Radio and TV personality Jeremy Mansfield and his wife Jacqui held a candid discussion about their latest book, Zhoozsh!: Faking it on 23 July at the University of Johannesburg in Auckland Park.
Jeremy shared a story of how they got inspiration for the book during their trips to different parts of the world where they tasted all kinds of cuisines.
“So, you are sitting on a little stool in the middle of a street in Vietnam with your knees up to your ears eating noodles and you think ‘this could go better if I added this or tried it with something else’.”
The discussion tied together with the Edible Book Festival where the hospitality students created edible cakes based on or inspired by a piece of literature. Jacqui Mansfield said the festival coincided with their cookbook, which she described as something you can read in bed.
“There are little anecdotes with the recipes, it is a cookbook that really wasn’t about cooking. Every recipe has a story behind it,” she added.
Pieter van der Westhuizen from UJ’s School of Hospitality agreed that the book was definitely reading matter. “It has left a legacy, this book will not sit on your shelf, it is a coffee table book.”
On why and how he started cooking, Jeremy said his love of food comes from smells and he recalled one distinct smell from his childhood.
“Growing up in the Eastern Cape, I remember coming to the smell of Umngqusho (samp and beans), which is one of the recipes in the books. Food comes from smells for me, the passion comes from being involved in something. We have taken recipes from around the world and Africanised them.”
The duo, who also judged all the cakes for the edible book festival, announced the winners before ‘ordering’ the audience to indulge their sweet teeth on the creations.
