Sharing culinary skills was the order of the day when celebrity chef; Jean Claude Cleret from the Reunion Island, France, visited the DUT Hospitality Department to teach Reunionese gastronomy recipes to the Hospitality students last week.

Chef Jean Claude Cleret, a famous international chef who had come to Durban to star in the Week of Taste 2014; showed students that eating healthy food can be cheap and delicious.

The Week of Taste 2014 is an event which showcases a diversity of tastes; giving clear information on the products (how they were made, where they come from), transmitting know-how skills and passion, promoting a healthy and balanced diet as well as taste.

Chef Jean Claude held a three-hour workshop with the students at DUT. Using local Reunionese products such as heart of palm, combava (a type of lime) and various exotic spices, he demonstrated how to make three spicy dishes which included a dessert and main dishes of steak, chicken and prawn. The students participated actively in the preparation of the dishes for a tasting at the end of the workshop.

Dr Erasmus Mguni; Hospitality HoD, Sarah Doignon, Director of the Durban French Alliance; Stephane Leszkiewicz, French lecturer were also instrumental in hosting the chef’s visit to Durban. DUT faculty staff were delighted to be given a taste of the delectable dishes of sublime fillet of steak, chicken balontine with two curry sauces and the prawn curry served with a palm salad and Chinese cabbage after the workshop. The students were equally delighted to have been given the opportunity to share the platform with a celebrity and learn about international cuisine.

Chef Jean Claude was also impressed with the students’ quick abilities to grasp his techniques and understand the importance of the careful combinations of spices and ingredients to making such dishes.

Dr Mguni, having seen the enthusiasm and delight generated by the cooking workshop, is keen to host more regular food workshops with different international chefs and teach students more on French cooking and the language and culture and encourage students to expand their culinary horizons in an intercultural approach.

– Waheeda Peters

Pictured: Celebrity chef Jean Claude Cleret cooks up a storm with DUT students. Also picrtured are students excitedly helping to make Reunionese dishes of steak, chicken and prawn dishes with Cleret.