A Scrumptious Pop-Up Dinner with David Walters & Christopher Duigan

It's been an exhilarating and interesting twelve months for me since my first cookbook was published, but none of these thrills and spills can match my excitement about this event.  On Thursday 7 March, I'll be collaborating in a once-off pop-up event in Pietermaritzburg with two inspiring people: my uncle David Walters, pre-eminent master potter, and my friend Christopher Duigan, South Africa's most popular concert pianist.  We're calling this event 'The Table', and we're doing it for the sheer fun of it.  Here are my co-conspirators:

Concert pianist Christopher Duigan (left) and master potter David Walters.

The Table is an idea dreamed up a while ago by Dave and Christopher, and they generously roped me in as the third wheel on their merry tricycle.  The idea is that everyone who has been invited to the jollifications (I was going to call it a soirée, but risk being smacked by Dave and Chris for such pretentiousness) will bring something to the table: Dave will be showcasing his beautiful plates, platters and bespoke dinnerware; Christopher and the acclaimed saxophonist Maxine Matthews will be performing works by composer Richard Guinness; and the food served on the evening will come from my cookbook, Scrumptious.

The event will take place at Christopher's home in Pietermaritzburg, Casa Mexicano, which I am told is  a villa of some splendour.  And it had better be, because I am spending a night there, and I will not be satisfied with anything less than fluffy white gowns, scented bath salts and hopefully a few oiled young men on stand-by should I require anyone to drop frozen grapes into my mouth.

Our VIP guests (including wine-makers, farmers, artisans, artists and some of KZN's top restaurateurs) will also be bringing their special gifts, goods and talents to the table, and I look forward to sharing all these contributions with you on Thursday night as I live-tweet the event (hashtag: #TheTable; follow me on https://twitter.com/Jane_Anne62).

I'd hoped to offer readers of this blog a pair of tickets, but the event was so popular when Christopher announced it that it was sold out before I had a chance to put finger to keyboard.

I will be putting hand to whisk on Thursday afternoon, however, as I prepare the main course for the event: my fillet-steak and hot-potato-nugget salad with a Green Goddess dressing.  Here's a picture of this dish (I'll post the recipe next week, when I'm back):

My beef fillet salad with hot potato nuggets and a Green Goddess dressing.
Photograph by Michael Le Grange, courtesy of Random House Struik. 

Print Friendly