My friend Francille told me about this soup recipe a few weeks ago while we were discussing Winter menus – she’s a serious recipe collector and her book collection puts mine to shame. One of her friends heard this recipe on the radio somewhere, and it was passed on via hearsay. So there’s no way to tell where it originally came from!
I really love food. I love it so much that I want to be surrounded by it every day. That means eating it, dreaming up menu’s, shopping at markets, reading lovely food magazines, paging through my collection of recipe books, writing my blog and tweeting about my food adventures.
Even though most of us are snuggled up inside our cosy homes this winter, there’s no reason to stop eating like you’re on a Mediterranean holiday. To me, alfresco foods like grilled vegetables on bruschetta is the perfect snack all year round. And with the intensely bright red, orange and yellow hues that comes with grilling really fresh peppers, it’s like a piece of sunshine on a plate.
Winter weather has hit the Cape of storms! Over the past few days, we have experienced icy hail storms, flood-like rains and ominous winds. It certainly made us all long for the smell of warm, comforting winter foods. But there are few things more comforting than the smell of freshly made pancakes.
My friend Francille recently allowed me to take her Le Creuset tagine for a spin. In my oven, of course. She recommended a recipe from one of her Moroccan cookbooks for a sweet and fragrant lamb and date tagine, which is served with preserved lemon.
Two weeks ago I attended a brandy tasting and blending experience that has changed my view of brandy forever. I had the privilege of learning more about SA’s top brandies with master distiller Brink Liebenberg from Van Van Ryn’s in Stellenbosch, as well as blending my own personal brandy with a mixture of 3, 5, 12 and 15 year old brandies.
Pissaladière is a classic dish from the south of France – an intensely tasty type of pizza/tart topped with caramelized onions (or onion confit), anchovies, olives and fresh herbs like rosemary. So why the fancy name when we might just as well call it a pizza? Well, it’s a type of “white pizza” as they say, one without tomatoes or a tomato sauce.
Back in the heydays of Nook Eatery, my favourite daytime hangout in Stellenbosch a few years ago, their pear and almond tart was one of my ultimate pastries to enjoy with a strong cup of fresh coffee. Unfortunately, Nook doesn’t exist anymore. Jessica and Luke moved to Greyton, and they started a new venture called A Good Place To Gather.
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