Have your Tuscan culinary holiday much closer to home
African Relish in the Karoo town of Prince Albert with its olive groves, figs, wine, delicious produce, irrigation canals and sunshine gives an alternative culinary experience. We have planned a full and tasty summer calendar. Besides our themed and scheduled weekend courses we are pleased to announce the start of mid week gourmet getaways, half & full day courses and demonstrations. We are also able to organize a travel package for Gauteng or KZN foodies to fly to George with transfer or car hire to Prince Albert. Where group numbers permit luxury transport for CT guests. So choose a course, we will see you during summer. Here is a preview of seasonal courses for midweek or weekend cooking lessons during the next few months.
Anytime: Bread and Pastry making, Indian Fusion, Chocolate making October: Preserves, bottling, summer salads and soups November: True Karoo, Sunset snacks & canapes December: Xmas in the Karoo, Real Food January: Ripe Figs
Green fig preserve as prepared in our kitchen
Pick 100 figs with stems in the evening, place in large bowl
Soak in 1tsp bicarbonate mixed in 1.7lts water
Put a weight on top to hold the figs down
Ensure you have enough ice in the freezer
Soak over night
Next morning
Drain the figs from the water
Prick figs with fork
Boil figs for 20 minutes in water with 5ml salt & 5mls alum
Whist boiling get-together a big bowl of ice water
Syrup
4.5kg sugar
7.5lts water
Pinch of Salt
Decant the figs & quickly place the figs into the ice water
Take each fig & make a small cross with a sharp knife
Softly press the figs to remove the excess water
(The figs will look grey & sad)
Divide the syrup in half; it’s to ensure that you have enough syrup
Drop the figs one by one into the syrup; you can add young soft green fig leaves to the syrup to aid in the flavor & color
Boil vigorously for 1hour & turn off heat
5 hours later, reheat & boil for another hour
The next morning, boil for 1hour & add clove & glycerin for an hour
The figs should stay firm
Add 2 lemons juice to the process & bottle
Weltevrede Wines and African Relish pair up for a feast!
African Relish and Weltevrede Wines celebrated the arrival of Spring with a sumptuous five-course food and wine pairing dinner. Philip Jonker, owner and winemaker, guided guests through a tasting of several of their flagship wines with which chef Vanie had paired a specially designed menu. Each course was carefully selected to showcase the subtleties of the wines and allow them to bring the full flavour of the food to the fore. African Relish will host regular wine & food pairings in the future with other leading wine producers.
The Jonker family has been on Weltevrede since 1912 and Philip the fourth generation family winemaker. He is a Chardonnay specialist and his wines have received accolades by Chardonnay du Monde, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, International Wine Challenge, International Wine and Spirit Challenge amongst others. He produces three terroir specific Chardonnays as well as four Methode Cap Classiques and his Blanc de Blancs Cap Classique (100% Chardonnay) was the overall winner of the WINE magazine/ Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge in 2003 with the non-vintage Cap Classique (Entheos) taking top honours in the Best Non-Vintage category for the same competition in 2009.
Visit www.weltevrede.com
Flour flying and all ‘puffed’ up with pride
The African Relish kitchen was covered in clouds of flour as our fourteen passionate guests, mixed, kneaded, rolled and folded. Jacques Erasmus, our visiting maestro, conducted a master-class in the patient art of pastry making and helped everyone dispel the myth that it is a difficult and intimidating process. Read More
photographs courtesy Sam Manclark
Gourmet cyclists cook up the Karoo
Escape Cycle Tours and African Relish hosted our second Karoo Gourmet Cycle Tour to celebrate Spring with some sumptuous meals, fun in the kitchen and serious calorie burning up and down the Swartberg Mountains. Our two-wheeled culinary adventurers were treated to some real Prince Albert hospitality as they were introduced to the local ghosts, sipped on Bergwater Wines, tasted Prince Albert Olives Gold medal winning oil and of course cooked feasts fit for a fiets.
We hosted our first group in April 2010 and it proved so popular that we are scheduling this as a regular event. The combination of cooking, eating, cycling and exploring is such a winner, that the tours are proving extremely popular. Watch our website for further tours in March and September 2011.
Loafing around - no need to knead
Ever wondered what sour dough bread is all about and the natural magic that transpires with a little patience and attention?
African Relish was the place to be this past weekend for a three day master class in this ancient craft.
Niël Jonker , artist and artisan bread maker spent the weekend with our guests and our staff guiding them through the fundamentals and first principles of sour dough bread making. Read More
Prince Albert Olives wins GOLD!
Prince Albert Olives, the largest olive and olive oil producer in the Prince Albert district has walked away with a gold medal at The South African Olive Industry Association (SAOIA) Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. Their Karoo Blend won Gold in the Commercial category for ‘delicate’ oil. This blend is made from a selection of Frantoio, Coratina, Favalosa and Mission olives.
Essie Esterhuizen, manager and olive oil maker is passionate about his product, to say the least, and has led the way to making Prince Albert one of the fastest emerging olive producing areas of South Africa.
Read More
Wine route in one room
Experience some of the most exciting local wines made by young winemakers. We have created a wine route-in-one-room where our guests and visitors can take a wine tasting tour at one sitting. We will introduce them to some eccentric, avant garde and boundary pushing winemakers who are challenging vinous paradigms and setting new benchmarks. Winemakers such as Trizanne Barnard (Trizanne Barnard Signature Wines), Alicia Rechner (Peridot and Seidelberg), Vivien Harpur (Herold Wines), Adi Badenhorst (Badenhorst Family Wines) and Peter Allan Finlayson (Crystallum) to name but a few, are filling our wine racks. We are actively supporting these small specialist producers whose philosophies and approaches to their craft fit very comfortably with ours at African Relish.
We will be conducting a series of wine and food pairing experiences with all these and other wineries in the future and their wines will be available for tasting and purchasing at African Relish.
BRAND NEW PRODUCT - A culinary cycle tour of the Western Cape
An amazing new tour for gourmet cyclists launching at the Outdoor show, Oct 1 – 3 at
www.outdoorexpo.co.za with Bike & Saddle, www.bikeandsaddle.com luxury active adventure hosts and culinary host African Relish... come vist the stand and find out about the tour and chat to chef Vanie.
Upcoming Summer Courses
Real Food – 1-3 Oct. Rediscover the delights of real cooking & country comfort food using all local ingredients. Repeated during year.
The Crucible of Cuisine – 15 - 17 Oct. Discover ancient Khoi-Khoin cuisine & veldkos. Speciality course
The Art of Preserving with Oded Schwartz 22 - 24 Oct. Join Oded Schwartz, the maestro of preserves and all things bottled. Master Class
The craft Wine Blending with Bergwater Vineyards 12 - 14 Nov. Create your personal wine blend and design a menu to pair perfectly. Repeated during year.
Reza Mahammad returns to Prince Albert 19 - 21 Nov. Mumbai and London come to the Karoo. Fully Booked. to be repeated in 2011. waiting list.
Summer in a bottle 26 - 28 Nov. Celebrate nature’s bountiful abundance! Preserves, puddings, cordials & pies. Repeats during summer 2010-11
Christmas in the Karoo 10 - 12 Dec. Creating the authentic South African Xmas feast. Class with Prince Albert’s very own culinary crusader; Bokkie Botha.
School’s out for Summer 16 - 19 Dec. Summer cooking for families. Repeats during holidays.
Jacques Erasmus conducted two master classes, one in sauces and the other in pastry making. He is opening a new restaurant concept in October - Hemelhjus HEMELHVIJS - interiors | home ware | food | restaurant design & consulting
Sheanagh & Merle Fannin, full of wonderful travel ideas from Pangea International
Top Billing - Incredible Journey. We are part of a great competition to launch Incredible Journey on the SABC3 new morning show produced by Top Billing. Winner announced early October.
Sarie - watch out for gorgeous feature in the November issue.
South - watch out for competition in the Dec issue
Out & About with Kids Australia editor coming to stay to research an article
SA Tourism Germany working through KPRN Büro Berlin
Don’t forget… we will see you in our kitchen, whatever the reason; functions, teambuilding, launches, family celebrations & weddings, kids holidays, cooking courses and demonstrations, restaurant, luxury accommodation – air conditioning, fresh percale bed linen, swimming pool, gardens, walks…
