South Africa Diary I: Cape Town

Silwood was a lovely experience. Capetonians are into what I’m into: simple, great food. My programmes have been on TV here so people are familiar with what I do. We geared the classes to be stylish, but simple. I asked Alicia if what I was planning to cook was too simple. She said, honestly it’s what they want!

I decided to teach summery dishes, because it’s springtime here. Spring and summer are best for easy entertaining—just taking the freshest, best ingredients and letting the cooking reveal the flavours. Alicia asked me to use asparagus and broad beans, which are both relatively new to South Africa. I made an asparagus tart and a pea and broad bean soup. I also did a pasta with tomato, rosemary and chorizo and a spiced rack of lamb with couscous.

Modern South African cuisine now brings in a lot of influences – including Mediterranean influences as well as French and Italian. There may be some amazing Indian or Thai street food, and then fine dining tends to be more Italian and French.
There’s a lot of venison. It’s on every menu. And, of course, the wine is just gorgeous.

We stayed in the Constantia Valley at a vineyard called Constantia Uitsig. The owners, the McCays, also came to Ballymaloe many times and had told us it reminded them of their home. They produce some six or eight wines and there are three restaurants on the estate. The French restaurant, La Colombe, has received many awards, including best restaurant in Africa. If you’re a foodie, I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

We also went to a braai, which is an Afrikaans word for barbecue. I didn’t know what a braai would be like: it was an outdoor barbecue, a real treat! We had a typical beef country sausage and lovely lamb chops.

Then we visited a fantastic market at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town. It’s a very cool place with an eclectic mix where you can buy everything from organic produce to African antiques. There are delicious prepared foods where the stalls sell just one thing—a sandwich, a pizza, oysters. Unfortunately, we had already had breakfast. I’d recommend going there hungry. Everyone eats at communal tables and you can get fresh mojitos and champagne. It has a real carnival atmosphere. There is something quite decadent about drinking a mojito in the morning, but everyone is doing it.

Next we’re off to Johannesburg for the Good Food & Wine Show. . .