Michelle Obama, and a book about where she had lunch in Cape Town.

Michelle Obama had lunch in The Kitchen in Woodstock when she came to Cape Town last year.

Cynical wags commented that the driver got the address wrong, and that she had meant to go to the Test Kitchen, also in Woodstock.

Wrong they were, as the Secret Service had been in Karen Dudley’s eatery for days, they say checking it over, but I think they were secretly munching on the chickpea and butternut salad, or the baby spinach with dukkah’ed goats cheese or the sublime Turkish Falafels.

Watch a video of the her visit, along with her mother, kids, niece and nephew;  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUFpqDQTGxI

Karen Dudley, who owns The Kitchen, has since been press ganged by her friends to write a cookbook about her food.

Her unique and soulful approach is summed up in her own words;

” Life is too short for the arbitrary, the mediocre, the “nice”. If you are going to eat something, however simple, it must be all that it is meant to be. It must be essentially good.

Food made with generosity and attention has the power to grow a community and to make people happy. There is reciprocity here. As we spend our love, so it comes back to us threefold.”

A plate of deliciousness from The Kitchen.

What Karen’s wonderful book does for me (apart from sharing her delicious recipes) is to convey the humanity and homeliness of The Kitchen, both the people who work there and the people who visit to enjoy the food.

Some of my favourite recipes are the aubergine ratatouille, and I have to say the sour cream ginger cake looks amazing. The gazpacho salad looks outstanding. She has the reputation of making the best chocolate brownies on the continent, and I’ve tried then, and it’s true. They’re the best.

Russel Wasserfall’s photography is, as usual, outstanding. He can take great food shots, in natural light, but he also has a wonderful

Karen Dudley.

eye for people.

You feel you are there, and that the shots are completely candid and unstaged. Karen was really spontaneously hugging one of her staff, and the look of love and delight on both their faces was not put on.

The recipes in “A Week in the Kitchen” are tasty, simple and flavorsome, and I can’t wait to try more of them out.

“A week in the Kitchen”

Karen Dudley

Published by Jacana Media – www.jacana.co.za

Price R231.00