Cup cakes have taken South Africa and Cape Town by storm.
Established bakeries, home producers, wedding cake makers, food stylists and pastry chefs across South Africa can’t keep up with the demand for them. And, it seems, you have to order ahead most of the time, as they are best eaten freshly made.
Jacqui Biess, of Charly’s [...]
Yotam Ottolenghi got his masters in philosophy at the University of Tel Aviv and became a journalist on a daily newspaper.
He threw it all in, presumably after philosophising about it, and came to London and trained as a pastry chef in some of London’s top restaurants, including Rowly Leighs’ Kensington Place.
He then opened a series of [...]
Posted in Cook Book Review 
Tags: belgravia, brocolli, carrots, chilli, dessert, exotic dishes, figs, garlic, garlic tart, honey, islington, kensington, lemon, mediterranean, nigella lawson, notting hill, ottolenghi cookbook, persnips, philosophy, plenty, pomegranate, random house, rasberry peach, root vegetable, sababa, seapoint, tea cakes, university of tel aviv, vegetarian, yotam ottolenghi 
7 Comments read more »
How on earth do you do a taste test on mineral water? Don’t they all taste the same? and are colourless and odourless?
Well that might be the view, but I was going to do one anyway, and I came up with a few surprises along the way.
The top three surprises I came across were;
1. You might [...]
As the Marmite website says, you either love it or hate it.
Hundreds of thousands of homesick Brits will have stocked up for the footie game against Germany, as this is the most quintessential of British foods.Some say it is more British than a Queen, or even a cup of tea.
Made from yeast paste provided by the beer brewing [...]
The Nook Eatery is one of those indispensable places that every city, little town and village in South Africa should have.
Everything is homemade, organic or free range wherever possible, freshly made in their own kitchens and served up by staff that seem to care about what they do.
That makes a difference. You need to be [...]
Posted in Restaurants Tags: apples and ginga compote, baked eggs, bean salad, breakfast, buffet, cape town, cherries, cinnamon, coffee, creme fraiche, cricket bat, delicious, establishment, flapjacks, freerange, french toast, freshly naked croissants, green salad, gruyere cheese, homemade, kitchens, lamb bobotie, latte, lemon, maple syrup, mushroom, nook eatery, organic, roast vegetables, ryneveld street, smoothie, south africa, stellenbosch, trust, wild rocket 3 Comments read more »
Where were you born?
I am glad to say that I am born South African, and proudly from here (Hiervandaan)
How long have you been in your present job?
Just over a year and six months
What is your favourite dish to cook?
My interest lies in more than one specific dish, but if had to choose, it would definitely [...]
Posted in Chef's Chat Tags: aubergine restaurant, beef, bon appetit, cape town, chef, Chef's Chat, chicke, favourite dish, favourite food, Fyndraai Restaurant, job, kitchen, Malay Dishes, mutton breyani, passion for food, pastry dishes, pilot, potato, Shaun Schoeman, Solms-Delta, soup, South African, stew, wine, Wine Estate, workplace 1 Comment read more »
This is the ultimate Too Tired to Cook choice for anyone who is too busy or too tired to rustle up a tasty nourishing meal on a winter’s evening.
I came across Richard Chamberlain on the recommendation of a friend and visited his kitchens in Mowbray.
A reassuring aroma of delicious home cooking smells assailed my nostrils as I went up [...]
Posted in Niblets., The Producers., Too Tired to Cook Tags: anchovy, aroma, butternut, cape malay, caterer, catering supply, chicken, chicken curry, chopping, coq au vin, corporate events, delicious, delivered, dinner parties, duck, good value, goulash, hearty meals, hive of activity, home cooked food, home made soup, hungarian, ingredients, kitchen, lasagne, leek and potato, lentil, main courses, minestrone, mixing, morrocan chicpea, mowbray, ostrich bobotie, out of this planet catering, pea and ham soup, prepacked sauces, sauce, serving, smells, spinach, stirring, tasty nourishing meal, tomato and basil, vegetable, weddings 2 Comments read more »
This is the crown jewel in the South African wine festival calendar.
The 9th annual Stellenbosch Wine Festival is running this year from July 1st to 5th. There are 140 wine farms in Stellenbosch and this year 57 will be participating in the festival.
Visiting it couldn’t be easier. Shuttle buses will transport you from 9 park and [...]
Casa Labia Cafe is situated in one of the most ornate and Venetian inspired interiors that exist in Cape Town.
Cherubs chase each other across the ceiling, paintings of Count’s and Countesses’ adorn the walls.
A wooden floor offsets the chandeliers, furniture, mirrors, colours and style, all Italian inspired.
It’s pretty dazzling. There are a number of rooms [...]
A young British entrepreneur had the bright idea of selling wines in single serve portions in plastic stemmed wine glasses with foil tops.
The single serve, he reasoned, would be attractive to people who didn’t want to open a whole bottle, and just wanted one glass. It would also be attractive to people having picnics, going [...]
It’s all about hands on experiences. Turn flour into bread , cream into butter, milk into cream, wine and food pairings galore and how about some bubbles, charcuterie and chocolate? Oh, yes please.
It’s a Franschhoek Affair, and it takes place next weekend on June 25th,26th and 27th.
There’s a huge amount of activity taking place over the [...]
There I was, wheeling my trolley around the aisles of Woolworths, minding my own business.
When when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a gold foil wrapped cheese sitting behind the glass cabinet.
I swung abruptly and skidded to a halt, and stared at the round of cheese, and yes, there it was, in all its [...]
An accomplished chef opens a little French Bistro in a small two room restaurant in downtown Stellenbosch. It has a pretty courtyard, and the day I was there, the lemon tree hung heavy with fruit in the crisp, blue skied, Autumnal air.
A recipe for success?
Yes, if the chef is Christophe Dehosse, yes if his style [...]
Look, I’m going to tell you the real reason I bought these two bottles of wine.
I liked the labels. Yes, clean, simple, elegant labels.
There, I’ve said it.
I’m not the first person to buy a wine based on the look of the label, and I won’t be the last.
The good news is that both of these [...]
Kalaharituber Pfeilii – The gold of the desert.
Kalahari truffles are in season right now, and it’s your chance to buy some of these delicious goodies and discover their subtle, nutty, earthy taste.
I bought four chunky ones a few days ago in Melissas and they cost R38. That’s not bad when you consider that that made four [...]
Food pairing with wine and beer is as accepted by consumers as something so natural that there’s no need to even think twice about it. But with brandy? Who would have ever thought of that? Well actually, it’s a completely normal, if not a well known way to pair food.
It also allows you to experiment with [...]
Di Marshall set up Wonki Ware pottery in George in 1999. A former advertising executive, she decided to follow her dream and pottery was, and still is, her passion.
He ambition was to manufacture environmentally friendly pottery, hand made by local skilled and trained craftspeople. Starting with one employee she now employs 35 people and exports [...]
La Colombe and The River Cafe get all the attention at Constantia Uitsig.
One is 12th in the world; the other has had a flash makeover and garnered a lot of admiring comments. The third restaurant, Constantia Uitsig Restaurant is, by and large, overlooked.
It’s like Cinderella in reverse; two belles of the ball and a third [...]
This book tells a dark tale of pink margarine, fake tea leaves and flavour injections.
Bad food has a history and this book’ Swindled ‘recounts it’s dark history.
It’s a mix of food politics, history and culinary detective work. The author Bee Wilson uncovers the many methods by which swindlers have tampered with our food down through [...]
I’ve put myself in the shoes of a football supporter who has travelled to Cape Town for the World Cup and the question is WHERE TO GO TO EAT? Or to put it another way, where to go to get the best Nosh for less Dosh?
I’m been working on compiling this list for a while [...]
 |  |  |  |
