Kerry Kilpin
As Steenberg Executive Chef, Kerry Kilpin is at the helm of the two restaurants on this landmark Constantia wine farm, appealing to all tastes from refined contemporary dining at Tryn to bistro-style fare and tapas at the popular Bistro Sixteen82.
She describes her food as “contemporary classics with a twist” bursting with fresh seasonal flavours. Kerry loves exploring new ingredients discovered on trips abroad. A visit to Thailand was instrumental in developing her signature Asian influence in her food, while a culinary visit to Barcelona fired new enthusiasm for her popular tapas menu. Even when she is not travelling, Kerry is in constant search of new ingredients, flavours, textures and taste experiences she can infuse into her dishes. She creates food with an inimitable contemporary spirit that is seasonal, flavourful and bursts with freshness.
Kerry’s profound passion for ethically sourced fish shines through in all her menus.
In 2017, Bistro Sixteen82 became the first restaurant to partner with ABALOBI, the small-scale fisher initiative directly supplying chefs with responsible and traceable fish.
Straight after matriculating in Grahamstown in 2000, Kerry honed her culinary skills at Silwood School of Cookery in Cape Town. During her internship year in 2003, she worked under seasoned chef and mentor, Franck Dangereux at La Colombe, who soon promoted her to sous chef. In 2004, Kerry left La Colombe to join Franck as head chef for the opening of his popular Foodbarn in Noordhoek where they worked side by side till 2014. Her career path finally led her to Steenberg in November 2014 when she took over the reins as executive chef at Bistro Sixteen82. In 2018, Kerry was promoted to Steenberg Executive Chef.
Video Description
In this series learn from Head Chef Kerry Kilpin how the acclaimed Bistro Sixteen82 restaurant combines flavours and ingredients to get dishes ready for service.
In this episode Chef Kerry Kilpin makes fish ponzu. See how Kerry gets all the flavours in balance on the plate for this Bistro Sixteen82 dish.
INGREDIENTS
6 x 180g fillets of cape bream or fish
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 oranges segmented
1 spring onion sliced
50g wild rocket
150g shimeji mushrooms
Sugar
Salt
1 egg yolk
125ml sunflower oil
1/2 clove chopped garlic
10ml red wine vinegar
10ml water
5ml hot English mustard
Soy sauce
20ml lemon juice
15ml sugar
1 lime juice and zest
½ orange juice and zest
15ml dijon mustard
2.5ml fish sauce
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
25ml ponzu sauce
METHOD
For the Fish Ponzu; pre-heat a nonstick pan.
Season the fish with salt, pepper and rub in the olive oil.
Pan-fry your fish on a medium to hot heat until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Depending on the thickness of your fish this should take about 3-4 minutes.
For the citrus salsa; combine the olive oil, lemon juice, soy and sugar. Mix well.
Pour the soy mixture over the mushrooms and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.
Combine the marinated mushrooms, chopped spring onions, wild rocket and citrus segments.
For the aioli, place the egg yolk, garlic, red wine vinegar, water, mustard and a pinch of salt in a food processor. While the food processor is running, slowly add the sunflower oil to form an emulsion. The mixture will slowly start to thicken as you add the oil.
Season with salt.
For the Ponzu Vinaigrette; combine all the ingredients in a bowl except for the olive oil.
Gradually add the olive oil while continuously whisking.
