Nataniël's passion for good food comes from a very young age. Originally inspired by a grandmother with a true love for the kitchen, and later nurtured by his friendhips with several South African food personalities and favourite chefs, his cooking and entertainment skills had become legendary.

Nataniël is not only the host of regular dinner parties and food affairs at his home, he has written three best-selling cookbooks, presented his own cooking series on radio, regulary gives cooking demonstrations and contributes to food magazines.

Place cubes of bread on baking tray
Sprinkle with olive oil and place in hot oven
Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley and let cool
Place watercress on individual plates
Cut beetroots in half and arrange on top of watercress
Toss bread cubes over and sprinkle with lemon dressing
Season lightly with black pepper

Lemon dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp honey
juice of 1 lemon

Mix well

BRINJAL CAKE

Serve as first or second course, or with salad as vegetarian meal. Perfect for a picnic, hot or at room temperaure.

4 large brinjals
1/2 cup stale bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup Feta, crumbed
1/2 cup strong Cheddar, grated
1/4 cup fresh parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Wrap brinjals in foil and bake in oven at 180 for 1 1/4 hour
Soak bread in milk
Let brinjals cool, remove skins and purée flesh in mixing bowl
Add bread, eggs, cheese and parsley
Season with salt and pepper
Spoon into greased shallow ovendish and bake at 180 for 35 to 40 minutes
Serve as first course or with salad as light meal

POD CAKE

1 cup castor sugar
6 eggs, separated
seeds from 2 vanilla pods
1 cup self-raising flour

Butter and flour springform cake pan
Whisk sugar and egg yolks until pale, add vanilla seeds
Beat egg whites till soft peak form
Use metal spoon and fold into egg yolk mixture
Gradually (and gently!) fold in flour
Pour into cake pan
Bake at 180C until light brown (about 30 - 35 minutes)
Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan
Let cool and dust with icing sugar

BRANDY CUSTARD

1 cup fresh cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp castor sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp brandy

Mix cream, milk, vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar in saucepan
Stir till it just starts to boil, remove from heat
Beat yolks with rest of sugar till pale and foamy
Continue beating while slowly adding milk to the eggs
Sir over low heat till mixture thickens (do not boil!)
Remove from heat and stir in brandy
Let cool, stirring occasionally
Strain through sieve, cover and refrigerate
Can also be served warm

To serve:
Pour custard onto the centre of each individual plate.
Secure a slice of cake in the centre.
Serve with fresh fruit or berries