Unsung heroes of the kitchen

Andre Burgener has been immersed in all things food since she took over the making of the family's lunch box sandwiches aged eight (her mom could make a mean creme brulee and a staggering souffle, but could never butter the bread all the way to the edges.

CAULIFLOWER UNWRAPPED

I DON'T think we do right by cauliflower. Boiled to pieces, and swamped by bland cheese sauce, it's a wonder we bother with the innocent little Brassica oleracea at all.

It's commonly believed it was the Arabs who introduced the cauliflower to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, and you can bet they did a whole lot of bold stuff with it that outstrips watery Western applications. Happily, closer to home, the vegetable is here and there rescued from being the lead player in yet another insipid mess of pottage: I'm pleased to say the Fried Cauliflower at Bismillah, the almost legendary eatery in Fordsburg, will thrill you. Yes that's right: cauliflower and thrill in the same sentence.

Mandolin-thin shavings of cauliflower, potato and onion are cooked hot and fast with green chilli and spice, until tender but far away from mush. It's unctuous in the best possible way, and one of the finest things I can imagine eating for lunch, with a side of their glorious, duvet-like naan (surely the greatest bread on the planet when well made). This is a dish to cross town for. For the price of fried cauliflower and a naan - the latter a laughable R6 - you couldn't find more than a dull sandwich in swankier suburbs. Bismillah, 78 Mint Road, Fordsburg. Call 011-838-8051.

SWEET TALKING

LOCALLY, poppy-seeds have never hit the big-time as inclusions in cakes and confectionary. Perhaps it's the slate-grey colour they bring to whatever they're thrown into. Hardly appetising I agree (and yet, Coca-Cola has miraculously managed to make a brown-black liquid evoke all that is refreshing, thirst-quenching and feel-good). Make this delicious damp poppy-seed and yoghurt cake and you will surely be won over. I can't promise any children will be charmed (mine squeal with terror at the spotty, grey mass), but for grown-ups this is a wonderful change from the usual chocolate and cheesecake merry-go-round. Also, it's dead easy.

You need: 3 eggs / 1 cup white sugar / ½ cup good vegetable oil / 1 cup shredded coconut / 1 cup poppy seeds / 1 cup self-raising flour / ½ teaspoon salt / 1 cup good yoghurt.

How: Heat oven to 180C. Grease (or better yet, line with baking paper) a spring-form cake tin. Beat eggs and sugar together. Beat in oil. Separately, mix all dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to the egg mix, alternately with the yoghurt, and combine well. Do not over-mix. Bake for about 30 minutes, or just until a skewer comes out cleanish. I love this topped with a mix of cream cheese slightly sweetened with icing sugar and given a tart edge by grating in lemon rind.