A delicious chat with Urzila Carlson

What are the foods of your childhood?

Always meat with South Africans! Also we love spicy food, bland is not even a thing. We love to chargrill too. BBQ-or braai as we know it- is bigger than Sunday roast.

What are your all time favourite foods today?

Anything Japanese or Mexican, just because it’s fresh and full of flavour and of course filling!

What do you think are the best fruits and vegetables?

I love any type of vegetables or fruit. I will literally eat anything, but of course, a good fruit salad with kiwis, strawberries and some melon is always super welcome! As far as vegetables go, I love asparagus.

What are your favourite desserts?

I love ice cream, but to pick a favourite would have to be malva pudding, which is a South African baked syrup pudding that you can have with custard, cream or ice cream. That’s a good time!

What do you eat for breakfast on a typical day? What is your ideal breakfast?

I usually do fruit with muesli.

What is your favourite holiday or festival? How do you celebrate it, and what do you eat?

Easter, because not only is the weather usually perfect; not too hot, not too cold, just perfect... it’s built around chocolate and hot cross buns! We hide easter eggs for the kids, we toast hot cross

buns, we get involved hard out. My mother still hides easter eggs for us kids. The adults search first,

then the kids. We had to split it up, because three years ago, during a search we ripped the door off the

oven and broke a door off in the kitchen. WE GET INVOLVED!

Where did you grow up? What are some typical foods to be found there?

I grew up in Benoni, which is on the East Rand of Johannesburg. I grew up in a suburb with lots of

Greek, Lebanese and Portuguese families. Which of course made the food in our neighbourhood

AMAZING! I always got super excited when my friends mum’s would invite me for dinner! Spicy,

fresh, abundant beautiful food.

Where else have you lived? Where do you live now? What was/is the food like? Do you like it?

I’ve lived in a few places, I lived in the US for a few years, the food was big but not that great I

thought, I enjoyed the Mexican influence in the food in Texas, but mostly I found it was just focused

on quantity and not really quality! I also lived in Cardiff in Wales and the food was bland and

covered in gravy! That’s all I can remember. The fact that you would have to add sauces to food to

add taste is always a problem. In the states, it was always sauce and in the UK it’s gravy….good

food, prepared well should not require anything.

It’s 2 am, you’re just getting home. What are you eating?

Junk, unfortunately! I’d probably eat the take away from a drive through.

Imagine your fridge. What is inside?

Yoghurt, milk, juice, crushed garlic, bottles of water for the SodaStream machine, a bag of salad,

tomatoes and cucumber. That’s what’s in there in real time right now.

Do you like to cook? What do you typically make?

I LOVE cooking, I usually make a protein, salad and a veg. This is what I cooked the night before I

left [for the Melbourne Comedy Festival]; pork belly with crispy crackling, Japanese slaw with sesame dressing and chopped cucumber and tomato for the kids. They’re not that into the Japanese slaw.

What do you think are the best summer foods?

If you can braai every night, you should! Salads and mezzo platters of course is also a winner.

What do you crave when the weather is cold?

Anything I can do in the slow cooker. Comfort food. I make a braised Oxtail that covers all the bases in winter.

Ultimate sandwich?

I like a Reuben sandwich. It ticks a lot of boxes, and it’s crispy and meaty!

What is the best pizza topping?

Smoked chicken and avo.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve tried while traveling?

I toured through Southeast Asia and I tried everything! I ate street food and things I can’t even pronounce. It was amazing. I’m not an adventurous eater when I’m not at home, because I have

issues with other people’s cleanliness but I just thought, "Chuck caution to the wind and go hard." And

it was amazing.

What is the best thing you can remember eating?

My mother makes a broccoli chicken dish, it’s great, it’s comforting and it always reminds me of

home.

What do you put on toast?

Marmite and a grated aged cheddar.

If you were throwing a party, what would you serve?

If it’s a sit down dinner party I’d go for tried and tested South African favourite, bobotie, which is a spicy mince pie... atop of spicy turmeric rice with a green salad. If it was a hang-out finger food type party, I’d make my own little pies and snacks. I like to go old school with pickled onion, cheese and bierstick on a toothpick.

Can you share a memory with me- any memory- that somehow involves food?

I’m African, all my memories are around food!

If you're in the mood for a laugh, check out a bit of Urzila's comedy below.

Want to cook some of Urzila's favourite foods at home? Check out our recipes for bobotie and chicken & broccoli bake, as well as our guide to throwing a Tex-Mex dinner party.