Catching up with Scot Kirton

Shortly after Constantia Uitsig’s La Colombe won 12th spot in the 2010 S. Pellegrino world restaurant rankings, chef Luke Dale-Roberts announced that he would be moving on to start his own venture, The Test Kitchen. Scot Kirton, Luke’s protégé (pictured below), took over the award-winning kitchen. We caught up with him to find out more about his favourite dishes and what he would be cooking this Valentine’s Day.

 

If you could only serve one dish from your menu, what would it be?
My favourite dish on the current menu is a starter of scallops and pork belly. It consists of pan-fried scallops, confit suckling pig belly glazed in langoustine stock, smoked parsnip purée, black forest ham veloute, confit lemon and pea dressing and pork crackling.

What’s the trick to a good food and wine pairing?
Neither the wine nor the food should be stronger than the other. The food and wine need to complement each other; a light dish should have a light wine, while a dish with great depth of flavour can be served with heavier, more robust wine. I like to make use of boutique wines and rare, unusual cultivars.

What’s the one thing you can’t live without in your kitchen?                                                                                                          

My egg cracker, which cuts the tops off of eggs. In fact, it broke the other day and I had to get one couriered overnight from Europe.

What will you be cooking for Valentine’s Day?
In addition to the new dishes I have created, we will serve a starter of poached oysters in a Champagne velouté and, to finish off the meal, we will be serving heart-shaped strawberry macaroons.

Constantia Uitsig, Spaanschemat Street, Cape Town; tel 021 794 2390