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From the Series
In head chef Candice Philip’s world of cuisine, beauty resounds in a clever flavour combination or a well-designed dish that deserves a place in the Guggenheim. Running the kitchen at Saxon Hotel’s Five Hundred Restaurant, Philip has earned a reputation for serving up innovative taste experiences such as her vegetarian masterpiece, Pea Wasabi Mousse.
When we asked Veejay Archary & Marisa Holley of Black Africa Group to select what they considered to be the Most Beautiful Object In South Africa 2016 (MBOISA), their first choice was Philip’s zesty green dish. In this interview, Archary recalls the moment he and his wife first encountered the mousse and describes the plating of the individual elements as “something [they had] never seen before”.
It’s now a year later and the artistry found on the plate and the unexpected taste of the dish still lingers with the couple. The vegetarian dish, which Philip originally created for the WorldChefs Global Chef's Challenge, is an interesting combination of peas, asparagus, wasabi, lemon crème and parsnip fudge.
According to Archary, the beauty of Philip’s Pea Wasabi Mousse lies in its ability to haunt his memory:
“You remember it for years later, for aesthetic reasons but also for the way that it tastes.”
