Shirley le Guern chats to Danielle du Toit of local cookery school, pheka.
Food is about relaxing and bringing people together – which was just what Danielle du Toit’s collection of “lockdown recipes” for everyday living did at a time when people were feeling most isolated.
Her passion for food and teaching probably started during childhood and culminated not only in the creation of her cookery school, pheka, in 2006 but also in the writing of her recipe book “pheka fresh simple cooking” last year.
“I spent about five years travelling the world with my husband. We had a ball backpacking and eating our way around the world. I worked in Chamonix in the French Alps, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean on private yachts. I spent time in Europe, Asia and South America and absorbed everything I could regarding the food and culture of the places that I visited,” she says.
On returning to home, the couple spent time working in kitchens at bush lodges and hotels. That, she says, fuelled her passion for people, travel and local food.
When the du Toits set up home in Botha’s Hill 15 years ago, Danielle set up a small cookery school that offered courses for domestic workers.
“I needed to create a business that was going to work for me and my new family, and so I tested out my idea on a few close friends and family. Everyone was delighted,” she recalls.
This still forms the bulk of her work. “Cleaning and ironing can be very mundane. It’s great to be able to give people new skills that they can not only use in the workplace but also take home. They can make a beautiful loaf of bread, a homemade pizza or a curry for their families. The messages and the photographs I get from my students are very rewarding,” she smiles.
Danielle also does cookery classes for youngsters during school holidays and admits to surviving the odd flour fight.
“Cookery classes for adults are aimed at those who are passionate about cooking,” she adds.
Lessons are delivered either in her large, welcoming home kitchen or in the kitchens of clients.
Her school is essentially a mobile one. “I have a vehicle with all my equipment in it. I travel and can be in Durban North or Umhlanga on one day and in Pietermaritzburg on the next. I realised that I couldn’t rely just on Upper Highway so I decided that this was the best way to spread my wings a bit further.”
The Covid lockdown provided another unexpected opportunity. “It brought the cookery school to a grinding halt. I posted a recipe each day during the initial three-week lockdown. People were cooking at home and needed inspiration. People were sharing and commenting. Then someone suggested I put all of the recipes together in a recipe book,” she explains.
She teamed up with close friend Louise McCann, whose magazine experience took care of the editorial side. All the cooking was done and photographed at home.
“My sons Dominic and Luc helped style the pictures, made fires, climbed up ladders to help with lights and tasted the dishes. They even pretended that the brownies weren’t perfect and I had to make them a number of times so they could keep eating them, “she laughs.
The book was launched in August last year and is available online via www.pheka.co.za as well as at markets and some outlets in the Upper Highway and Umhlanga areas. To date, she has sold about 1 000 copies.
“Everyone enjoys the simplicity of the book. You can literally open your pantry cupboard and cook a meal that is both nutritious and tasty without complicated ingredients. There are also lots of vegetarian options and food for the fire,” she says.
Now back to a new normal, Danielle says that her cookery school is picking up again although classes remain small and they stick to stringent Covid protocols. At home, the family enjoys making dinner and enjoys eating together and swapping stories about the day around the dinner table. *
FOR MORE INFO: