I’ve always had a soft spot for Tamasin Day-Lewis and her cookery books.
I just love the way she approaches food and have found her recipes in her previous cookery books easy to follow and always resulting in a great outcome. Yes, she is Daniel Day-Lewis’s sister and she grew up in Ireland, which are both [...]
This was a marketing meeting I would like to have sat in on.
I can imagine the scene – A few young guys at a rough hewn long wooden table at their HQ in the Natte Valleij near Klapmuts.
“We need to get people to drink more wine!” says, one, probably the GT Gt Grandson of Paul Kruger.
“Yes, [...]
Borruso’s on Campground Road, Rondebosch, is one of those institutions that feels as if it’s been around for ever. (1994 actually).
It’s a family place, where on a busy weekend night you’ll see loud groups of family and friends tucking into pizzas with gusto.
To sum up my experience, you go here for the pizza, not the [...]
Wine Concepts, with branches in Newlands and on Kloof Street, will host their 8th annual Seductive Sauvignon festival this Friday, August 27th, from 5 to 9pm.
It will be held in the salubrious surroundings of one of my favourite hotels, The Vineyard Hotel and Spa, in Newlands. If you get a chance, check out the pool there, [...]
Where were you born?
In the Southern Suburbs in Cape Town.
How long have you been in your present job?
12 Years.
What is your favourite dish to cook?
I would say anything that is offal, and I love cooking risotto.
What is your favourite dish to eat?
Fresh seafood. I love whole plate sized fish such as black cod, red roman [...]
Congratulations to all our entrants for this competition, and we had a lot of them.
But sadly, only six can win, and it was tough picking out just six.
Here are the winning entries.
We will be in contact seperately by e.mail to sort out delivery etc.
Well done again everyone.
Clare. xxx
Glenda Nevill.
Dear Spill
The thing is, I take care [...]
The first thing you notice when you walk in to Reuben’s in Franschhoek is the bar counter top.
It’s made from the wing of a DC3 aircraft. The aluminium has been polished to a shine and it really is a thing of beauty. You just want to caress its smooth cold shinyness with you hand. What’s this [...]
As Spill announced three weeks ago, Reuben Riffel is opening at the One and Only Cape Town.
With the termination of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze on July 30th, much admired and talented Chef Reuben will take over the 170 seater restaurant at the Waterfront hotel.
The hall mark of Reuben’s cooking is fantastic punchy flavours jumping off the [...]
Posted in Niblets., Restaurants 
Tags: blue cheese and tomato jam tarts, chef reuben, chilli squid, exciting plating, franschhoek, fresh local produce, Gordon Ramsay, lamb shanks with waterblommetjies, Maze, One and Only, one and only cape town, reuben riffel, sol kerzner, spill, tomato soup, waterfront hotel 
5 Comments read more »
I love bubbly, sparkling wine or as the French call it, champagne. I’ve tasted some that have done nothing for me, and some I have positively disliked.
For the wine of the week this week I decided to highlight one of my favourite bubblies.
It’s Graham Beck’s Brut, Non Vintage.
I’ve drunk my fair share of bubbly everywhere. From [...]
Posted in Wines of The Week Tags: barack obama, brut, champagne, chardonnay, graham beck, nelson mandela, non vintage, pinot noir, Robertson., South African, spanish cava, sparkling wine, usa 2 Comments read more »
I published a post a while ago on the valuable learning I got when doing a taste taste with bottled waters.
Read the post here. http://www.spill.co.za/tast-test/taste-test-mineral-water/2088/
Apart from the fact that some the bottled waters are not actually mineral water (tap water which has been bottled), and that you could poison yourself slowly drinking the stuff, the [...]
Cold smoking is a cooking method used to preserve and enhance food. It is a delicate process, requiring know how and high quality ingredients.
It is different from hot smoking, which ‘cooks’ the food at a high temperature over a short period of time.
With cold smoking the temperature stays in the 20’s or early 30’s, and [...]
For Reuben Riffel, food is time travel.
As he says; “It is a vehicle that has the power, through smells, tastes, colours and shapes, to take us back to another time”.
His upbringing has shaped this remarkable chef in a very profound way.
He explains, “Food evokes memory and emotion like nothing else, especially when these are connected [...]
Bos, organic rooibos ice tea.
No preservatives, no colourants, no caffeine.
Comes in lemon, apple, peach and natural flavours.
Does exactly what it says on the tin.
A cool tea, with a cool taste, in a cool can.
This is the new range of ice teas called Bos.
Rooibos is the primary ingredient in all these Bos teas.
This range is made [...]
It’s not every day you get to do a cooking class at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek.
This was the first restaurant to put South African cuisine on the international map.
Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to spend the morning being guided by their culinary concierge, Annemarie Steenkamp, through a cooking class called ‘South [...]
Posted in Cooking Classes. Tags: annemarie steenkamp, biltong, biltong chips, buchu gnocchi, chef margot janse, coriander, deluxe kitchen, dutch settlers, franschhoek, haut espoir, kudu meat, Le quartier francais, margot janse, moreson, rob armstrong, south african cuisine, south african flavours, south african snack 2 Comments read more »
South Africa seems to throb with wine snobs and critics who baulk at the prospect of sipping a wine which costs under R40. Well, I have news for those winos, I just got to taste 8 wines under R40 and they were smashing.
Mike Bampfield Duggan from Wine Concepts was the very man to find these [...]
It’s a sunny Saturday, and a morning truffling in Franschhoek bookshops with friends is concluded with a long leisurely lunch at Cafe Bon Bon.
Well, that was the plan.
The end result turned out a little differently.
A leisurely lunch descended into a drama filled farce, and the book buying resulted in less of Elizabeth David first editions, and more [...]
Where were you born?
I was born in Riversdale, in the Western Cape due to the fact that my hometown Heidelberg did not have a hospital in the 80’s. I grew up on a farm just outside of this small town, and enjoyed every moment. I believe growing up on the farm has influenced and shaped [...]
Pepper, lots of berries, chocolatey.
Yum!
R69 Cellar door.
This cookery book is by Ruth Watson. I have a soft spot for Ruth. I love her recipes and I really like they way she writes them up. I feel she is chatting to me like an old friend.
Ruth has an interesting background. She ran a hotel and restaurant for many years in Britain.
It was [...]
I have a secret that I would like to share with all the lovely readers and supporters of this blog.
I have discovered the most amazing eggs in Cape Town. They are called, very appropriately,Happy Eggs . These little golden wonder orbs are laid every day by very happy chickens, clucking their way around [...]
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