Chefs Inspired by Music – Chris Erasmus & Jeremy Loops
As they say, life imitates art, and for chefs, often the dishes they create are inspired by things around them. Textures, flavours and aromas are the obvious ones, but what about sound? Chris Erasmus, chef-owner at Foliage Restaurant in Franschhoek and his team are often inspired and kept motivated in the kitchen by great tunes, specifically songs by South African folk-pop artist Jeremy Loops. Here Chris takes inspiration from the song Sinner to create a dish with his favourite ingredient – foraged mushrooms.
The Chef: Chris Erasmus, Foliage Restaurant, Franschhoek
The song: Sinner by Jeremy Loops
The dish: BBQ Beef Neck, Wild Mushroom and Potato Ragout, Caper and Raisin Purée, Forest Sorrel.
Put your headphones in an have a listen to ‘Sinner’ by Jeremy Loops here…
What Chris had to say… At Foliage we have a mushroom obsession. It happens once a year for a short period of time and turns my team of chefs and I into gluttonous, obsessed junkies! Mushrooms are like a pretty, vicious ex-girlfriend that we cannot live without and if we see others involved we get jealous! We forage for hours in local forests and will ‘kill’ for any find. We then bring our finds back to Foliage and jam to Jeremy Loops while prepping new dishes. Jeremy’s music has been part of our playlist since day one and every song has a certain nostalgia connected to it – Sinner most of all!
This dish is a slow barbequed beef hump with a ragout of forest mushrooms. It is a winter fireplace dish that has dark, somber colours and is definitely a comfort dish… perfect for enjoying while listening to this song.
Photo courtesy of Ben Brown
The inspiration… Cape Town born Jeremy Loops calls himself a modern folk artist. This is pretty accurate as it gives a sense of his music, yet it is hard to fully understand his music without seeing the show that goes with it. It’s as much about the performance as it is about the music. Jeremy brings a distinctive energy to the stage and his music is the kind that becomes the soundtrack to good times. He blends folk with reggae, a touch of hip-hop and a bit of funk. His performance is backed by rapper Motheo Moleko and saxophonist Jamie Faull, who help complete the authentic sound. This is foot tapping, knee slapping, happy music that resonates with a global audience. Jeremy is currently touring the America’s but will be back on home soil towards the end of 2015. We highly recommend you catch a show, you will be blown away by this talented and humble artist.
Jeremy is also one of the founding members of environmental organisation Greenpop, find out more HERE.
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