Jenny Morris earned her nickname, the Giggling Gourmet, 20 years ago or more, for her cheeky laugh and saucy comments in the kitchen. Since then she’s gone on to publish six recipe books, opened two restaurants, taught hundreds of people how to win in the kitchen with delicious and simple dishes, cooked and travelled all over the world, become an international celebrity, endorsed major products, and shot five series for global channel Food Network. What hasn’t changed one bit is that giggle, and she never misses an opportunity to make a naughty remark about anything related to food.

Or anything else for that matter.

At the launch of her latest TV series, From The Heart, at her CooksPlayground in Green Point’s Cape Quarter, Morris shared an anecdote about the jingly jangly bangles she always wears. “You can hear when my husband and I are having sex – or not!” she said, shaking her arm to demonstrate. Her youngest son Ryan, who has been close to his mom in the public arena since before he was a teenager and should be used to this kind of thing by now, and who is grown up and married, rolled his eyes – much to the delight of the audience. Husband David smiled serenely.

Jenny Morris on the set of From The Heart. Photo: Supplied

Friends and family being thrust into the spotlight is part of knowing Morris; she’s often singled me out in the crowd, sometimes calling me up on stage where she’s demonstrating. This is a good thing, because it usually involves tasting, or scoring a useful gadget or gift.

Morris and I go way back to when she first began presenting her cooking classes, which I joined in 2003 so I could write a six-week series about them. They took place in the home economics kitchen at Jan van Riebeeck High School in Tamboerskloof on a Monday evening. There was some or other generous sparkling wine sponsor, and looking back now it’s a miracle I ever learned anything.

But I did, and so did my then-teenage son. Heck, we deboned chickens, we made gnocchi and Thai-style fishcakes (to this day the smell of the ginger, garlic and lemongrass till reminds me of that night), we made white chocolate crème brulee. I still have most of the recipes, and the graduation certificate which I received at the end. We cooked so much there were always plenty of leftovers to take home for a huge Tuesday night family dinner.

Prawns with feta and tomato, From The Heart. Photo: Supplied

Above all, it was fun. I remember the time we learned how to make creamy rich polenta. Jenny and I stood off to the side, and she added more and more butter, more and more garlic as we tasted until we agreed it was perfect. This recipe appears in one of her early books.

Morris herself has acknowledged the part my stories played in her career, which took off after that, and the delight of being able to say I’ve known since before she was famous – or at least as famous as she is now – has never faded.

From The Heart is her fifth series for Food Network; Morris was the first South African chef to have her own show on the channel. Previous shows are Chopped South Africa, Fabulous Food Academy with Reza Mahammad, Jenny Morris Cooks The Riviera, and Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco – half-hour episodes filmed in exotic locations. “They came to me and asked me which country I’d like to go to,” recalls Morris. From The Heart was conceptualised by Food Network who brought her the idea. Production was delayed somewhat as Discovery Networks bought the channel but when the dust settled, the offer was put back on the table. “I was so excited,” says Morris girlishly. “They’d been looking at my Instagram and said ‘let’s feel Jenny’.”

With no time to travel for six and a half weeks at a time away from her businesses in South Africa, Morris was delighted with the concept of shooting in a studio in Dubai for just two weeks. The themed episodes were all produced by her: Ladies That Lunch, Mommy Love (and Morris is the epitome of a warm, generous, loving mother – to her own brood as well as anyone else she deems needs feeding), Rise And Shine are among the 10 one-hour episodes, each featuring five recipes.

“They gave me a beautiful team to work with, I was so blessed,” says Morris. “Dubai is amazing. You can get anything you want there – except fresh bay leaves.”

Pickled fish is an Easter tradition in South Africa, but Jenny Morris says it’s easy enough to make at any time of the year. Photo: Supplied

Wait, what? Explain the pickled fish recipe we saw at the launch, in which you said the bay leaves came from your garden, Jennifer! (Using a person’s full name means it’s serious.)

“I took my own!” she laughs.

Morris’s aim in this series is to demystify things that people think are difficult or complicated to make at home, and would never even try. Hello! It’s like paint by numbers,” she says.

SA viewers will see their traditional favourites featured, like tomato bredie, pickled fish, soet (sweet) veggies, snoek pate, and denningvleis. “Don’t underestimate the public,” warns Morris. “They travel from their armchairs, and their mothers have taught them how to make bobotie so I have to put a completely different spin onto certain things but I never compromise the integrity of the dish.”

South Africans celebrate everything with a trifle, says Morris, so there’ll be one of those, as well as bagels (do you know anyone who makes these themselves?), chicken pie, chakalaka with cauliflower mash, twice-roasted tomato quiche, tarte tatin made with pap, frittata, fish cakes, peri peri prawns, and vegan flatbread made with sweet potato, chilli and cumin.

Slow-baked lamb in a rosemary dough crust, From The Heart. Photo: Supplied

Each of the 50 recipes had to be developed, tested and tasted before filming. They’re almost all new, with one or two in Morris’s most recent book titled Yumcious – named after her restaurant in Cape Quarter, Green Point. Take note (and take notes) that the recipes demonstrated on From The Heart cannot be found anywhere online. Record and pause is my advice.

While we’re sitting back in front of the telly, Morris says her main focus at the moment is on culinary tours. She’s been all over the world, sharing her food adventures in person as well as the small screen. China, Thailand and Malaysia are among her favourite destinations, and she’s done some cruising on the high seas.

“I never thought I’d do a river cruise except maybe barging in France, so when the opportunity came up for A Taste Of The Danube, I thought why not?”

The tour includes seven nights on a boat and three in a hotel, from Czech Republic to Passau, to Austria, Hungary and Slovakia before disembarking in Engelhartszell in Passau. With flights, transfers, and various other activities being part of the package, plus some exclusive Jenny Morris experiences, it’s a combination of a structured guided tour with plenty of free time when you’ll be left to your own devices. The next one departs on August 27, 2020. DM

From The Heart premieres on Food Network on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 7.55pm.

For more information about the Danube tour, click here.