I love food, eating it, cooking it, sharing it... 

I love food, eating it, cooking it, sharing it. I also feel that we have a responsibility to uplift others with the gifts we have been given. I have a gift for putting various ingredients together and creating magical flavours and sensations, and it gives me great pleasure to share this with you.

Ever since I can remember I have been passionate about food, all kinds of food, raw or cooked, the colours, the smells, the flavours and tastes … the endless possibilities that present themselves! I love food….. to cook food for friends and family; to share, whether it be food I have cooked or they have cooked. It doesn’t matter. In the world of food we are all one happy family. What can beat cooking, chopping up vegetables, hearing the sizzle of olive oil in the pan and (naturally) quaffing a glass of red wine?






My  name is Denise Levy, by the way, and I am not a trained chef, but a self-taught passionate cook, with many, many hours in the art of food prepping under my belt.

I started out in front of the camera in the 70’s as a photographic model, a career that led me to all corners of the earth where I discovered many, many different cuisines and styles of cooking. Following this I started CAPE TOWN PRODUCTIONS which again allowed me to do travel extensively and indulging my passion. My best thing ever is to wonder around farmer’s markets, food halls, deli’s, in awe of the tableau of startling colours that tantalize the eye, lettuces as sharp as glass, cabbages plucked from the earth a few hours ago, carrots a deep orange, rose-called beetroots; tomatoes, blood-red and ripened in the sun and picked off the vine that very morning; wild mushrooms smelling of the earth and the pungent aromas of different herbs; each individual vegetable luminous, exuding a fresh, heady earthiness.

 And the fish … oh, the fish, stacked in neat rows glistening with freshness, and next to them shellfish nestling on beds of crushed ice … I must admit I go into a kind of a trance as I enter this magical world of food, already imagining what dishes I am going to prepare that evening.  





The world wants to get back into the kitchen. People want to rediscover the lost art of cooking – hence all the food shows on TV, in every magazine… There is much happiness to be found in cooking. And around the dinner table there is always good conversation, laughter, bonhomie and happiness. These are the moments we need to grab before they slip away.

I love my kitchen. So do my family and friends.  Come into my kitchen. Take part in one of the courses at GINGER & LIME. I invite you to share this experience in whatever way you want to, to get as involved as you wish in the preparation and cooking of the meal, or topping up the wineglasses and just watching, or simply chatting to likeminded people and bonding over the food that we will prepare.  I will teach you what I know: simple delicious food, made with LOVE, and you will leave my kitchen happy and satisfied in more ways than one.  (Taste the Love!)

I’ll still be travelling, and in doing so I’ll be developing new styles of cooking and new recipes, all of which I will share with you as we evolve and grow together.



My speciality is the layers and depths that I create in the sauces, marinades, dressings that complement the ingredients I use. Cooking today is an eclectic business.  I love all of the Asian flavours, but then my heart also belongs to true Italian cuisine.  Oh, but how can I ever forget those wonderful French classics?

I will also be hosting cooking evenings with other chefs. Kitchens must be shared, after all – and I love to learn from other great cooks – and you can too! Get involved in a good evening’s entertainment as well as eating delicious creations in my kitchen.
Please send me a mail to receive the newsletter, and like us on Facebook for current news on the delicious meals that I prepare.

I also host exclusive events such as birthdays and launches, for up to 18 people seated, which can be partly interactive, or just served to you in the dining room (or outside on the terrace, on warm summer evenings).   For more casual cocktail style events, we can do Masterchef style parties too, for up to 20, kids or adults. These are fabulous fun! Chat to me. We’ll create and plan together.

FOR THE LOVE OF COOKING!
Denise Levy
083 251 6282
denise@gingerandlime.co.za

http://www.gingerandlime.co.za/