A Culinary Journey With Lesego Semenya

It was a culinary journey with Lesego Semenya recently in the exquisite Bosch show kitchen at Hirsch’s Homestore Centurion. Lesego was joined by the executive director of Hirsch’s, Margaret Hirsch, as they cooked a delectable Prawn Risotto live. Lesego is a popular chef and author, his recipe book Dijo is bursting with fabulous, flavourful food ideas.

The Risotto

The duo showcased how to perfect a risotto, using the Bosch 60cm induction hob, with Lesego frying it up in less than half an hour. “ The secret is to fry your onions and garlic first. Then take those out and fry your prawns, this is what is going to give the prawns that fantastic garlic flavour. When it comes to cooking the rice it just needs love if you cook it slow and stir you are good to go” Said Lesego. Margaret added in her vegan alternatives. “Risotto uses a lot of butter but luckily I found the vegan flora margarine and it does a great job replacing the butter and I like to use big beautiful mushrooms instead of prawns,” said Margaret.

Lesego’s Culinary Journey

Lesego Semenya was born and raised in Soweto. Whilst still working as a process engineer, he decided to pursue his personal passion and goals. He began writing articles for a youth magazine called UnCut, the flagship magazine for an organisation called LoveLife. He left the corporate world in 2008 after 6 years to pursue his business goals.

Lesego then went on to travel South Africa for a year before enrolling at South Africa’s best chef school, Prue Leith Chef’s Academy in Centurion, to study towards becoming a chef. He qualified with a Grande Diploma in Food and Wine and 5 other international level diplomas in wine and patisserie. Lesego then went on to work under renowned chef Nicky Gibbs at The Westcliff. He has gone on to receive many accolades in the culinary world. He is also one of Bosch’s VIP Guest chefs.

There were many prizes up for grabs including an R2000 Bosch kitchen Hamper. Participants had to guess the value of the prize “ Well done to Harsha Pather for being the first to guess correctly” said Margaret Hirsch”.

Join the next Kitchen Capers event on December 3 when Jennifer Swanepoel, owner
Of Roots, Café and Margaret will be hosting a virtual Vegan Christmas feast.

Remember to grab your kitchen essentials here. Stay tuned to our blog for exciting recipes, networking sessions, product knowledge, and much more.