the slow cooking pot was born as the Naxon Beanery All -Purpose Cooker , but the company decided in 1971, wisely, to change the name to Crock-pot. That changed the course of the slow cooking pot forever and it quickly became a world phenomenon. The reason is simple; a basic cooking knowledge and a little space on your kitchen bench is all you need for great food . (Later, I will share one of my favourite crock-pot recipes with you.)
Benefits of a slow cooker
• The cheaper cuts of meat is the best to use. Because of the long cooking process it breaks down the connective tissue (collagen) and turn it into a delicious soft sticky gelatinous morsel of heaven. The gelatin is the stuff that makes the sauce stick to your fingers .
• It is almost impossible to burn food  due to the low temperature at which the pot works .
• It saves lots of time as tonight 's dinner is ready when you get home , all that is needed is a little rice , pasta, Cous-cous or mashed potatoes . (Next time you cook rice, cook a big pot and freeze the excess in meal-size portions.)
• My personal favourite, less dishes.
• You cook good healthy home-cooked meals without having to spend hours in front of the stove.
Disadvantages of a slow cooker
• Due to the long cooking process, some vegetables can overcook and turn into tissue paper. Choose your vegetables carefully and cut into larger chunks and follow this basic rule, longer cooking vegetables to the bottom and quicker cooking vegetables to the top.
• I always prefer to use canned beans in my slow crock-pot. There are some (dried) beans that need a hot cooking process of at least 10 minutes to get rid of toxins and the slowness of crock-pots might not do that. (It's almost like mushrooms, if you're not sure, buy a good reliable mushroom rather than eating one you picked in the wild.)
Now enough of all the boring bits, I want to bake bread .... try .... in a crock-pot.
The dough, as in my previous recipe, has risen , rested and was formed on baking paper. The slow cooker is preheated to its highest setting . All crock-pots is unfortunately not the same when it comes to heat adjustments and it might take longer or shorter in your pot.
I baked the bread for 1 ½ hours and then measured the internal temperature. It was not the desired 95c and I left it for another half hour. Two hours later, a delicious bread. I would have liked a more crispy crust, but I will certainly do it again . (I suspect it will also used a lot less energy than the oven.)

Guilty secret - If bread machines did not leave such a horrible hole in the bottom of bread, I would have baked all my bread in them.

Lets try out a crock-pot bread.

1. Dough formed, rested and ready on the baking paper.

2.Snugly in the pre-heated Crock-pot.

3. Two hours later, the bread is done. The bottom is golden brown, but the top is almost rubbery.

4. A few minutes (8 minutes) under the ovens grill fixed that.

All taken into consideration, I think this was a success and I will do it again.

Now on to this weeks recipe.

Moroccan Lamb Shanks.

Ingredients:

• 6 Lamb shanks (+/- 2.5 kg)
• 2 large onions - rough dice
• 6 - 8 cloves of garlic - bruised and chopped
• 5 - 6 cm piece of ginger - finely chopped or grated
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1 heaped teaspoon (7 ml) Coriander seeds - grind it yourself
• 1 heaped teaspoon (7 ml) Cumin seeds - grind it yourself
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) dried fine ginger
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (I like a Spanish one)
• 1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1 cup prunes - make sure the stones are removed
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 to 1.5 L of chicken or vegetable stock - (or water)
• Salt and pepper to taste. (I salt and pepper my shanks well before cooking and find that it is enough)

Construct your pot this way:

1. Place halve the onions in the bottom of you pot;
2. Place shanks on top of the onions;
3. Place the rest of the onions, together with the garlic on top of the shanks;
4. Top with the dried fruit;
5. Sprinkle spices over;
6. Mix tomato puree with the stock and add to the pot, trying to wash the spices into the rest of the ingredients. 
7. Either cook on low for 6 - 10 hours or on high for 5 - 7 hours. Do remember that crock-pots differ, so please adjust your cooking time to your pot.

Hints and tips:

• Serve on Cous-cous, rice or mashed potatoes.
• Be warned, because it is so tasty, make sure that there are 2 shanks per adult (even ladies).
• This recipe works very well with beef too.

Please keep writing to me at thetoofatchef@gmail.com. I really enjoy your mails.

Cast-iron cookware

OK, do you remember that rusted cast iron pot Nana gave you years ago, the one that went to live in the far recesses of your darkest kitchen cupboard because you didn't know what to do with it? Yes that one; go take it out, dust it and inspect the rust, because there is a thing about to happen. 

If your pot was lucky enough to belong to a loving previous owner, the tempering on it might still be there and there might only be a little rust as was the case with my little pan below:

My little pan made the voyage with my Nana Lena from Holland to South Africa in the late 1940's and again with me in 2007 to New Zealand. A very well travelled pan which now have a spot of rust and it is time for re-seasoning. Below I will take you, step by step, through the process. First thing is to do is examine your pan or pot and ascertain the seriousness of the rust. If the rust have eaten into the surface to deeply (it will leave a deep gorge in the pan or pot when cleaned away), it might be best to consider a second life for the utensil as a kitchen decoration. Old pots make very effective spice containers next to your stove for all that little bottles of spices you have everywhere.

Back to business. although I strongly urge you to never use soap on you cast iron, this time it is required. Get some of you favourite detergent and a green scouring pad:

Add a few tablespoons of hot water, some of the detergent and in little circle motions start removing the rust. Do not try and put a shine to the surface as that will make seasoning almost impossible later:

Wash of all traces of soap, dry thoroughly and immediately oil the pan or pot:

Now, place some foil in the bottom of a pre-heated oven (+/- 180 - 200 °C). The foil is to catch any oil that might decide to drip. Place the pan or pot upside-down on a oven rack. Close the oven and bake for 1 - 2 hours. Do not forget the lid, show it the same loving care. 

The oil must form a hard protective layer on the surface that looks almost sticky, like hard toffee.

This layer is what you should protect like a loved child, only difference is to remember not to use soap on it, the seasoning I mean. It will eventually remove the seasoning and then you will have to do it all over again. Don't be scared of bacteria or other creepy crawley's, the temperature you use the pan or pot at is high enough to kill all the little blighter's. I you feel that you have to soap it after every use, just oil it and bake it again, no sweat. Remember, the more you use it, the better the seasoning get.

Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, my e-mail is thetoofatchef@gmail.com.

Now, lets bake a No-knead Beer Bread in your pot.

This bread is a variation on the New York Time version of a few years back.

You need the following:

• 3 cups (425 g) white flour (bread flour works the best)
• ¼ tsp (1 ml) instant yeast (yes, that little)
• 1½ tsp. (7 ml) Salt
• 200 ml water at room temp
• 85 ml beer (I like to use a good quality Lager)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) white vinegar
Tip  You can use non-alcoholic beer, but I ask you, what is the use, in for a penny - in for a pound.
This is what you do
1 Add all the dry ingredient to a mixing bowl and stir through with a wooden spoon.
2 Add the liquids and mix with the wooden spoon until all ingredients are incorporated.

3 Spray with oil and cover with cling-film.

4 Place in a warmish cupboard and let it do it's dough thing there for 8 to 18 hours. It will double in volume and have a pleasant smell.

5 When you get to this point, flour your work surface and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the flour. Now, fold the dough 15 time, like you would fold a piece of paper, not more even if you start enjoying it.

6 Form into a ball shape and place on a sheet of baking paper. Cover again and let it rise for 30 to 40 minutes. It must double in size again.

7 Pre-heat your oven, with your pot inside at to 260 °C

8 When your dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven and place on a surface that can handle the heat, Place the dough, still on the baking paper into your pot, replace the lid and put the pot back into the oven. (I always use my enamelled cast-iron pot for this)

9 Turn the oven down to 220 °C and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake 15 more minutes. Test the internal temperature, it should be 90 to 95°C and if it is, your bread is ready for the butter and what ever you feel like.

Until next time, enjoy your cooking.

PS. Please talk to me, my e-mail is thetoofatchef@gmail.com

The Too Fat Chef

Albert

Allan Truman's Pork Belly

A Chop and it’s drop.

I don’t know if you do it like me, I mean eating out now, but I tend to go to certain restaurant's for certain meals. To me it has always (almost) been a winning recipe for a  good meal and an enjoyable night. It does however happen from time to time, that you are either badly disappointed or happily surprised. Why would this be than, you might ask.
People tend to go to the same places, over and over, because they like the taste of their food, or like me, of a certain dish. In a good restaurant the food should always taste the same, whether the Head-Chef is there and cooking it himself or not and this can only happen if the kitchen work on standardised recipes.

(Just a quick explanation about standardised recipes. It is a very detailed recipe compiled by the Head-Chef for his chefs and it must be followed to the letter. It will, for instance, tell you what brand of item to use and the cooking methods will also be explained to the last detail. This explains why your making of Aunt Aggie’s well roasted blackbird taste different from hers, even though you used her recipe. Her roasted black bird don't need to taste the same every time she makes it, but the restaurants does.)

Enough said of standard recipes and back to more important matters. My theory regarding why your meal was so much better than last time lies in what you had to drink with that meal. Maybe you just made the perfect decision regarding the combination between the drink and the meal. Lets play an imaginary game.

Grab hold of an imaginary wine glass, fill it with imaginary wine and imagine bringing it to your mouth and taking a slow sip. Now, slowly let it tickle your taste butts and dance over your tongue........

One moment, will be back soon, need a glass of wine ............... real wine .............

I’m back and feeling a lot better thank you very much.

What happened, did your mouth start salivating (watering). If it did, your mouth was telling you: “I’m ready, bring on the food!”

The alcohol in wine (actually any alcohol and even the gas in gas cold drinks) tickle your taste buts and wake them up to the point where the right combination between food and drink will make your senses go .... wooooow, happy days are here again .........
Just think strawberries and sparkling wine, or dare I say, Champagne. Match made in heaven. Chillies can have a quite similar effect with the added advantage of you body releasing it’s own morphine in the form of endorphins. So they not only make the food taste better, they make you feel amazing.

Next time you are ordering your favourite meal, ask your server what the wine/beer recommendation is for that meal and try it, it might just surprise you. But try your own combinations as well, tastes differ and you might just come across something spectacular. If you do, pat yourself on the back, drink another glass and e-mail me directly at thetoofatchef@gmail.com

Here we go with Chef Allan Truman’s signature Pork Belly. (Allan Truman is the Head Chef at the Cashmere Club in Christchurch, New Zealand)

This is how you prepare the Pork belly:

Lay the Pork belly down on your (red - for raw meat) cutting board

Roll the Pork belly up and you can use skewers to keep it in place

With a sharp knive, cut the Pork belly into rounds (+/- 1.5 cm in thick)

Place the Pork belly in a oven dish in a single layer

Make the sauce/marinade to baked the Pork belly in.

Ingredients:

• 1.2 to 1.8 kg Pork Belly as prepared as above
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) Corriander - fine
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) dried Ginger - fine
• 1/2 tsp (2 ml) Cayenne peper (more if you like it hot like me)
• 1 tsp french Garlick - Finely chopped
• 1/2 cup each: Tomato sauce, BBQ sauce and Orange juice
• 1/4 cup Sweet chilli sauce
• Salt and peper to taste

Method:

• Put salt and peper over the Pork belly
• In a mixing bowl, place the wet ingredients together with the spices and garlick and whisk lightly

•  Spread evenly overe the Pork belly.

• cover the oven try with foil and bake in a 180c for 1 hour and 15 minutes
• take foil of and bake at the same temp for another 15 - 30 minutes or until the Pork belly is sticky and tender

Etxtra sauce for serving:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup each: Tomato sauce, BBQ sauce and orange juice
• 1/4 cup of Sweet chilli sauce
• Corn Flour to thicken the sauce if needed

Method:

• Add ingredients to a pot, together with the roasting juices, bring to a boil.
• Thicken by making a slurry (paste) out of corn flour and water if needed.

And that is that, easy as pie. I would have a nice glass of fruity Rose or a Pale Ale with this, but then again, it is your meal and you should try it with the drink of you choice.

Thanks Allan for sharing this with us.

Enjoy!

Chef Allan's Pork belly served on a bed of buttery mash potatoes.

Cola Ribs

As a radio host in America said; “He’s not as beautiful as Nigela or as naked as Jamie, but he is Albert, the Fat Chef”. Yip, that’s me and I am fat........, but I can cook as well, so here goes:

Cola Ribbs without the F-word

 I know I am preaching to the saved and that I have said it before, but you can spread the word from here.

You might have all seen the guy at the “other” table, the one that makes all the people at that table wish they have faked some kind of illness and stayed at home. He’s the one who finds fault with all his food and then explain to all and sundry how the food should have been done to start with. The one who will be the proud recipient of a few prize bumps to the back of his head caused by the light pan said chef used to cook his meal.

Obviously, if there is a problem with your food, you must complain, but be civil about it, mistakes are made even by us chefs.

You will find that I have it against the person that claims the right to complain just because he thinks it is the way it should be done, because it is done that way on the TV Cooking Competitions and that he exhibit his coolness by being rude. News flash mate, you are not cool, neither is that chef. He does it to entertain you and it seems that he have succeeded, you were entertained.

Do you, for one moment, think somebody can taste the slightly burnt hair of a scurfy ridden pirate the soup or did that judge say that to make you go ...... eeeiiwww ...... I don’t even want to taste that, it must be awful. Remember, they only have the sound and picture and to make you “taste and smell” the food, they have to use words and by golly, some of them do it well.

So next time, before you complain about your medium-rare T-bone not being grey, make sure of your facts before you complain. After cooking a few steaks, 99.9% of chefs know how a medium-rare steak should look and feel, and yes, we do touch your food to check for doneness. Further, most chefs also have this nasty habit of having a few cookbooks in their kitchens, the ones with photos in them of food, and as luck would have it, mostly there are vividly clear photos of steaks at all degrees of doneness. Nasty creatures chefs are, he will send his most outspoken waitress to your table, with that cookbook, to show you the photo of a medium-rare steak and somehow you might just feel like the slightly burnt hair of the scurvy ridden pirate and, obviously, also remember the light pan he is weighing in his hand.

But at the odd chance of you being right, things happen, be the bigger person. If that chef comes to your table, as he should, and apologies by saying: “rifgwuf wfn ewrgeri wf”; accept it as an apology and do keep his pan in the back of your mind (no pun intended).

So remember, if you have a complaint, complain, you are paying for a service and that includes the whole package, but if you want to impress everybody in the restaurant, put ice on the back of your head, it usually helps.

And now .... drum-roll .... lets cook!

Cola Ribs – my way

For the Ribs

·         2 kg spare-ribs – make sure you buy the ones with a lot of meat on them.

·         2,5 L Cola (the red- or the blue, red and white bottle)

·         4-8 cloves of garlic - crushed

·         1 large onion, roughly chopped

·         2 Bay leaves

·         20 cloves

·         1 tsp (5 ml) black peppercorns

·         2 tbsp (30 ml) smoked paprika

·         1 tbsp (15 ml) coriander – fine

·         1 ½ tsp (7 ml) salt

 Basting Sauce

·         1 medium onion, finely chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

·         1 Cup (250 ml) Ketchup/Tomato Sauce – good quality

·         2 tbsp (30 ml) English- or any mustard of your choice

·         ¾ Cup (180 ml) soft brownsugar

·         1 tsp (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce

·         salt en pepper to taste

This is how you do it:

RIBS

 1 Cut the ribs in strips or single portions (I like it this way) and place in a big pot.

2 Place the rest of the ingredients, for the ribs, in the pot, bring to boil. Turn down to simmer and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. You want the meat tender, but not falling of the bone.

3 Remove the ribs, pour the liquid through a sieve and cook the liquid down to about 500 ml. Keep for your sauce.

Basting Sauce

 1 Place all the ingredients in a pot and cook down to the consistency of Maple syrup.

2 Liquidise to a fine consistency and let it cool a little.

FINISHING TOUCHESS

1 Coat the ribs well with the basting sauce (don’t be shy),

2 Cook on your braai, Barbie or BBQ until dark and sticky, but be careful not to burn them

OR

Bake in the oven at 180 °C for 45-60 minutes until they dark and sticky.

REMEMBER

Dark and sticky is the secret.

 Don’t taste them at the BBQ or the moment they come out of the oven, there won’t be enough left for the rest of the people

Tips and hints

·         You can, and I encourage you to, do this with chicken wings as well. Chop the wing in 3 parts, but please throw the pointy bit away. Nothing can save it anyway. Cook the wings for a shorter time than the ribs, about 30 to 45 minutes.

·         Instead of using the cooked down liquid, you can use fresh cola.

·         This is only the basic recipe, don’t fell you have to stick to it religiously. (I like to make mine with about ½ a cup of hot sauce added to the ribs)

Next time I will share our Head Chef, Allan Truman’s recipe for Pork Belly Wheels, a Cashmere Club favourite and I must confess, one of mine as well.

See you then

The fat Chef

Please e-mail any questions or ideas, or just to chat to:

thetoofatchef@gmail.com

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