Keep warm this winter with a cosy Table Bay hotel inspired recipe that you can easily prepare in the comfort of your home with family or friends. Grab your favourite pot, heat up your stovetop and get ready to spice up your cooking skills in just five easy steps, by making the French classic, prawn bisque.

“This is a perfect dish to create in the comfort of your home for anybody and everyone to enjoy on a cold winters day,” says Wesli Charles Jacobs, Executive Sous Chef at The Table Bay hotel.  “With the prawn bisque, you are guaranteed zero wastage as you will make use of the entire prawn and not just the meat”, says Jacobs.

Jacobs, who is obsessed with food and everything about it, has been part of The Table Bay family since the end of 2019 and believes his love affair with food began as a young boy helping his mom in the kitchen.  

Located in Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront – the most visited destination in Africa – the hotel boasts breath-taking views of Table Mountain, the Waterfront, Table Bay and Robben Island. The hotel’s 329 stylishly furnished rooms, which include two presidential suites, all offer panoramic ocean or mountain views.

Difficulty: 5/10

Serves: 4

Hands on Time: 10 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 large fennel bulb, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
• 150g of tiger prawn shell off, tail on
• 3 tablespoons of brandy
• 1l stock, made with 150g of prawn shells and 1l of just-boiled water
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Freshly to taste ground black pepper
• Lemon juice, freshly squeezed (just a few drops to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of miso paste

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onion, fennel, carrot and bay leaves and cook gently over a low heat for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
2. Add the crushed garlic, stir and cook for another minute before adding the tomato purée, prawn shells and brandy. Stir for 2 minutes, then add the stock and miso to combine everything. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes over a low heat.
3. Remove prawn shells and liquidize the soup until smooth using a hand blender. Pass the soup through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, taking care to extract as much liquid as possible.
4. Gently reheat the soup before adding a few drops of lemon juice and season with freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
5. Season prawns with salt, pepper, and sautéed in a pan till firm in texture.
6. When you are ready to serve, divide the soup between shallow soup bowls. Place sautéed prawn into the centre of each bowl and garnish with dill and a drizzle of double cream.