I was recently lucky enough to attend the launch of Earthling Food, the new vegan cookbook by Isabella Niehaus and Louis Jansen van Vuuren. Their previous plant-based book, There’s a Vegan on my Verandah, was utterly brilliant, so much so that it won them the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2023. Their latest offering promises to do just as [...]
The heavens opened on Monday here in the Cape, our first rain for many months. It’s early for rain, but it’s a little nudge from nature to let me know that the first official month of autumn is only days away. The signs are all around – crisper mornings, earlier sunsets, the trees lining the streets starting to turn brilliant [...]
What makes a bredie a bredie and not just a plain old casserole or stew? It’s all in the spices. Tomato bredie is traditionally made with lamb and, as the name suggests, loads of tomato. But the aromatics are what makes it the real deal – perfumed ginger and cardamom, earthy cloves, heady cinnamon and a bit of chilli [...]
I love fudge as much as the next person. At least, I used to. But with every 365 days I add to my life, my sweet tooth seems to be just a little bit less sweet. As if it’s not enough that one has to contend with sagging and spreading, one’s palate apparently also develops ideas of its own. Increasingly [...]
Cake is not really a thing I would cross the Kalahari barefoot for – with two possible exceptions: 1) cheesecake, but only a decent oven-baked one and… 2) chocolate cake – the darker and richer, the better. Chocolate cake recipes made with hot milk are not exactly something new. Every self-respecting church fête baker has a trusted recipe that's mostly guarded [...]
Christmas is coming folks! I know this because this past Saturday I finally capitulated – and put up all my Christmas decorations. It may seem early, but given that I’ve been contemplating doing so since the beginning of October, I think I’ve shown remarkable restraint. I obviously feel about Christmas the way a 5-year-old does – super duper excited. So now [...]