Chef Noddy makes Samson the bull proud at Imba Matombo

Samson the talking bull, brand mascot for the Cold Storage Company in the 1980s, was bang on when he insisted that ‘nyama inonaka inotaura yega’ (good meat speaks for itself).
Samson no longer chats to housewives on TV, but has taken up residence in Samson’s Restaurant, a steakhouse tucked away in a secluded woodland overlooking the Domboshawa Valley.
Adjoining boutique Hotel Imba Matombo in Glen Lorne, the restaurant and bar are accessed by a winding pathway behind the main hotel.
This hidden passageway leads to a wooden deck and dining area, overhung by a canopy of msasa trees; it also leads to a kitchen where high quality steaks are cooked to perfection.

Filet mignon with Hollandaise sauce at Samson’s Restaurant.

Zimbabwe has often been referred to as cattle country, and the domestic demand for beef is huge. But how often have you been served up a dud steak, that was either overcooked, marinaded in a weird sauce, or simply poor quality and tough and chewy? George and I recently joined a group of food hounds at Samson’s Restaurant, where hospitality and leisure specialist Mark Havercroft was hosting a luncheon featuring high quality steak.
Havercroft, who has managed island resorts, safari destinations and luxury hotels in Africa over a career spanning thirty years, recently acquired Imba Matombo. With steak connoisseurs in mind, he brought Samson the Bull out of retirement, and created Samson’s Restaurant.

On the deck at Samson’s Restaurant at Imba Matombo

This bold move coincided with a decision by Government to partner with Boustead Beef Zimbabwe and revitalise the Cold Storage Company, once Zimbabwe’s largest meat processor and marketer. As the national herd increases, quality well-marbled steaks ranging from bone-in filet mignon to ribeye and tomahawk steaks, are once again becoming available. And for a beef stew to enjoy with a steaming plate of sadza, there’s chuck steak from the neck and shoulder.
This cut, with its high concentration of collagen-rich connective tissue and fat marbling for flavour, is second to none when creating our national dish.
In a similar way that everything you eat and drink shows on your face, the flavour and aroma of cooked beef varies according to whether the steer has been fed on grain or grass. Besides tasting more delicious, grass-fed beef is said to enhance the immune system, and to be particularly nutritious.
CSC-Boustead Beef is able to supply premium grass-fed beef from Matabeleland to the kitchen at Samson’s Restaurant, enabling Chef Noddy Njilayatenga to cook up a storm with any cut of prime aged beef your heart might desire.
Perfectly seasoned filet mignon, precisely grilled to medium rare, was an outstanding main course at our three course lunch at Samson’s Restaurant. Elegantly plated on a bed of rocket leaves alongside dawn-fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrot sticks, and garnished with crispy bacon with a touch of Hollandaise sauce and a sprig of fresh thyme, this was a dish I would want to order again and again.
Chef Noddy is at the top of his game when it comes to meat cookery, but he didn’t grow up in a household where food preparation was exciting or something to look forward to.

Samson the Bull at Imba Matombo

In spite of achieving respectable ‘0’ levels at Mufakose 1 Secondary School, he was obliged by the failing economy in Zimbabwe to leave school and search for a job in South Africa. As luck would have it, he found work at the restaurant at Food lovers Market in Claremont in Cape Town.
Working as a KP (kitchen porter), a job often referred to as a dishwasher, he learned how to keep things running smoothly while doing the hardest work in the kitchen.
In his memoir Down and Out in Paris and London George Orwell describes the job of dishwasher as having no prospects; a dishwasher, he said was ‘a slave of the modern world’. Today the opposite is true. Many famous chefs have started out as KPs, and while the job is strenuous, it gives you a foot on the ladder towards chefdom.
So it was that Noddy the KP advanced very quickly at FLM in Claremont under the tutelage of Chef Shiraaz Barday, gaining skills in the vegetable, salad, pasta, pizza and hot grills sections. A two year diploma course at the South African Chefs Academy followed, and Chef Noddy emerged as top student in 2014.
Eager to see the world, capable of preparing dishes at an advanced level and able to work in any section of a kitchen, Chef Noddy set sail with Viking Ocean Cruises. For the next three years, he worked alternately as chef in charge of breakfast service, and of room service. Being at sea, he also became an accomplished fish butcher.
Eventually it was time to come home, and for now Chef Noddy is working with his team at Imba Matombo, preparing memorable dishes to make Samson the talking bull proud. Sharing tips on how to make a great steak, Chef Noddy stressed the importance of starting with a good cut of meat, with some marbling of fat.
‘Have meat at room temperature’, he said, ‘and season with salt and pepper.’ The pan should be hot, before charring the steak on one side in a mixture of oil and butter, for perhaps four minutes. The steak should then be flipped and basted with butter, herbs and garlic, for a further three minutes. Always rest the steak after cooking for 3-5 minutes, allowing it to retract its moisture and remain tender and juicy.
Chef Noddy’s advice to upcoming cooks and chefs is to travel and to become familiar with different cuisines, and to learn about the myriad ingredients and flavours in the culinary world. Share your knowledge with others, work hard, and stick with your career. There will always be a demand for great chefs. It remains to be seen whether Samson the talking bull will once again appear on ZTV, sharing his insights on the beef industry. For now he looks like one happy bull, enjoying a new phase in his career at Samson’s Restaurant at Imba Matombo.
●Comments to: cmalakoff@gmail.com