That's Amori!

Having driven herself so hard during her chef training days that she questioned whether a life in the culinary industry was what she really wanted, Amori Burger persevered. And with all she’s gone on to achieve – most recently, as head chef of Van Der Linde restaurant in Joburg’s suburb of Linden, we’re thrilled she stayed the course!

- Lisa Witepski

Amori Burger is the kind of person you would want as your best friend. She’s warm, she’s hilariously funny, and then there’s her cooking… and as a friend, you can count on being both her guinea pig and her inspiration in the kitchen.

“Abigail [Amori’s fiancée] and I love to host braais on our patio at home. We’ll have three braais going at once – one purely to keep the coals hot,” she says, noting that braaiing with friends and family is her plan for Women’s Day. “We braai everything from starters to desserts, including some interesting ingredients our friends bring along.”

Indeed, this is how one of the starters on Van Der Linde’s winter menu, their roasted king oyster mushrooms, came about. “Someone brought along a king oyster the length of a ruler, and I thought, let’s see what we can do with this. We couldn’t stop eating it, so I decided to put it on the menu.” The result is a satisfyingly umami mouthful of smoky mushroom, flaky Grana Padano, and onion, with a splash of sherry for warmth, and pine nuts for crunch.

Amori’s now renowned potato churros developed out of a seemingly similar random moment. “I was eating chips – the kind we all love to crunch with that horrible dip you find in the middle aisle of the supermarket – and found myself wondering why we don’t serve something similar in restaurants. It’s delicious!”

And delicious, more than anything else, is what Amori is about. Her kitchen is akin to a laboratory, where she flits from pantry to pot, stirring this, tasting that, adding more here and there. That’s how she found the perfect accompaniments to those chewy churros: mouth-puckering sour cream and chives dip and Healey’s Mature Cheddar crisps.