What we love about Reza Mahammad, apart from being an amazing chef, cook book author and TV personality is that he is larger than life and embraces all that he does with passion and great generosity. He loves Prince Albert and African Relish and we love him.

Spice emporium and Reza's new book

Chicken pasanda - DELICIOUS

Reza on a roll

Reza made time once again for his annual ‘pilgrimage’ to Prince Albert to delight and entertain with his flamboyant and colourful style, maverick and outgoing personality and outrageous sense of humour.

Bollywood beetroot

'Maestro class'

Beetroot samosa production line

We had a raucous and roller-coaster ride of exotic spices and new style ‘Reza-cooking’ from his recently published new book Reza’s Indian Spice, a collection of some really fabulous combinations and ideas. The book is beautifully produced and will be available in all leading bookstores soon.

He has recently completed a new TV series for Food Network UK covering a journey to the royal palaces of Rajasthan and cooking with and for the maharajahs of the region. He will be doing another TV series in South Africa in July and will travel the country exploring our culinary culture. Look out for him, you cannot actually miss him!!

Our Tourism Ambassador students

African Relish has partnered with the Department of Tourism in a training initiative whereby we train and mentor young students under the Tourism Ambassador Project. They will be with African Relish for one year and will be mentored and trained in a variety of skills and disciplines. They were fortunate to spend a weekend with Reza and all had a great time with lots of laughs.

Exotic, evocative and mystical

Our guests were treated to a royal old time with this Prince of Spice as we cooked in a head-spinning euphoric spiced-out frenzy of heady aromas and delectable delights.

Reza and the team

Reza will be back in August/September of this year, so watch our website for details and be sure not to miss this mercurial master of spice and entertainment.

Prince Reza and his loyal subjects

Wine and food guru, Michael Olivier spent a weekend at African Relish serving up a star-studded list of wines and craft beers, together with some mouthwatering mezze, slow cooked delights and decadent desserts.

Sunlight illuminates the delights within the goodie bags

Panzanella - Olivier style

Michael, well known restaurateur, wine and food writer and all round gourmet genius, was in fine form aided by Maddy Olivier fulfilling a vital role in keeping the amazing wines flowing, and Jeremy Freemantle acting as general gopher and onion chopper.

Mezze awaits

We were very fortunate to have a veritable arsenal of astonishing wines from a number of estates, generously given for our enjoyment and for careful pairing by Michael with the wonderful dishes we prepared. Our sincere thanks to Van Loveren Family Cellar, Dornier Wines, Sterhuis, Rudera, Eikendal, Bouchard Finlayson, TeddyHall Wines, Landskroon for a selection of outstanding wines which complemented the food and kept the mood lively and creative.

The wine was that good!

We also thank &Union for a selection of delicious craft beers which went very well with our lunch time mezze, supplied by Mediterranean Delicacies.

The day weekend kicked off with a glass of chilled MCC at 9 in the morning  and as time unfolded, so did inhibitions and reserve. Creativity began to develop and the taste buds came alive. Michael guided our guests through a formal tasting of a selection of blended wines, having tasted the single cultivar wines during the day and we then got thoroughly in the mood with some marvellous mojitos.

The maestro at work

A great deal of cooking, laughter and sipping was evident the whole weekend and guests left with a delightful lingering aftertaste.

Once more, this past week, the highways and bi-ways of Prince Albert were filled with our gourmet cyclists flying up and down mountain passes, gobbling up the kilometers and glugging down the Energade. Our intrepid cyclists were game for anything and we tackled the mighty Swartberg Pass, Gamkaskloof, and rode from Prince Albert through the majestic Meiringspoort to De Rust. All in all we covered many kilometers and consumed enough kilojoules to power a battleship.

James bringing up the rear

So it was up every morning before the sparrows even stirred cycling towards the sunrise and a new challenge for the day. Then it was into the kitchen for some cooking!

Here comes the peloton, cresting the hill

The view!

The Team!

Stef Marais, executive chef of Societi Bistro and Societi Brasserie in Cape Town, spent the weekend at African Relish creating some inspirational summer dishes for our guests.

Stef puts the figs to bed

Adams figs wrapped in Cape Mountain Charcuterie prosciutto

Try remaining grumpy when you are surrounded by these

He put an Italian spin on things and created some classics like panzanella, marinated roasted peppers, cannoli stuffed with home-made choc-chip ricotta and citrus peel.

Panzanella

Our resident African Relish baker with the magic hands, Collette Visagie, produced mountains of sourdough ciabatta in our wood-fired bread oven to mop up all the juices and sauce from the platters of summer.

Collette folds the ciabatta with her magic hands

Glugs of olive oil and handfuls of capers, anchovies and olives adorned the dishes while summer fruit and berries splashed their colours all over the place.

Smoked ham hock terrine with pickled candy-stripe beetroot and beetroot carpaccio

Juicy Summer fruits

Yoghurt terrine with summer berries and strawberry coulis

It was a visual feast and a taste experience that left our heads spinning and our senses in a state of ecstasy.

Stef is a genius! He has a magic touch, working with fresh local ingredients, producing uncomplicated, delicious food. His philosophy is simple; let the produce speak for itself. He believes in minimum intervention and delicate balance of flavour and combinations and places a great deal of emphasis on generosity, in quantity and quality, but especially in spirit. Bold flavours and finesse, simplicity and depth epitomise his style, his classical training shows through while his contemporary approach provides the flair.

Freshly pulled beetroot from Brett the Vet's farm

Fresher than this?

Brett's market stall - work of art!

Piet Pampoen's harvest

Stef, like African Relish, believe strongly in and subscribe to the ethos of using seasonal produce and places  great importance on provenance of produce and ethical farming practices. We sourced the majority of the produce we used over the weekend from the Prince Albert area;  heirloom vegetable and fruit varieties from our local vet, Brett Bard, known locally as ‘Brett the Vet’ as well as our local doctor Pete Reinders, affectionately referred to as ‘Piet Pampoen’.  Juicy ripe Adams figs came from Weltevrede Fig Farm and local lamb and milk fed pork sourced from Bergwater Winery and Gay’s Guernsey Dairy respectively. Fresh grassy olive oil from Prince Albert Olives’ award winning press provided the final adornment to many of the dishes over the weekend.

We were also fortunate to have some beer and cider to pair with our food, very kindly provided by Jack Black, Darling Brew and Eversons Cider. The emergence of micro breweries and cider producers is very encouraging and we as consumers enjoy the privilege of tasting these fantastic  hand-made beers and ciders.

Cape Mountain Charcuterie also provided an amazing selection of salami, chorizo, smoked and cured pork loin to accompany our summer feast.

Cape Mountain Charcuterie selection

African Relish applauds these artisanal producers and pledges to support them and spread the word about their fantastic products.

A big thank you to Stef for sharing his culinary magic with us and we look forward to the next time for another helping!

Visit our website at www.africanrelish.com and click on Courses Calendar for more information regarding upcoming culinary experiences and adventures.

We had a busy and wonderful 2011. And we aim to do the same this year. Just looking at our mid summer cooking courses is enough to make your mouth water.

We start off the new year by proving  that vegetarian is delicious.  Join us for a full day anytime course exploring the regions summer vegetables and fruits and visiting the producers and farmers in Prince Albert. Jeremy takes us down the Spice Route for a gourmet weekend mid January; mid summer is fig time in the Weltevrede valley – join us on a weekend to explore this delicious fruit. Jacques Erasmus is back with Let’s Get Saucy to end our January calendar.

Back in early Feb is Stefan Marais and a Summer Bistro. Bread baking is a trend for 2012 so join our popular bread making weekends with artist Neil Jonker. Pickles &  Preserves 18 Feb, capture summers bounty. Our Gourmet Karoo Cycle Tour is fully booked already but will certainly be scheduled again during 2012.

March – True Karoo, but more later, there is too much going on already in the kitchen. Hope to see your there. Remember our wonderful Karoo cottages are available mid week and half and one day cooking courses can be tailored to suit your culinary curiousity.

Happy cooking and Happy 2012.

South African Tourism in Germany designed a campaign to promote South Africa to the German public as an exciting tourism destination. They approached African Relish and Reuben Riffel to attend the EAT & STYLE EXPO in Cologne to showcase our cuisine and culinary heritage. Eat & Style is the largest food and lifestyle exhibition hosted by four cities across Germany during October and November each year.

Cologne comes to see South Africa in action

Knoblauch!

Jeremy Freemantle and Reuben Riffel headed to Cologne to tantalise the German taste buds with some South African culinary classics. Everyday dishes, we are so used to eating, raised some eyebrows with the German visitors. Bobotie, pickled fish, malva pudding and slaphakskeentjies  were tasted with fresh palates and it was wonderful to see the expressions on faces as the locals of Cologne tasted these unfamiliar combinations.

Prep in real time

That's how you do it!

KAI - the Samurai of chef's knives

The live cooking shows were packed with curious and hungry visitors as they sampled the dishes prepared in real time. No TV tricks, just cooking on demand for 120 people per hour…. sounds like a speed limit! It was fast paced and exciting and the food was delicious. There is no doubt that South Africa is an attractive tourism destination and our food gave them a taste of what to expect when they reach our shores.

Reuben stirring - as usual

Autographs and paparazzi

The show kitchen was equipped with state-of-the-art induction cookers and fridges from MIELE, beautifully crafted KAI SHUN chefs’ knives from Japan and small appliances from PHILIPS.

The Cologne Team - Corinna, Reuben, Jeremy, Angela

Reuben & Jeremy will be back there in the future to share the magic of South Africa’s cuisine.

Our weekend with Reuben Riffel was an extraordinary experience, for our guests and our African Relish team. We had the good fortune to spend time with a highly talented chef who has an instinctive way with presenting sublime food with seemingly no effort whatsoever. His manner is calm, focused and spontaneous… his results spectacular. Unpretentious, modern and irresistible would accurately describe his signature cuisine.

That says it all!

Jennifer & Essie misbehaving in class

We recreated some of Reuben’s signature dishes from his restaurants and we had a master class in creative plating and presentation. All the senses were aroused with a definite emphasis on light, delicate and subtle.

There is no pretention in anything that Reuben does; he is a great example of how to allow the food to be the hero and the chef merely the instrument.

Simone & Reuben

Stuffing quails!

Dishes such as prawn risotto with vanilla and leeks, chilli salt squid with nuoc cham, braised pork belly with ginger caramel sauce, grilled quail with grape, mascarpone and tarragon stuffing, mustard-glazed ostrich fillet with tomato smoor, polenta and butternut crème….. to name but a few.

Poached chicken salad with cashew vinaigrette and mixed leaves

Chili salt squid

We had the rare opportunity to have quality time with Reuben to chat about all things culinary and to pick his brain for tips and hints. It was a combination of master class demo and hands on happiness.

Plating up!

Reuben and African Relish’s Jeremy Freemantle are off to Germany in November to represent and promote South Africa as a desirable culinary destination. SA Tourism invited them to participate in the Eat & Style Food & Lifestyle Expo in Cologne and they will be cooking some South African favourites to entice Europeans to come and sample our famous hospitality and wonderful cuisine.

Reuben’s new book Reuben Cooks  Local is due to be launched in November this year and promises to be a real cracker. This is his second cookbook to hit the shelves and Reuben brings you a collection of some of his favourite South African feasts. The easy-to-follow home grown recipes are inspired by the chef’s deep-seated knowledge and love of readily-available, local ingredients and produce to take you on a mouth-watering exploration of the freshest seasonal items, whether from sea, field, earth or orchard. Reuben Cooks Local is proof that local is indeed lip-smackingly lekker and will be ripe for the picking from Reuben’s restaurants, local bookshops or directly from QuiverTree Publications,  the publisher from November 2011.

Frankie and Jenni get stuck in

To say that Stefan Marais is a culinary wizard is an understatement! This past weekend, our guests were seduced into hedonistic ‘gourmetdom’ with his bistro cooking such as Prince Albert has never experienced.  I strongly urge you to visit Stef and eat at his restaurant , Societi Bistro in Cape Town, where you can experience the deliciousness firsthand.

Baked leeks with thyme and butter

Pasta python

Tortellini and Ravioli production line

Stef regaled stories of the origins of bistro food and classic dishes such as cassoulet, pot au feu, classic French onion soup, liver parfait and eggs bourguignon, apple tarte tatin, torta Caprese and much more.

Ravioli in perspective

Perfect tortellini

Rustic Ravioli

We had a few raised eyebrows when the eggs bourguignon appeared, all purple from their poaching bath in red wine. This was topped with a classic bourguignon sauce made with a rich beef demi-glace with red wine, mushrooms and smoked pork belly lardons. Outrageously delicious.

Yum!

Childhood habits endure

Mmmmm!

The show stopper was of course the cassoulet. This French classic is a marathon to make over two days and is not one of those dishes you whip up to watch in front of the TV. This one is a labour of love and be prepared to invite a group of your best friends to share in its decadence and huge flavours. It is well worth the effort and you are guaranteed to make a few new friends along the way as the word spreads. Filled with smoked pork belly, Tolouse sausages, confit duck legs and haricot blanc (cannellini beans), cooked slow and low…… well worth the wait. Eat with a bold and spicy shiraz or a big busty blend.

Met eish!

Stef pours it in... Cassoulet in the making

constructing classic cassoulet

Ready for the oven

Stef adds the finishing touches

If you would like some of the recipes that we prepared over the weekend please feel free to drop an email to jeremy@africanrelish.com and we will send it to you with pleasure.

Stef and the ladies

Look out for our upcoming culinary capers and the great personalities that are coming to visit our kitchen.

NASTURTIUM (Kappertjie) PESTO

INGREDIENTS
Bunch of nasturtium leaves
Bunch wild sorrel (surings) (optional)
2 cloves garlic
½ cup raw cashew nuts
½ cup Prince Albert Olives Extra Virgin olive oil
½ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 green chilli, chopped (optional)

METHOD
Place all the ingredients in a blender and pulse to a smooth paste. Add more oil and lemon juice if pesto is too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Reza Mahammad, the undisputed Star of India, returned to African Relish once again to spice things up a bit.

Classroom kit

Reza gets things going

Reza spent ten days here enthralling our guests with his culinary antics and his high energy cooking lessons. Two weekends and a week in between – we kept him busy, and he kept us even busier.

Debbie and Louise pay attention

Simone and Collette size things up

We learnt about mysterious, the exotic and the aromatic. Our senses were sent into orbit with heady aromas and robust tastes and it became clear that there is a whole lot more to Indian cuisine than the one-dimensional ‘curry’ that most of us grew up with. Reza gave us an insight into the real depth and complexity of Indian cooking, yet revealed also just how simple it is when one grasps the fundamentals of balance and subtlety. He dispelled some fears and misconceptions around the use of spices and demystified the mysterious names of ingredients that some of us find intimidating.

Via, teacher's pet!

Reza introduced us to some fantastic dishes such as coriander and walnut chutney, baked baby aubergines with caramelised onion and turmeric marmalade, potatoes with pickling spices (achar ke aloo), chapathi, sweet potato and goat’s cheese samosa, swiss chard falafels with tahini, sumac and lemon sauce, venison pasanda (hiran ke pasanda), minced lamb and lentil pilau amongst other delicious and extraordinary dishes.

Master class

Reza is a born entertainer and he made sure that all were given a fair measure of side-splitting laughter, serious moments of real culinary insight and a warm and satisfied feeling of contentment.

To keep Reza busy in between cooking sessions we organised some extra mural activities for him with a visit to the Cango Caves and a rather hysterical ride on an ostrich which can be viewed on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j4PWEitWZ8; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrKDP2y4gm0&feature=related; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxUM-qREzj8&feature=related

So, Reza left his mark on Prince Albert and it is a much quieter place now that he has left, but you can be sure that he will return for more spicy adventures in the Karoo.