Compared to most chefs, Johan may have had a bit of a late start, only entering the industry when he was 28. He started out as a chef at a chateau in France, where he fondly remembers the time spent wandering through the kitchen garden, a basket of vegetables and herbs on his forearm, carefully picking fresh produce for the day. These days, Johan heads up the kitchen at Vrede en Lust Estate’s Lust Bistro & Bakery, cooking and baking (make sure that you taste the sourdough!) fresh and fuss-free fare at one of the most renowned eateries in the foodie centre of Franschhoek.

To celebrate the month of love, and our true love of chocolate, we challenged chef Johan to create a savoury choccy dish just for us. And my-oh-my were we happy when he laid this Mexican favourite in front of us. He made a bold (and genius!) move by adding rich dark chocolate to his chicken mole and serving them on a bed of nachos, topped with cheese and baked in the wood-burning pizza oven. Need we say anymore?

Take a look at what we got up to on shoot day and get Chef Westley’s heavenly rich recipe in the February issue of MyKitchen, on sale now at Spar, Clicks, Exclusive Books, Van Schaik Bookstore, Engen, BP, Caltex and Total.

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