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By PatR, March 1, 2010 5:19 am

The next Slow Food Community Market, Lansdowne, takes place on

Sat 6^th March at  Lansdowne Methodist Church, No 1 Prince Arthur Road Lansdowne.

Time: 10am to 3pm
Organic vegetables, herbs and plants will be on sale.

Handmade jams, prepared curry mixes for chicken and meat, mango pickles made from
Perveen’s traditional family recipes.

Madhuri’s range of pure vegetarian hot food and snacks.
Delectable cakes, filter coffee, handmade sweets using quality
ingredients, there will be many more!
Saving electricity? On sale will be hotboxes (cooking boxes). Bring your
meat stews up to the boil on the stove then transfer to the cooking box.
3 hours later it will be done and you won’t have to worry about burning
the meat while you do your gardening or any other creative activity!
Contact : Petrina 021 761 2373 or menngos@mweb.co.za / Sheena 021 761
5411  or Perveen 021 697 2410

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By PatR, February 19, 2010 8:04 am

Slow Food Snail Trail

Newsletter of the Cape Town Convivium

Number 76, February 2010

Wine harvest and treading at Joostenberg SATURDAY 13th  MARCH.

08h30 for 09h00

To celebrate our ninth birthday this year, our traditional, wine harvest takes place at this excellent family owned wine estate in the Paarl wine region. Winemaker Tyrrel Myburgh will supervise our picking and turn the juice into wine when we have trodden it.

We should gather at 08h30 and after a welcoming cup of coffee or tea we will make for the vineyards at 9 sharp to pick the grapes. Nearer the time the grape variety will be determined – depending on what is ripe then. Bring hats, sun-cream and secateurs if you have them.

When the grapes have been picked we will tread them in the traditional way – shorts would be suitable for this.

Afterwards we will enjoy a traditional harvest brunch provided by Anette Myburgh. This will be buffet style in the historic Joostenberg manor house. There is limited seating at outdoor tables but not enough for everyone so you have a choice of bringing blankets to picnic on the grass or providing your own tables and chairs. Plates, cutlery and glasses will be provided and white wines will be available for purchase from the farm.

The Neethlingshof Pinotage which we made in 2008 will be available to sample and for purchase at R300 per box of six. Those of you who are not able to be present but would like to order some of this wine please let Lorna know and deposit the necessary amount into our bank account.

MENU

Fresh croissants served with preserves and butter

Farm fresh breads

Spinach and feta quiche

A selection of fresh fruit

Yoghurt

Cold meats, terrine and cheese platters

Fresh fruit juice and water

The cost for the day including the brunch is R120 for members and R140 for guests.

Children will be welcome at no charge but you should provide food for them yourself. If you would like to book for the brunch for your children, the full amount per person will be payable. The deadline for bookings is Tuesday March 9. When booking please post your payment or deposit it to Cape Town Slow Food at FNB, Grassy Park, code 203109, account number 62023929378. When doing this please put your name as a reference on the deposit slip. Please do not deposit cash. Contact Lorna van Besouw as usual (see below).

DIRECTIONS: From Cape Town proceed on the N1 and exit left at the first turnoff to Stellenbosch which is the R304. After leaving the highway turn left on the R304 (northwards) and very soon after this the dirt road to Joostenberg is off to the right.

Date for your Diary:

April – Wednesday 21 – Annual General meeting at Silwood School of Cookery preceded by a talk  by David Donald on beekeeping and honey.

Cape Town Slow Food Convivium: Hon. Secretary/Treasurer Lorna van Besouw,

3 Lutgens Road, Rondebosch, 7700. Telephone 685 1197. Fax 685 1577.

E-mail vbesouw@iafrica.com Website www.slowfoodcapetown.co.za

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By admin, September 18, 2009 1:15 pm

Newlands Village is establishing itself as a centre for exciting and unusual food and wine shops, eateries and bakeries. Two recent additions are both adherents of the Slow philosophy.

Sonia Cabana, the well known chef and presenter of the TV programme Pampoen tot Perlemoen is to open a fine food shop, café and small bakery in the Dean Street Arcade. Sonia lived in Britain and Europe for twelve years before returning to Cape Town and received her chef’s training at, among other establishments, Anthony Worrall-Thompson’s Bistrot 190, Rowley Leigh’s Kensington Place, Justin de Blank and Blacks Soho. Her emphasis will be on organic and environmentally friendly products.

At Montebello, off Newlands Avenue, there is a new café and organic deli: Kwalapa. They serve breakfasts and light lunches and stock a range of organic and eco-friendly products. The day I went, they had, amongst other things, a range of fabulous-looking mushrooms – varieties I had never before seen in this country – also beautiful little baby beets, kohl rabi, free-range eggs, and pork sausages.

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By admin, September 13, 2009 1:12 pm

Petrina Robert’s community market
This is a small market by modern standards, but has the charming feel of a community working together. Held in the Methodist church hall in Lansdowne, Petrina has brought together producers of a mix of food, fresh produce, and handmade articles.

Vegetables are fresh, organically-grown, and very reasonably priced. I bought leeks, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, turnips and spinach.

It is well worth supporting this monthly venture, usually held on the first Saturday of the month at the Lansdowne Methodist Church, No.1 Prince Arthur Road, Lansdowne (at the foot of the Lansdowne Bridge). Contact Petrina Roberts at 021 7612373 or e-mail:menngos@mweb.co.za.

Next market: Saturday 30 January 2010

Vyge Vallei Fresh Produce Market

This is the farm stall on the West Coast road on the way to Churchaven. They are open on the last Saturday of the month, from 9:00 to 14:00. Stop for a farm breakfast, and stock up on very good home-made bread, home-made cheeses, freshly-ground rye flour, gourmet mushrooms, home-made preserves and local wines.

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By admin, February 11, 2009 12:40 pm

Kate Schrire recently visited Eric on his farm, and chatted to him about his outlook.

Eric Swarts has been a farmer all his life. “I love being outside. I’d rather be out in the heat and the rain than in an office,” he says with a grin.

Born on a farm, and with many years’ experience in conventional citrus, berry and apple farming, he now has his own farm, on the Spier Estate, outside Stellenbosch. As part of their commitment to emerging farmers, Spier leases the land from the municipality, which Eric has since turned into fertile, organic farmland. His produce is certified organic by Afrisco, and he farms using permaculture principles. He farms a range of vegetables, which he sells at the Natural and Organic Farmers’ Market, directly to locals-in-the-know, and to commercial packing houses. He also provides practical training to post-graduate students in sustainable agriculture at the neighbouring Sustainability Institute.

Although his earlier agricultural training was all on conventional farms, “I got fed up with using chemicals,” he said. “We’d spray, and the next day harvest fruit. I felt it was dangerous (for consumers)”. At the time, he was using homeopathic medicines, which led him to consider traditional methods. “How did our forefathers farm for thousands of years without chemicals?” he asks rhetorically. “Very successfully. But after the Green Revolution, suddenly we can’t do it without chemicals? I wanted… to go back”. When he first started farming at Spier in 1999, organic agriculture was only just emerging locally, and Eric felt it offered an opportunity to specialise in a new type of produce, rather than competing with established, commercial farmers.

Eric has ten hectares of land, but through crop rotation, has only 5 ½ to 7 hectares under cultivation at one time. He hires three local workers – all women – year-round, and more hands during the harvest, when he can afford it. Ideally, he’d like to employ ten workers, but this is not economically viable. When asked why he has an all-woman workforce, he burst into laughter and said, “Women work harder”. His family – three daughters and a wife – might have something to do with that, too!

Eric follows permaculture principles wherever possible, and defines it as a system where “everything must have more than one purpose”. As an example, he cites his windbreak hedge of indigenous shrubs, which not only shelters crops from the area’s strong winds, but also encourages the presence of indigenous birds, insects and other animals, important players in a permaculture ecosystem. He buys only open-pollinated seeds, in the hope that he will with time be able to save all his own seed, and be more self-sufficient. He also practices companion planting, and his fields of hubbard squash currently sway with sunflowers, a beautiful example of this policy.

Eric recently went on a trip to India, sponsored by the Sustainability Institute, to visit small scale farmers. He was very impressed by their small, productive polyculture farms, and has put into practice at his own farm several of the things he learnt on his trip. “In situ compost is one thing I learnt in India,” he says, explaining that weeds that are pulled out of the fields shouldn’t be moved to distant compost heaps, but are best left lying where they were pulled in the field, where their green matter will break down more quickly into the soil, nourishing the crops and saving unnecessary labour.

Something else he brought back from India – an understanding of the importance of domestic animals in the lifecycle of the farm. He applied to a program at the University of the Eastern Cape, and they have since provided him with trained oxen to plough his fields and help with the weeding. “And the oxen also provide kraal manure onsite. I can start closing the circle, and get everything I need from the farm,” Eric says with satisfaction.

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By admin, February 11, 2009 12:37 pm

CSA BOX SCHEME

Slow Food Cape Town, in conjunction with the Ethical Co-Op and the Sustainability Institute, has inaugurated a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) Box Scheme from February to the end of April.

A CSA is a partnership between an agricultural or artisan producer and a group of consumers. The consumers sponsor the production of a specific crop or product at the beginning of the CSA, and during the season, the producer responds with frequent reports on that crop’s development and growth, and the consumers can visit the producer to learn more about how crop is grown, and even help with the harvest.

The harvest is divided between all the members during the course of the season. We have established a mixed organic vegetable CSA, grown by farmer Eric Swarts, which will be divided among all participants in box scheme format (i.e. every week during the season you receive a box of mixed vegetables).

The response has been extremely enthusiastic, with the scheme being fully subscribed within days of the notice going out to members.

The point of running a CSA (and a cornerstone of the Slow Food ethos) is to reconnect consumers with agricultural producers, and make urban dwellers aware of the lifecycles implicit in growing and producing the food we eat.

The Ethical Co-Op is an online cooperative which sells ethically produced food and household products. www.ethical.org.za.

The Sustainability Institute is a non-profit trust and living and learning centre, focusing on studies and experience in ecology, community and spirit. www.sustainabilityinstitute.net.

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By admin, February 10, 2009 12:31 pm

Stephen Flesch was recently invited to address the Institute for Mindfulness, South Africa at a lunch held at 96 Winery Road restaurant. They wanted to know what Slow Food was about. It proved an interesting experience, as he describes below:

Their definition: “Mindfulness is paying attention from moment to moment with an attitude of non-judgement, curiosity and openness.” This was the first time that they had gathered for a meal, since most of their meetings involve discussions or meditation, or both. There is a distinct Buddhist flavour to their philosophy.

We started with a light amuse bouche of home-made hummus and pepperdew dips with organic fresh vegetables and home-baked bread. Then Julie Mackintosh, a therapeutic dietician, led us through a meditation on the first course. This was warm Haloumi with sweet chili and caramelised nuts and a garnish of rocket. Silently we looked at it, then smelled it, listened to it, felt its texture and finally put it onto our tongues and let our tongues feel it before tasting and swallowing it.

During the pause before the main course (a choice between mushroom Tart Tatin and roasted Elgin free range chicken) I told them about Slow Food and its core manifesto of Good, Clean and Fair. It was apparent that there is a lot of synchronicity between the attitudes of the two bodies.

After the main course we all silently trooped outside for a slow mindful walk in the garden and vineyards before the dessert of strawberry pancakes with a white chocolate parfait.

The Slow message was well received and at 17h00 we left what had been a most enjoyable and interesting lunch.

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By admin, February 9, 2009 12:32 pm

In 2008, past Head Snail Jos Baker paid a visit to Slovenia. She recounts some of her experiences:

The snail plays a large part in Slovenian cuisine. Not on plates – I wasn’t offered snails on my gourmand tour of that delightful country, though frogs’ legs are a delicacy – but still-life snails carved on restaurant doors and lintels, or proudly displayed on menus. For Slow Food is alive and well in Slovenia, where its symbol is synonymous with a return to culinary roots in an invitingly updated form.

When I was invited on a seven-day food and wine tour of Slovenia, I confess I needed an atlas to locate it. I found the chicken-shaped country (all of 20.273 km2 in extent), tucked between Austria, Italy and Croatia. You can drive from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea in 45 minutes.

This small area offers a “boutique” culinary experience: a little of everything to please the palate, while making the most of fresh ingredients – from forest berries (mouth-tingling in sorbets with lemon balm) to figs (irresistible in a chocolate coating).

Slovenia gained independence only in 1991 and had already assimilated diverse culinary influences from across its newly defined borders. In many instances the border is simply a road or river; and in the case of winemaking, vineyards can be officially in Italy, but if the winery is in Slovenia, the wine is classified as Slovenian.

Each region boasts its own traditional recipes, retaining the past while absorbing new trends. There’s an enviable plethora of prsut (Prosciutto) perfectly cured and sliver-thin, which came to the Karst region centuries ago from neighbouring Friuli and Venice.

Dumplings are widespread, but as deliciously different struklji: a hundred varieties with fillings that vary from tarragon, cheese or mint, to olives, walnuts, apples and cinnamon, depending on region. References to struklji concerning types of dough, stuffing and ways of preparation date back to the 16th century.

Kranjska pork sausages are so fine that they pleased the palate of Emperor Franz Josef, who, on his way from Vienna to Trieste, stopped at an inn in the region for refreshment. Told that there was nothing on the menu but “regular sausages”, the emperor tasted the offering and exclaimed: “This is no regular sausage. This is kransky sausage!”

Over the centuries this prime product was adulterated, but since 2004, when a group of concerned Slovenians met in the House of Culinary Art Jezersek in Sora, standards have been protected by annual evaluations of kranjska klobasa. The title “best kranjska of the current year” is very much in keeping with Slow Food tradition.

Delectable pastries set culinary standards: traditional Prekmurska gibanica (layer cake from the Prekmurian region) has been the most popular Slovenian pastry for centuries. Served at Christmas or other festive occasions, it’s utterly indulgent, layering phyllo pastry with fillings of apple, walnut, cottage cheese (raisins are a recent addition) and poppy seed on a shortbread base.

The pastry is unique, protected by letters patent to ensure the recipe is not changed in any way. Producers must apply for a certificate entitling them to use the brand name. (Home baking is not restricted: if you want to try your hand, I have the recipe!)

Vanilla cream slices are one of the main tourist attractions of idyllic Bled, vying in appeal with an Alpine lake sheltered by mountains. Here gondola- like boats (pletna) take visitors to a fairy-tale island complete with church and a wishing bell said to grant the wish of anyone who can make it peal three times. The feather-light pastry dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when a local baker’s son brought back a notebook filled with recipes he’d learned as an apprentice in Austria and Germany. His success lay in lightening the original version, which he considered over-sweet and too heavy. Not only did I try a slice (and bring back the recipe), but my hotel was on the shores of the lake, overlooking the island.

Restaurants vary from sophisticated five-star hotel venues to small eateries whose unpretentious exteriors give no hint of the slow riches within. But to English-speaking visitors, menus are a minefield.

What Sirova zafrk(n)jaca means – let alone how to pronounce it, boggles the mind and tongue, and as for Zabeljeni hmeljevi vrsicki… best not attempted. Fortunately most waiters speak English (a second language and taught in schools) and travelling with a guide is the stress-free, sit-back-and-relax option. Especially if he’s on the cover of the Slovenian FHM that month, as mine was!

It’s not only the cuisine that appeals. There are three distinct wine-growing regions, differing in microclimate, soil and viticultural tradition. Wine-tasting is a journey of discovery. Though you’ll find classics like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, many of the grape varieties – Rebula and Teran being about the only ones I dared pronounce – are unfamiliar to South African palates.

Highlights? Difficult to pinpoint as the country offers such variety. My mental flashbacks extend from the fresh market in the fascinating old town of capital city Ljubljana to the brooding Alps; quaint villages on hills, clustered round a church; watching harvesting in the northernmost saltpans in the Med using methods dating back to the fourteenth century; the mediaeval town of Piran reminiscent of Venice (you can see the Italian coastline from the seafront); breathtaking gold and copper autumn leaves in virgin forest and limpid turquoise rivers so unlike our brown mountain streams.

This as a background to a Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner in an inn up a winding mountain road cloaked in mist (memorable goose pate with fig topping); my first meal in Slovenia, infused with love and warmth by a chef who epitomised Slow Food (black truffles a perfect combo with polenta and potatoes) and lunch in a restaurant in a converted castle guarding an island in a lake, where a creamy soup of beech leaves and cottage cheese made music and lunch lasted well into the afternoon…

My tour was arranged by Insider’s Slovenia, a tour company specialising in upmarket tours in Slovenia, tailored to individual needs. For more information, see www.insiders-slovenia.com