The Silly Season has arrived early this year and I’ve been very busy. I was thrilled to win the Galliova Award for the Digital Content Creator 2023 recently. I was judged on my best recipes featuring eggs and chicken over the last year. The Awards were held at the lovely Chorus Restaurant on Waterkloof Estate and I was literally blown away. Honoured to have been awarded amongst an amazingly talented lineup of Food writers and stylists.
I’m in the throes of producing a few Christmas recipes which will be published in the next month, so stay tuned. I finally got around to writing about my trip to Spain. First, about some of the delicious food I fell in love with, then about the highlights from Madrid and Barcelona. I hope you enjoy my pictures and recommendations about where to eat. It was such a delicious trip and compiling these posts made me wish I could go back and eat it all again.
New recipes
Pear blue cheese & walnut salad with a maple vinaigrette
I updated this classic recipe of mine because it’s just so simple and delicious. The dressing adds a pop of sweetness and pulls it all together. It’s a great all-round vinaigrette.
Classic South African unbaked milk tart
I shared a reel for my favourite unbaked milk tart and made it into one large tart. The reel went viral on TikTok with 3.3 Million views and still climbing. It attracted a bit of controversy but I’m so thrilled that this favourite recipe of mine reached so many people. I think it was that jiggle in the first second that did it.
Classic South African braaibroodjie jaffles
Sometimes you want a braaibroodjie but don’t want to light a fire. Enter the braaibroodjie jaffle.
In Season
My favourite fruit has come into season and you can now order your cherries directly from Cherrytime for a 2 kg box for R245 delivered to Cape Town with drop-off points in Durban and Joburg.
This is my best cherry galette which is so easy to make.
Cooking class
I’m giving a fun cooking class with Astrid Field from The Sweet Rebellion at the Bosch Experience Centre in Bree Street on Saturday 18th November. It’s a hands-on cooking class where we will be making 2 dishes featuring cherries. It’s going to be a fun morning. We only have a few spots left so I hope to see you there. Details below:
Wine Time
Groote Post
If you’re a fan of Groote Post Seasalter you will love their newly launched Chardonnay called A Pinch of Salt. I attended the launch at The Zeitz Mocca recently and got to taste this delicious wine. It’s a perfect match for fish cakes (or any grilled fish) so I can’t wait to enjoy it again soon. A Pinch of Salt celebrates tradition and innovation in the way that its made
Out & About
Nic Charalambous from Ouzeri spent a month travelling around Northern Greece and Cyprus this year researching local dishes. He has brought some of them back and infused them into his menu using carefully sourced local produce. Nic pays homage to his family and the food from this region in exquisite detail. Every ingredient is thought through and given a contemporary twist.
I love the detail he applies to these elements, such as pickling fennel flowers for his coal-seared tuna with cucumber from Serifos. It’s hard to pick a favourite with this lineup so I suggest you go with a few people and share the dishes. The Anari dumplings with burnt tomato butter will stay in my memory for a long time to come.
I have been eating at Ouzeri since it opened and was a pop-up. I think this new menu takes Ouzeri to another level. This is the type of food I always want to eat and you can see a bit more about the menu here.
Cookbooks
The legendary Luke Dale Roberts has launched his cookbook. It's all the recipes from The Test Kitchen and it took 5 years to make. This is a collector’s piece where he gives it all away. Published by Penguin Random House, the book is available online, at his restaurants and in good book shops.
My talented friend Ilse van der Merwe has written her third cookbook called Al Fresco and it’s available at all the bookshops and online. It celebrates outdoor dining and exactly how we love to eat in South Africa in summer. This is the perfect Christmas gift for any foodie.
The Constantia Wine Walk
Mathew Sterne a keen adventurer and photojournalist at Getaway Magazine has started an interesting wine tour in Constantia. He shares the fascinating history of winemaking in the valley where it all started in South Africa. It’s not a stroll but not quite a hike as you walk to three iconic Constantia wine farms tasting wine in each. I am fond of a good walk so I loved this tour. I found the history so intersting and the lunch platter at the end at Buitenverwahcting was delicious.
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Sam x