Totes Delish!

It's a story made for the movies, really: two sisters with effervescent personalities, printed dresses, matching white Supergas and blood red lipstick…cooking up impossibly delicious food and taking the foodie scene by storm – tropical storm. We sat down with Rebecca (26) and Kate (23) Lund, also known as the now famous Delish Sisters, to reflect on their unbelievable food journey

It all started with play dough and a fake cooking show.

The girls grew up on a sugarcane field north of Ballito, where they watched their mother Kim spend hours in the kitchen baking and cooking. "We would take our play dough and co-host a show. We had no audience, just vivid imaginations. The first thing we made was probably crumpets and our gran's scones," Rebecca laughs as she remembers.

The girls did not cook much during their teenage years at boarding school, but would head straight for the kitchen when they came home. "We lived in such a small, quiet town…there wasn't really much to do to keep busy, so we found cooking was a great way to occupy ourselves. And growing up, the kitchen was where our family did their socialising – we'd all contribute, whether it was chopping onions or washing up. So for us, the kitchen was simply a happy place," says Kate.

The girls would take packages of rusks, biscotti, fudge and carrot cake back to boarding school with them, much to the delight of their peers. "I think then, we knew were onto something," muses Rebecca.

Neither Kate nor Rebecca had any professional cooking aspirations after school; Kate headed into the health and beauty industry while Rebecca studied film and media, interning at Elle Magazine and working at an advertising and copyrighting agency. But the cooking did not stop. They were regularly behind the pots for their housemates. They moved back home in June 2013 and, quite randomly they say, decided to set up a stall at the Wondermarket in Umhlanga. "We came up with such stupid ideas," Rebecca gasps. "Looking back, I can't believe we actually thought some of it would work. But we wanted to try, anyway. We thought it would be the best way to dip our fingers into the foodie industry and see if we liked it."

But first, they needed a name, which came by quite naturally. "We always shortened our words. Like…totes. Perf. And when we tasted anything we liked, it was delish," Kate explains. "There really was no other choice. We were Delish." And, what would they sell? Enter the girls' signature dishes: slow-roasted lamb naan wraps and the double chocolate brownies that turn the world on its axis.

The lamb was apparently a non-negotiable; Kate and Rebecca would request it on their weekends at home because "you don't really get nice meat at boarding school". "Mum would make a slow-roasted lamb salad with spinach and sundried tomato. First, we wanted to put it in a roll and found that too common. We spent a week tasting naans and even tried to make them ourselves. I went through a phase where I paired onion marmalade with everything, so of course it went into the wrap. It was only weeks after we sold our first wraps that we tasted the finished product, mind you," Rebecca is sent into another fit of giggles.

The brownies were an adaptation from a present little sister Julia baked for a friend who had had her wisdom teeth out, so were originally known as 'Julia's Wisdom Brownies'. The girls had tried lemon meringues first but transporting them was a mission, so a brownie sandwiched with caramel (yes, you heard right) was on the menu.

But their first market was an absolute disaster. "It poured with rain and it took us 15 minutes to make a single wrap, so we didn't sell much. But we weren't sad. The other vendors were encouraging, so we tried again. And again. And again, until we hit our first I Heart Market and it went crazy! We actually had a queue and since then, every market we have to turn people away who've been standing and waiting for the wraps. We were like…oh, wow," Kate's face is now bright red with excitement.

An opportunity to set up kitchen at The Ballito House popped up in June last year and the girls took the leap of faith, resigning from their day jobs. "By then, we were deep into markets and using our lunch breaks to cook. I don't think either of us regrets leaving our day jobs, but in the beginning there were moments we wondered if we were doing the right thing," Rebecca looks at Kate with a fond smile. "There was a romanticism about the whole thing, and luckily it's all worked out."

Fast forward six months and the Delish sisters have a new home at The Litchi Orchard, where they have their dream kitchen space and herb garden. "We stop every now and then to reflect; everything happened quite fast," acknowledges Kate.

The girls have found f(l)avour with local bloggers, earning great reviews on The Saltbox, Marketed and even Beauty Box. "I for one will be popping back for more of the same [food], I personally couldn't think of a nicer way to pass a couple of hours," writes Beauty Box. "We were immediately drawn to them because of their amazing food, but they also have the most captivating personalities! If you have met these sisters, you know that they are always smiling, laughing and chatting to everyone. They are beautiful both inside AND out," enthused Marketed.

So, what next? What more could these delightful sisters possibly want? "Well, 2015 is going to be the year of the Delish Cookbook. At least, we hope so. We also want to have pop up lunches or dinners with other smaller business…bands, artists, whatevs. Opening our own space was always the end goal, so now we're just enjoying the ride."

And (I had to ask) what about that TV show, girls?

Cue shrieks and excited hand claps.

"Yes, yes, yes, we'd love it!"

You live together. Do you fight?

KL: No. Well yes. We fought this morning over scrambled eggs…it's always food fights.

RL: As sisters, you're somewhat obliged to love each other (giggle).

Why red lipstick and Supergas? You're so stylish!

KL: We've always loved red lips, they're totes hot. It also makes us look less haggard, like we haven't been slaving in a kitchen all day.

RL: I was in the styling industry…clothes are my thing. We love getting dressed up.

Who's the Kitchen Boss?

KL: Oh dear. Who? (looks at Rebecca)

RL: It changes. Our dad says the only fights we had as littlies were 'you're not the boss of me' fights.

Favourite food?

KL: That changes regularly. Right now, I actually have no idea.

RL: I am LOVING artichokes…dip them in butter. Oh, yes please.

Do you eat your own food?

KL: I'm quite tired of the lamb, honestly. We used to wake up and change the lamb at 2am in the morning…so not the wraps. Uh uh.

RL: We taste while we cook…so yes, kinda.

What's your favourite Delish dish?

KL: Our fennel, soy and tahini pork belly, and mushroom and thyme phyllo cigars.

RL: Our newest dessert: Turkish delight and pistachio cheesecake.