Le Quartier Français' restaurant, The Tasting Room, has this year been listed in S Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants for the seventh time.

Chef Margot Janse, who has spent 15 years pushing boundaries at the restaurant, should take much of the credit for the 36th spot.

Her idea of using South African ingredients extends beyond produce. Her foolproof method of cooking a favourite local dish, samp, is thanks to the home-grown Wonderbag.

"This is such a special thing, everyone should have one. It saves electricity and it is so efficient," she said of the bag.

Produced by an NGO, the insulated cooker is made up of two poly-cotton bags, usually in colourful shweshwe fabric. Filled with expanded polystyrene balls, which are harmless and recyclable, the bag holds a pre-heated pot for several hours, cooking by heat retention.

Janse said she uses the Wonderbag to slow-cook many dishes, including oxtail, but it is prefect for samp, which can take at least an hour to cook.

"Samp, to me, is an African risotto base. It is essentially dried white corn kernels and it is delicious. The only problem is that it takes so much electricity to cook. In the Wonderbag, it cooks for three hours, using only five minutes of electricity."

For a small serving, she soaks 100g of samp overnight.

On a stove top, she heats the samp, covered with vegetable stock, to boiling point. The pot then goes into the Wonderbag, where it will cook for three hours.

"You can use chicken or beef stock for different flavours. Check it once in a while so that it does not overcook. Samp must be al dente [soft but firm] not stodgy.

"It is so versatile that you can flavour it with anything. Samp can even be served as a side dish, with some butter and salt, for meat, chicken or fish courses. It is really lovely with fish such as salmon.

"To make an African risotto, soften the samp with stock, add Parmesan, butter and mixed herbs. Serve hot."

• •Visit naturalbalancesa.com or call 011-442-2767 for the Wonderbag, priced from R70 to R170