Chef Phinda cooks South Africa for the world

Oxtail and pap, malva pudding, traditional grains and a bit of experimentation in between. Chef Gaobotse Hometree Monare has spent a decade cooking South Africa for the world. Better known as Chef Phinda, he is the head chef at Rhulani Safari Lodge in Madikwe.

He said that food is as much a part of the bush experience as game drives and sundowners in the bush. Monare reckons guests must take in the taste of where they are.

“We like to cook traditional food because most of our guests come from outside South Africa,” he said. “We want to teach them about the bush, about South Africa and about our traditional food.”

For Monare, it’s part of the cultural immersion that should go hand in hand with a safari.

Monare grew up in the area and has loved it since childhood. His career is also an example of the opportunities tourism can create for people living around Madikwe. The reserve and lodges in it presently employs close to 2 000 locals.

“I learnt about the kitchen, but I also learnt service and housekeeping,” he said.

Monare’s rise through the ranks of hospitality

Monare didn’t walk into the kitchen, instead he learnt the ropes across several aspects of lodge keeping before settling behind the pots. His cumulative knowledge saw him find his niche and, a decade ago, he joined Rhulani, where he worked his way up to head chef.

“I was promoted because they saw what I could do and the knowledge I had gained,” he said.

Feeding a lodge full of hungry guests, sometimes more than 20 at a sitting and all with different tastes and expectations, can be a tall order. Monare said it was daunting at first but these days numbers don’t scare him.

“It’s not easy cooking for more than 20 people at the same time, each with different tastes and preferences. But over time, well, now I can look at 20 guests and know I can handle it,” he said.

His oxtail is a favourite and of course, there must be pap alongside it. Monare said he likes flavour but is also careful about heat in his dishes because not everyone can handle a chilli assault. Somewhere in the middle is where it lands. He also cooks mosokwa, a traditional sorghum dish which he turns into a plated work of delicious culinary art.

His happy place is not the pot, though. It’s the oven. Monare loves pastry and baking – cakes and cookies are where he gets to play.

“I enjoy the hot kitchen too, but pastry is my favourite. I love baking cakes and cookies,” he said.

There’s also little room for shortcuts and he said the kitchen makes as much as possible from scratch. Around 80% of everything baked, brothed and plated at the lodge comes from his hands.

Malva pudding is second nature

Dishes like Malva pudding has become second nature.

“I have made malva pudding for so many years that I don’t need to look at the recipe anymore,” he said.

His interpretation is somewhat less sweet than what you’d find in the city, and somehow it draws out other flavours instead. It’s something to behold and, paired with homemade custard, seconds and thirds are always on the cards.

Chef Phinda – always happy to create. Picture: Hein Kaiser

Brownies, on the other hand, are fair game. Monare said that he likes recipes that leave some room to fiddle, and chocolate brownies are open to shape-shifting. They can become white chocolate brownies, coconut can find its way into the mix and the end result doesn’t have to be exactly the same every time.

“I like experimenting, changing up recipes and anticipating the results,” he said.

Monare’s ambitions also stretch beyond Madikwe. America’s kitchens are somewhere he would like to work, largely because he wants to see what happens elsewhere and bring some of what he learns back home.

After spending his working days cooking for other people, Monare sometimes tells his family that he has come home to rest, although he will still make them something from work so they can taste what he has been up to. Left to his own devices, beef stew will do nicely and chicken is not high on the list after eating plenty of it growing up.

“A braai is easy. You make pap and gravy and put your meat on the fire,” he said.