Chef Tony Jackman

Tony Jackman is a journalist, columnist, playwright and occasional restaurateur, who writes with knowledge, wit, irreverence and an abiding love for family, friends, humanity, liberal values and the right to express controversial opinions unfettered. The son of British expatriates who sought a life under the sun, he grew up far from the Yorkshire moors that as the home turf of his cousins. Yet his “Yorkshireness” remains a part of his make-up, his stoic outlook and his sense of “getting on with things” despite the odds. An accomplished truant while at (or not at) high school, he elbowed his way into journalism despite closed doors and over decades, moulded himself into the writer he wanted to become. Unable to afford a university education, he decoded to fins an education by watching, listening and observing everyone and everything from which he could glean knowledge and understanding. Tony is Chief sub-editor of Daily Maverick, South Africa’s leading alternative online newspaper, to which he also contributes columns. He is married to journalist Diane Cassere, father to Rebecca and stepfather to Jessica and the late Niccy. He lives in Cradock.

Spekko sat down with Tony, here’s what transpired:

Spekko: What is your favourite local ingredient?

Tony Jackman: Spanspek. This is the hero of one of my signature dishes, a chilled, lightly curried spanspek soup. It’s a fruit, yes, but when cooked with onions, perhaps a little garlic, some vegetable stock and subtle spicing, and finished with cream or yoghurt, it becomes a beautiful cold soup for a spring or summer’s day. I also love boeber, chicken or mutton akhni, skilpaadjies, bunny chow, tomato bredie, sosatie wors, biltong and of course boerewors.

SP: What would you cook when the days are dark and everybody needs a lifting of the spirits?

TJ: A hearty mutton or lamb curry finished with coconut cream. With saffron basmati rice. And toasted almonds. I feel better already.

SP: What is your family’s favourite everyday dish?

TJ: Roast chicken. What my daughter Rebecca calls ‘Dad’s chicken’. I stuff the cavity with herbs – thyme or rosemary or sage or tarragon, sometimes also a halved onion or a halved tomato or occasionally a quartered lemon. Massage lots of butter all over the skin, season and roast till the juices run clear and the skin is crisp. Very hot oven.

SP: What would you eat in Paris – if budget was not an issue? (That is Paris France)?

TJ: When I DID eat in Paris, budget was very much an issue. It was my 50th birthday and we went the street/café route – bought Croque Monsieur and ate them in a little park. That evening we had steak et frites, what else in Paris. But would love to go back with a fat wallet and dine on finest pan-fried foie gras and Blanquette de Veau, and I’d be looking for great duck or sole dishes and go on a soufflé mission.

SP: Tell us where in the world you enjoyed the best meal ever?

TJ: My first night in London in 1987, at Rules restaurant in Covent Garden, in the Dickens room upstairs in what I think is the oldest existing eaterie in London. Several courses of wonderful English food that gives the lie to the claim that British food is bad. The dish I remember best was potted grouse. Just sublime, pleasingly coarse in texture, and a very British alternative to the arguably subtler French way.

SP: Your personal best recipe ever?

TJ: I find it hard to choose one particular recipe. My best dishes are hearty mutton curries with homemade chutneys, lamb shank with herbs, garlic and lemon, rich oxtail stews cooked all day.

SP: Chefs you admire: local?…….International…..? Why?

TJ: Bertus Basson is an extraordinary chef, such imagination and subtlety. In the wider world, it’s Marco Pierre White all the way for me. He’s the man. Rooted in the French tradition but interpretative. No silliness about his recipes; everything belongs, everything makes sense.

SP: Favourite restaurant here in South Africa?

TJ: Societi Bistro in Gardens, Cape Town; it’s our home from home.

SP: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you have your dream job, or is there more?

TJ: I’m loving my present job as Chief Sub-editor for Daily Maverick. It’s such a cool, sexy news site yet with tremendous depth and courage. Five years, who knows? I take things as they go and am always open to new things and surprises. That’s the way my life flows. Not too much planning, open to whatever happens.

SP: Your favourite food blogger?

TJ: If I have one (I’m not really a follower) it would probably be David Lebovitz in Paris.

SP: Your greatest achievement?

TJ: Becoming a good father.

SP: If not cooking, what are your “hobbies”?

TJ: Singing and occasionally writing songs, growing things, browsing in junk stores for interesting stuff, bothering people on Facebook.

SP: Your favourite author – fiction?

TJ: Charles Dickens.

SP: Your pet hate in SA foodie business?

TJ: Pretentiousness. Things that nestle or drape. And smudges. Please can we lose the smudge on the plate. Horrendous. One day people will look back and say, ‘Remember smudges? Can’t believe we did that!’ Trust me, it’s coming,

SP: The most underrated ingredient in local cuisine?

TJ: Offal and cheap cuts. In these times of high prices and uncertainty, we’re looking in the wrong parts of the supermarket fridges. The poor man’s end is where the promise lies… the kidney and liver, pork trotters and beef shin, Cheap, cheap, cheap and there’s opportunity there for the imaginative cook or chef.