HOT OFF THE PASS | This week in food news: April 9

Week 2 of lockdown brought with it good news for many in SA's culinary community. For the first time ever, the organisers of the Gourmand Awards — touted as the Oscars of the cookbook world — released their list of winners ahead of the ceremony itself.

A slew of local chefs and cooks scooped up accolades. TV presenter-turned-cook Lorna Maseko bagged two awards, much to the delight of her fans. Her book Celebrate with Lorna Maseko was among the runners-up in the celebrity chef and international cookbook categories.

Other noteworthy winners include Erica Platter, who took home two awards for her book Durban Curry Up2Date, and Isabella Niehuis, whose book Duinhuis came tops in the entertaining category. (Visit the Gourmand website to see the full list of winners.)

Bananas about banana bread

While not all of us can be award-winning cookbook authors, many of us are certainly trying to up our culinary game. Housebound cooks have been baking up such a storm that there's now a shortage of yeast on supermarket shelves.

Luckily you don't need yeast to make banana bread — this humble bake trended on Twitter as social media users competed to show off their homemade loaves. Perhaps award-winning chef Chantel Dartnall had something to do with it? She posted her Granny's Banana Bread recipe to her Facebook page. 

Somizi stirs up excitement

Dartnall isn't the only well-known foodie who has been sharing recipes and cooking tips on social media. Avid home cook and Idols SA judge Somizi Mhlongo, who regularly shares the dishes he dreams up on Instagram, sent his millions of followers into a frenzy by announcing that his much-anticipated cooking series would be coming to YouTube any day now.

Bottoms up

While reaching for a bottle of bubbly to toast Somizi's new project and all our local Gourmand Award winners, we couldn't help but notice our liquor cabinet is looking sadly depleted — and we're sure we're not the only ones. That's why we asked mixologist Dino Batista to share a few easy cocktail recipes that'll help us stretch out our last few bottles of wine. Check them out here. 

While purchasing alcohol may be prohibited during lockdown, we're not without options when it comes to getting our hands on other essentials. Netflorist and UberEats are just two of the most recent online retailers who have adapted their systems to allow for the delivery of groceries, toiletries and cleaning products as mandated by the government. 

PS. There's nothing more frustrating than being a restaurant critic who has no way to eat out. That's why this week I decided to review SA's hottest — and only — lockdown eatery, The Kitchen. Check out my review here.