A guide with real flavour

The beigeness of most restaurant guides and reviews - both online and off - is plain sad.

THE BOOK THAT DOESN'T LIE

THE beigeness of most restaurant guides and reviews - both online and off - is plain sad.

Ignoring anything that doesn't fit cosily within the sanctioned pastel lines of fashion, they are little more than air kisses and botox jobs for restaurants. Why take out the wrinkles? As we know, and countless celebs have too-late discovered, the character dies alongside.

This is why you'll be delighted with Rossouw's Restaurants 2015, which has just celebrated its launch under the editorship of the decidedly un-pastel Anna Trapido, author, anthropologist and food person of note.

The guide manages to be simultaneously thoughtful, funny, hugely informative, surprising and generous in spirit.

Here is a guide that's interested in food rather than fashion, that sees restaurants and chefs as having a real social context, and calls a spade a shovel. Ethnicity is neither marginalised nor fetishised, and cuisine is judged on its own terms.

Sustainable seafood awareness is big in the guide, but not in a token way. Rather than put in whether a place has the Sassi logo or not (theoretically compliant or not), the relevant restaurant is examined in detail for its green or more dubious seafood leanings. This makes sense.

There are so many establishments flaunting Sassi stickers which don't adhere to the green list, and a number that very consciously do but don't bother with the sticker. It's this sort of rigour and care that sets the guide apart. It's out now, at R189. Let me stop before I start blowing air kisses.

IN SEASON

Once again it's that time of year when I can't help but be bossy about fresh porcinis. The season is often short so you should quickly inquire at your nearest greengrocer about nabbing these beauties.

The difference between frozen or dried porcini and the fresh sort is one of those night and day things. You can make a great stock with the dried sort, and a not-terrible pasta sauce with the frozen. But freshly picked is entirely different and not interchangeable.

Here's my favourite way with fresh ones. First, separate stems from caps. This is a crucial but mostly overlooked step; this way you don't get mushy caps by the time the stems are tender. Heat a mix of butter and olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan and saute stems, in a single layer, until browning. Browning is essential as this releases the umami notes and is the second oft-overlooked essential step. Now add the caps and saute just until tender. Add a little shaved garlic, salt to taste and add chopped basil, then whip off the heat and spoon onto toast or a plate. Throw good parmesan on top and attack immediately.