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FORTHCOMING
EVENTS
Saturday 30 October: Lunch at Oep ve Eet at
Paternoster
Sunday 28 November: End of year spit braai at the
home of Stephen and Pat Flesch
Sunday 27 February (provisional): Heritage meal
prepared by Sonia Cabano |
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RECENT EVENTS |
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Annual General Meeting
This was held on Wednesday April 21 at Silwood
Kitchen. The committee was sadly depleted last year,
with the death of Pam Linck, the resignation of
Sharon Ball, and the departure of Kate Schrire and
Pia Taylor, who left us to start the Mother City
Convivium. The remaining committee members, Stephen
Flesch (in the chair), Pat Rademeyer, Lorna von
Besouw and Cecily van Gend were re-elected, and we
welcome two new members, Carianne Wilson and Charne le Roux. David Donald, a suburban bee-keeper,
gave us a fascinating talk on beekeeping and honey,
and this was followed by wine and tapas, prepared by
the students of Silwood.
Annual SA Cheese Festival
This event took place from Saturday, April 24 to
Tuesday, April 27, at Bien Donne in Franschhoek.
Cecily van Gend and Charne le Roux, accompanied by
two Silwood students, went out on the Monday to
present the Slow Cheese Awards. This year, the
following cheeses were deemed worthy of an award:
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JONG BELEGEN BOERENKAAS, made by
Johan van der Poel of Poelkaas, Cullinan. This is a
two- to three-month old light, mild cheese. |
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PECORINO, made by Mauro Delle
Donne of Zandam Italian Cheese in Agter Paarl. It
has a
sweet flavour, excellent texture, and is close to a
classic Pecorino |
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SABLE, made by Estalanie Marais
of La Rochelle Kaas, Hex River Valley: a Grana-
type goat’s cheese with a dry, sandy texture and a
good flavour. |
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ST. CATHERINE’S LOG from Rina
and Norman Belcher of Belnori Boutique Cheesery,
near Bapsfontein in Gauteng: a white-mould goat’s
cheese. |
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GOUDA made by Christo Venter of
Geluksfontein farm, Vaalwater, Limpopo province.
This is a semi-hard goat’s milk cheese. |
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OAK SMOKED CHEESE from Jako van
Beulen of Klein River Cheese, Stanford: a hard
cheese smoked with oak. |
Visit to The Nice Company in Tokai
In a small kitchen in Westlake Business Park,
Cherylle Cowley and her staff make a selection of
delectable ice creams and frozen yoghurts using
classic and traditional ingredients and methods.
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On Saturday, May 22, members visited the company’s
ice-cream making operation. After a talk and
demonstration by Cherylle and her staff, they were
able to taste and buy their delectable ice creams
and frozen yogurts. Cherylle has this to say about
her product:
‘The only difference between our kitchen and one at
home is that we have fast, modern machines to freeze
the ice cream and we can play with it all day long.
So we make ice cream with fresh milk, eggs and cream
cooked to a light custard. |
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We use the best Couverture 70% Chocolate and pure Vanilla Paste. Our
berries for the sorbets and frozen yoghurts come
from the Franschoek Mountains and are healthy enough
to eat for breakfast.
Just because it’s dessert doesn’t mean that ice
cream, sorbet and yoghurts shouldn’t be nutritious
and that’s why we love it and don’t feel a bit
guilty eating it! After all, we use no stabilisers,
‘natural flavours’, or vegetable oils as fillers and
can boast with a gluten free product. TIP: We don’t make convenience food, so you need to
practice a little patience and let your ice cream
thaw a little out of the freezer before serving. A
good way is to put it in the fridge for twenty
minutes or so. Then again, if you can’t wait, some
elbow grease is good exercise. |
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Sausage making workshop
The produce of Rudi's Deli has become a favourite at
the various fresh goods markets in and around Cape
Town. On Saturday 12 June, Silwood Kitchen was the
venue for a demonstration of sausage-making, given
by the owner of the Deli, Willem Viljoen, who showed
members how very simple it is to make sausages at
home. He demonstrated the making of a breakfast
sausage, boerewors and salami. Finally, he described
how to make a home-cured ham.
For those who were not at the workshop, and would
like to have a go at making home-made sausage, here
is his boerewors recipe:
Per 5 kg of sausage:
2 kg beef offcuts (lean brisket, neck, rib)
1 kg pork (shoulder, neck)
1.5 kg back spek
5 Tbs salt
1 Tbs black pepper
1 Tbs white pepper
3 Tbs fine coriander
1 Tbs cloves
1 Tbs nutmeg
Cut meat and fat into blocks. Add spices and mix
very well. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Mince finely or
coarsely. Add 100 ml brown vinegar and 100 ml
Worcester sauce. Stuff thin or thick sausage
casings. Refrigerate overnight. Freeze what will not
be consumed in 7 days.
Once again, the Silwood Kitchen students served a
light lunch of delicious soup and bread after the
demonstration.
Cheese and wine pairing
On Thursday, 29 July, Kobus Mulder of Agri Expo
presented a tasting of seven local cheeses,
accompanied by selected wines. Kobus, affectionately
known as ‘The Big Cheese’ is a highly-respected
cheese expert, who has adjudicated at various
competitions in France, the UK and America. He was
knighted in Paris by the Confrèrie des Chevaliers
du Taste-Fromage de France for his contribution
to popularising French cheese types in Africa. He is
a consultant to local cheeseries and has introduced
many small artisanal cheese makers to the annual
South African Cheese Festival. After the very
entertaining and informative tasting, members
repaired in their own groups to various local
restaurants.
Sensory exploration workshop
Tim Truluck, from the Johannesburg Convivium,
presented a workshop for committee members and
guests from the Mother City Convivium, on Thursday 2
September, at the home of Pat and Adrian Rademeyer.
He introduced participants to the various ways in
which we experience food though our senses. It was
followed by an apple and chocolate tasting, putting
into practice what we had learnt, and then by a
convivial, informal light supper provided by Pat.
Visit to Solms Delta indigenous food garden
We visited the Khoi-Khoin indigenous garden at Solms
Delta wine estate in Franchhoek on Saturday 11
September. In addition to producing fine wines on
the farm, the owners and farm workers have
established a veldkos garden, the Dik Delta Fynbos
Culinary Gardens. The well-known food writer and
Slow Food member, Renata Coetzee, was part of the
planning team for the garden, and a team of Solms-Delta
gardeners is responsible for the garden’s design and
maintenance.
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The lives of the Cape’s first settlers, the Khoi
nomads, who arrived in the valley around 2000 years
ago, revolved around some 400 plant species that
nourished them and cured their ailments. Most are
now under threat of extinction. The 2-hectare garden
is a small but productive land parcel that, over the
past 320 years, has been used for grazing, fruit
production, and most recently, as a dumping ground.
It is now planted with many of the edible veldkos
plants. Slow members were conducted on a walk
through the garden, accompanied by one of the
workers, who described the plants and their uses.
The farm also has a herd of fat-tailed sheep, and
Nguni cattle. Also on the farm is the Museum van de
Caab, which documents the archaeological history of
the farm.
The walk was followed by a lunch at Fyndraai
restaurant, featuring some of the traditional plants
used by the Khoi in their food. When the restaurant
opened on the estate, its brief was to draw from the
Cape’s food traditions: Afrikaner boerekos (18th
Century Old Cape fare influenced by Dutch, French,
German and slave practices), was mixed with
ingredients first used by the Khoi. |
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ROBERT VON TOBIEN
Slow members will recall the wonderful outing to Tulbagh last
year, when we visited Kimilili Farm, where Robert von Tobien
showed us round his cheesemaking operation and introduced us to
his excellent range of cheeses. We were saddened to hear of his
death from leukaemia some time ago. Valerie Elder, of the Real
Cheese in Observatory, who knew him well, has written this
eulogy for him:
Robert von Tobien has left us. What an enormous loss for us on a
physical level: copious tears have been shed and the space now
unfilled is enormous. He has left a magnificent legacy, however:
Kimilili Farm near Tulbagh, producing world-class cheese in fine
organic style. He has left us a new generation of cheese makers,
innovative and fired with his enthusiasm and spirit, so really
he has not left us at all.
Robert was a remarkable man, changing direction from high
finance in New York to answer the call of farming in his blood.
Seeing opportunities that no one else did, he fell in love with
Tulbagh: the mountains, the people and, last but not least, his
charges – the precious Jerseys that gave his cheese its essence.
What a battle he waged against heat, pasture, water and skills
development, but he succeeded and that is what we must remember.
He was born in Germany and grew up with a strong sense of
adventure. His family had marketing connections and previous
generations had farming in their blood. Love of cheese came from
many visits to the excellent cheese emporiums in New York and
the style of cheese made at Kimilili is distinctly German.
Leukaemia took Robert from us ahead of lots of new ideas and
goals, but thankfully the end came quickly. My life has been
enriched by knowing this generous, gentle, kind, considerate man
with his soft voice and slight lilt. Rest in peace, Robert. We
miss you.
You can shed tears that he is gone or you can smile because he
has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that he’ll come back or you can
open your eyes and see all he’s left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him or you can be
full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday or you can
be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him and only that he’s gone or you can cherish
his memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back or
you can do what he would want; smile, open your eyes, love and
go on. |
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BOOK REVIEW |
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Justice Kamanga: TASTES OF AFRICA.
Random House Struik
Malawian chef Justice Kamanga has worked in various foreign embassies in
South Africa, and is now based in Cape Town where he
caters in private homes.
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Africa is a
melting pot of cultures, and in this cookbook Kamanga
introduces the culinary traditions of both the
indigenous inhabitants of the continent, and those of
the many foreign settlers from Asia, Europe and the
Middle East. The recipes include starters, fish, meat,
vegetarian and side dishes, and end with desserts and a
selection of breads. The fusion of flavours is subtle
and intriguing, blending the spicy and the colourful in
a tantalising selection of dishes. The ingredients are
readily available, the recipes easy to prepare, and
accompanied by mouthwatering photographs. I tried making
his carrot pudding, which went down very well with my
family. I am also dying to try some of his fish recipes.
This would be a wonderful addition to the cookbook shelf
in any kitchen, as well as being a great gift for
visitors to our shores. |
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Sonia Cabano: EASY SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS
Random House Struik
Sonia Cabano is a former model turned chef, who trained
in London at such well-known restaurants as Anthony
Worrall-Thompson’s Bistro 190, Rowley Leigh’s Kensington
Place, Justin de Blank’s and Blacks in Soho.
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Africans became acquainted with her warm and vibrant
personality on the popular TV show, Van Pampoen to
Perlemoen, screened on SABC3. This is her second
cookbook, inspired by the many requests she received for
fast, easy and healthy recipes. It is divided into four
sections: ‘Fresh’, to detox and recharge; ‘Fast’,
offering quick and easy gourmet meals; ‘Lazy’, to wind
down and celebrate with minimum effort; and ‘Staples’,
how to stock the larder.
The emphasis is on freshness,
and throughout the book there is evidence of her belief
that every mealtime should be a celebration. I have
tried her spiced chicken livers with creamy
lemon-parsley dressing, also her Chinese pork, cashews
and pineapple with steamed greens and rice – both with
great success. There are many more equally imaginative
and tempting. |
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