hestons in town and dazzling us at the #GFWSAtul Kochhar, James Martin and Jonathan Daddia will also be there
I love most food events, but a food event that includes my all time favourite and coolest chef in the world- Heston Blumenthal, who makes his first public appearance in South Africa, gets me extremely excited.
The event seems to get bigger each year with more and more focus on international and celebrity chefs who ‘perform’ in the main Samsung Chefs in Action Theatre. There are also five other smaller theatres with a specific niche (like Lindt, wine, outdoor and wellness) and they have a solid lineup of local talent presenting. There is a lot to do, taste and drink.
Yesterday I spent 7 hours there and didnt manage to do it all.
There are a plethora of local producers showcasing their wares, so make sure you take lots of cash, as this is also a big shopping opportunity with many stands offering special show prices.
One of the most exciting innovations at the show is the new Willow Creek Gourmet Squeeze bottle. Pretty revolutionary as far as packaging goes, and finally a way to control more carefully the amount of oil you add to your food.
After browsing around, tasting, eating and sipping, catch a break at one of the food theatres and be inspired by a local or international chef demonstrating and or talking about food.
This is a bit about what it looked like and what to expect:
Willow Creek launches their new gourmet squeeze bottle on the showNeill Anthony doing a fantastic demo in the Well Being theatre 'Farm to Fork'Evita Bezuidenhout is there doing a demo from her cook book 'Kossie Sikelela' - hilarious!some of the best charcuterie in Cape Town can be found right here, and their new and very delicious cider sausage is not to be missedAtul Kochhar doing his thing in the theatreamazing silicone stuff from wiz bake, and Dimo from Lindt, doing his chocolate thing in the Lindt theatresome delicious local producers and the Farm to Fork theatrekitchen and crockery porn for me - wonki ware and le cruesetkiddies can get in on the action in the CBeebies little cooks zonesweets, pastries galoresome amazing filled chocolates from KoKo and their innovative hot chocolate spoons as well as local Sea Point baker Denise with her delightssome great cheese, mushrooms and bowls made out of breadone of the prettiest stands on the show - Sublime confectionery and their very very delicious meringues and fudgemore wonderful artisan producersI love Orinoco and the spicy latin Amerincan flavours here and in particular their Venezuelan green sauce (cant get enough of it)a beautiful rolling pin and pestle and mortar design from Nuance on the Tools for Cooks stand and Nicoletta you will find Martin their from Keg King dispensing beers and he will tell you all about his fabulous new online beer magazine, Beer.unitedPiroschka's flammkuchen (yum)
Sam – One of the most interesting things, from my POV, is the sophistication and diversity of S.A.’s “foodie” scene! It has been really eye-opening and mouth-watering as news or info about South Africa gets short shrift here in the States (or at least here in west central Florida).
But now? It’s high on my list of Top 10 Dream Vacation spots!
The local Tourism Board certainly owes you a thank you!
Cheers!
Trish that is so encouraging to hear. I always like boasting about our very special country and in particular about the extraordinary city of Cape Town (my home). Chatting to Heston Blumenthal today, he quite cleary states that he thinks it is the most beautiful city in the world. We have an amazing Tourism Board and they believe that the people of Cape Town are part of what makes it so appealing. We are the sum of the parts so to speak.
We cannot wait to have you here!
Sam 🙂
I just love this show and yes, how proud we should all be of our local food scene. From indigenous products to artisan food and all the producers inbetween. Glad you enjoyed the show – I am so jealous that you got to meet Heston .. I am in awe of his molecular madness! He so takes us all to the edge of gastronomy and back! xxx have an awesome weekend xxx jan
What a fab review Sam! Looks like it was divine! I can’t wait for the JHB one. Last year I only spent an hour there and didn’t get to see even a 1/3 of the stuff. Will definitely make more of an effort this time around. xxx
Thanks Ally, Im sure the Joburg one will be awesome too. I do suggest going on the first week day (trade day) as it can get really busy on the week ends.
Hi Jan. It was indeed such an honour to meet him and I am in such awe of his work. After seeing his presentation yesterday at GFWS I am even more so. He spoke about food being the only activity to engage all our senses. He really creates the magical and the mystical in his meals. I can only dream of eating one of them one day.
s x
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Sam – One of the most interesting things, from my POV, is the sophistication and diversity of S.A.’s “foodie” scene! It has been really eye-opening and mouth-watering as news or info about South Africa gets short shrift here in the States (or at least here in west central Florida).
But now? It’s high on my list of Top 10 Dream Vacation spots!
The local Tourism Board certainly owes you a thank you!
Cheers!
Trish that is so encouraging to hear. I always like boasting about our very special country and in particular about the extraordinary city of Cape Town (my home). Chatting to Heston Blumenthal today, he quite cleary states that he thinks it is the most beautiful city in the world. We have an amazing Tourism Board and they believe that the people of Cape Town are part of what makes it so appealing. We are the sum of the parts so to speak.
We cannot wait to have you here!
Sam 🙂
I just love this show and yes, how proud we should all be of our local food scene. From indigenous products to artisan food and all the producers inbetween. Glad you enjoyed the show – I am so jealous that you got to meet Heston .. I am in awe of his molecular madness! He so takes us all to the edge of gastronomy and back! xxx have an awesome weekend xxx jan
What a fab review Sam! Looks like it was divine! I can’t wait for the JHB one. Last year I only spent an hour there and didn’t get to see even a 1/3 of the stuff. Will definitely make more of an effort this time around. xxx
Thanks Ally, Im sure the Joburg one will be awesome too. I do suggest going on the first week day (trade day) as it can get really busy on the week ends.
Hi Jan. It was indeed such an honour to meet him and I am in such awe of his work. After seeing his presentation yesterday at GFWS I am even more so. He spoke about food being the only activity to engage all our senses. He really creates the magical and the mystical in his meals. I can only dream of eating one of them one day.
s x
Love your caption of “Kitchen & Crockery Porn” for the the always fabulous Le Crueset & Wonki Ware!