Bridget Ndlovu-Jones' Blog

My mate, a Brit, is a fabulous cook. And I'm not talking artsy wannabe Jamie Oliver or whatshername... you know the sultry, voluptuous one with dark hair who's always framed by soft lighting - no - she's a no nonsense Northern lass who calls a spade a spade! She's married to a (lucky) Greek guy, they retired (early) and now spend their time between Cape Town and Greece. As soon as the first puff of autumnal wind blows over Table Mountain they're off to Greece! Fabulous huh?

Anyway, she's computer il-literate and I'm a bit limited in the kitchen so we've decided to teach each other what we know. She's going to spend once a week for the next 6 weeks teaching me how to cook and I'll teach her basic computer skills.


Today was my first lesson. I was a bit taken aback when she walked in with a plastic bag which had an empty jam jar (?!), a sharp knife (her own...what's wrong with mine I thought???), and a bag of bones!!! Chicken bones!!!! (Eeeww!!! What for? What for???)

The Chef drains the bones!

So. First was the chicken stock - bones plus carrot, onions, celery, parsley and in seconds it was cooking away and smelt fab. Next we used the chicken stock to make potato and leek soup. Oh. My. God. Simple and simply deee-lish! I can't believe I made soup - for the first time in my life! Beautiful - better than Woolworths (Marks and Spencer). (Plus I used my handheld blender that has been gathering dust for eons.)

Next we did a Napoli Sauce (ie a basic pasta sauce). Who knew onions could be chopped that fine? Hence the knife. I was Julia Child! I chopped, I diced, I cleaned as I cooked, I was on a roll. An HOUR later, the sauce was done and...can I just tell you...well worth the time! Bloody hell. Talk about mouth watering. Jones won't know what's hit him...or what's hit me, to be more precise. Am I on the road to creating a monster??

Next week is carrot and ginger soup, good ole fashioned spag bol, and salad dressing (hence the jam jar!)

What did she get from me this week? A lesson on facebook...we set up her account, she loaded some pictures, made a few friends and she was reunited with a friend she hadn't been in touch with for 25 years (lots of tears followed by lots of wine to recover from the tears!) It was pretty cool. Believe me.