Karoo slow-food chef Gordon Wright and his lovely wife Rose are from the town of Graaff-Reinett. Gordon sets the standard for modern Karoo cuisine. As founder of the Karoo Convivium and member of the national executive of Slow-Food international in South Africa, he lives, breaths, laughs and drinks Karoo.

Gordon has his roots in the Karoo and is a great storyteller. His cookbooks Veld to Fork and Karoo Food is such a true reflection of the Karoo terrior. He has passion and respect for the region and ecosystem and only cooks with  produce he has personally grown, hunted or sourced.

His slow-food philosophy, friendly nature and ever-growing culinary skills makes him the perfect host and teacher to our visitors.

Gordon will use our renowned Prince Albert produce in preparing unexpected dishes using techniques like home smoking and curing, sausage making as well as outdoor cooking.

Come and spend a weekend in our Kitchen enjoying the produce the Karoo has to offer and the exceptional hosting and cooking skills of Gordon Wright.

Contact us so that we can assist with your accommodation booking. We have 4 self-catering cottages available.

Check-in before 12:00 on Friday 2nd

Welcome lunch will be served at 13:00.  Your meals for the weekend are included in the price.

WEEKEND ITINERARY

FRIDAY
12:00 Arrive at African Relish and settle into accommodation.
13:00 Light lunch prepared by Gordon and our resident chef. Meet the team and discuss the schedule.
Lunch: Venison pie & bottled quince served with smoked mash potatoes and crispy seasonal vegetables.
14:00 Cooking Session 1. Preparation for Friday dinner. Demo by Gordon Wright – debone lamb for lamb rump. Making Andouille sausage. Prep mini potato bakes. Prep bacon for smoking.
18:00 Ghost walk and village ramble – Ailsa Tudhope, historian and story teller, takes you on a journey back in time with tales of ghosts and village rogues from the past.
20:00 Welcome dinner at African Relish. On the menu: Starter – Bacon wrapped figs baked in honey with blue cheese, Main – Roasted lamb rump, Mini potato bake (Veld to Fork pg 127), Seasonal vegetables with butter and salt (pg129), Dessert – Grandmother’s baked custard served with poached seasonal fruit.

SATURDAY
08:30 Visit to Saturday market for some local flavour.
09:00 Breakfast at African Relish includes a blueberry coulis with Gay’s Guernsey Dairy plain yogurt + muesli
Recipe from Karoo Food Pg 47 for liver pot.
10:00 Cooking Session 2. Lunch preparation and techniques. Bone Broth for dinner starter,
brine and smoke the chicken for lunch. Smokey Joe Session consists of smoked salt, almonds, fish, cheese.
Rooibos smoked trout pate.
13:00 – Light lunch at African Relish: Smoked Chicken Breast on a fresh salad.
14:30 Cooking session 3. Smoke bacon prepped on Friday. Stuff and smoke sausages made Friday.
Make blueberry and sage sausages. Preparation of Saturday dinner dishes.
17:00 At leisure
20:00 Saturday dinner, enjoy the fruits of the day’s culinary endeavors. On the menu:
Starter: Roasted marrow bones with sourdough bread. Bone broth. Main: Pan-fried duck breast with orange juice and red wine, carrot and olive salad, garlic parsnip mash, beans with roasted almonds and crispy bacon. (Veld to Fork page 130). Dessert: Old fashioned steam pudding served with Gay’s Dairy clotted cream

SUNDAY
07:30 Gather at African Relish for coffee and rusks. Botanical excursion with Dr Sue Milton, renowned botanist
and specialist in Karoo biome biology.
10:00 Cooking session 4. Breakfast, hands-on cooking session with Gordon and our resident chef.
Breakfast smorgasbord of what was smoked the previous day. With Royal tartar (Karoo Food page 64)

The price of R3950 per person includes 4 cooking sessions, all meals, listed excursions and recipes.

Excludes accommodation and drinks.

For more information phone Hess at 023 541 1381 or email foodies@africanrelish.com.

 

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