Topsi - on her own terms
2006-12-14
THERE is no mistaking that Topsi Venter is the grande dame of South African cuisine.
Just mention her name in a conversation with anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of South African food, and the conversation turns in awe to Topsi.
Now nestled in her quaint restaurant, Topsi & Co adjascent to the Franschhoek library, Topsi seems more at home than she probably would be in the privacy of her own bedroom.
The restaurant is open plan, and patrons can observe every move made in the kitchen and discerningly take note of the ingredients which are going into their meal.
“It is not unknown for customers to walk around the kitchen. And so it should be,” says Topsi, “I only use the highest quality and freshest ingredients, after all, that is the basis of good food.”
Topsi’s menu is short and sweet - not one of those pretentious menus where you sit for hours wondering what you should eat.
Local delicacies such as marinated perlemoen, leg of Blesbuck and home-made ostrich sausage adorn the blackboard.
It is “traditional food re-invented”, as Topsi calls it. In any case, with Topsi’s phenominal reputation, you know that you cannot go wrong, whatever your choice.
Apart from the mouth-watering aromas floating around the restaurant, one or more of Topsi’s beloved pets are seen walking in and out of the room.
Amongst the regular pets in the restaurant, are her African Grey parrots, Pannevis and Oscarina.
“I inherited Pannevis and he was always a great chatter-box, until one day when he ways terrorised by some young boys who shot him with a plastic bullet.
“For the next three years he did not utter a single word due to the shock. Then recently he started back-chatting me again and I knew that the old Pannevis was back.”
Topsi’s love for food was instilled in her during her childhood years in Bloemfontein.
“We grew up having a sit-down lunch every day which was prepared by our cook, Elias, from Zululand.
“The table would be laid with my mother’s finest crockery and cutlery and every lunch-time was special.
“We grew up being a family who enjoyed our food, and fine dining became a very special ritual which has never left me.”
Topsi was almost lost to the culinary world when she wanted to follow her first love and become a ballet choreographer.
Her sister had joined the ballet, but her father convinced her otherwise saying that one ballerina in the family was enough.
So instead she did courses in creative subjects such as the history of art, architecture and musical appreciation.
Topsi became an assistant lecturer at Wits University in Johannesburg, before landing a job as communications officer for the then Dried Fruit Board.
It was her food demonstrations with dried fruit that led to her culinary odyssey.
Her first restaurant was Hatfield House in the Gardens, Cape Town, where she spent six years feeding the rich and famous.
She describes the finest years of her life as the ones at Roggeland, Daljosaphat, when she ran the farm, a guesthouse and restaurant.
“It was a beautiful farm and we grew all our own vegetables and herbs. I had all the pets I wanted then, as well as a few horses.
“It was very hard work, because it was a whole estate, and we also catered for large functions such as weddings.
“After ten years, I felt it was time to take a sabbatical, and I lived in the slave quarters of Meerlust Wine Estate.
“During my time there I was constantly approached by friends and previous clients to get back into food.
“I then started throwing little dinner parties here and there for small functions, and through this I realised that I had to get back into it full steam.”
Topsi came across an opportunity to open a restaurant in Franschhoek, and the rest is history.
She now runs her restaurant together with her daughter Danielle, who has a law degree, but preferred the finer art of cooking. Danielle is married to master chef Robert Rittel.
Slowly approaching the age of 80 years, Topsi is still as active as ever.
She runs her establishment with a tender iron fist from early in the morning and seldom gets to bed before 02:00.
But asked whether she is thinking about calling it a day, she is horrified.
“This is what keeps me going. If I had to retire I would fall over.”
Topsi believes it is a small miracle to have the good fortune to be a good cook.
“When you are old and ugly, people will still come to your door.”
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