The things you find in other peoples kitchens!

As I write today I am sitting on a fluffy rug in front of a crackling fireplace in our family holiday home out in Betty’s Bay. It has been cold and rainy and the perfect place for a lazy winter getaway. We decided quite spontaneously to make a long weekend out of the holiday on Thursday, grabbed a few fresh things from our fridge and headed out. My mother stocks the house pretty well so we knew we could rely on a having interesting dry goods and spices there.

I really have just been vegging out here and Adam has been doing pretty much all of the cooking. He is a fabulous cook and manages to chuck together meals, somewhat unceremoniously, but they always taste fantastic. I can’t tell you the recipes as I was in the lounge chilling while he was cooking but I can share with you two discoveries we have made since being here. Porcini stock paste and Sriracha sauce!

The porcini stock paste is a German product my parents must have gotten a relative or friend to bring for them, but it is now on my must have list! To any of my German readers, I will love you forever if you can send me some, or if anyone knows if one can find this product in SA anywhere please let me know. Adam used this heavenly porcini paste as the stock base for a soup with fresh veggies and chickpeas. It was sublime!

The second discovery was made late last night when, after a few too many glasses of bubbly and whisky, we decided to have a midnight feast. This entailed baked baby potatoes topped with sour cream, loads of Sriracha sauce, smoked paprika and grated ementhaler cheese. The Sriracha sauce is a sweetish chilli and garlic sauce combo and is sensational and ridiculously moreish. Off to get some as soon as we hit Cape Town.

We sadly have to head home today but have loads more culinary adventures ahead of us this weekend, which are good consolation.