South African Food & Wine Blog Directory

If you've ever heard me speaking at blogging conferences, you will know my strong feelings about including the words "musings" or "ramblings" in your blog title or strapline.  You know the ones: "Jane Doe's Little Kitchen – musings and incoherent ramblings on food and other things I like".  Do we care?  Should we care??  Aaargh. Which is what made it all the more refreshing when I discovered Alida's blog, the very directly titled Simply Delicious last year.  You dont have to worry about whether you will be mused at or rambled at here.  On the contrary, Alida has a knack for posting recipes that do what they say on the tin:  they are simple and they are delicious, as are her photos. Let's hear what she has to say: 

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world?

I live and blog in Pretoria, South Africa.

2. How long have you been blogging?

Since October 2009. It started as a way for me to give my family and friends my recipes, and is now turning into a possible job! 🙂

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?

I think I enjoy reading other people's blogs the most. As well as getting the comments about my recipes and photography. It's really great to see people trying your recipes and really loving them.

4. Any downsides or frustrations?

None whatsoever. I see blogging as an escape from my sometimes hectic life. (I have baby twins!!)

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?

Raw ingredients, spices, garlic, cheese, Nigella, Nigel Slater, My kids and my family.

6. Where and when do you like to blog?

I read blogs all day long but I mostly write blog entries in the morning after I put the twins down for a nap. I blog in our study.

7. What’s your signature dish or favourite wine?

I don't really have a signature dish yet. My family and friends rave over my Risotto's and Curries and I think my Seafood Potjie is also pretty good. I don't really drink wine (shocker I know) and what's even more shocking is that I like cheap, sweet wine. I'm more of a Caiparinha's person.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?

My Easy Cooking, The Creative Pot, Sardines on Toast , Drizzle and Dip, and Jan Tripepi.

9. Favourite restaurant?

Oh Wow I have so many. Saint Verde Cafe in Fourways, Pachas and Cynthia's in Pretoria, Kream and World of Samoosas in the Oriental Plaza in Johannesburg

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order…

It would be a week long feast 🙂 I would have Prawns smothered in chilli sauce and garlic butter, Butternut Risotto, Prawn Curry, Lamb Korma, Bovril on Toast (comfort food my mom used to make me with a sweet cup of tea), Saint Verde Cafe's Eggs Benedict, Gorgonzola Gnocci, Creme Brulee, Waffles with Cream, Ice cream and syrup and I would finish the meal with chocolate mousse. Can you tell I'm a food addict?

Dirk of Kosserasie Stories is a rarity in the SA food blogging world on two fronts.  Firstly, he is (gasp!) a man in a blogging scene that is largely dominated by women; and secondly, he blogs in Afrikaans – which I love.  Does the fact that he is a bloke make any difference to the content?  Well, there does seem to be a distinct preference for cooking over open fires in cast iron potjies (pots) – but there is also an inspired recipe for a soufflé in such a pot, which is one of many good reasons to visit his blog.  Here are some little-known facts about Dirk:

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world?

Cape Town – Constantia 

2. How long have you been blogging?

Only about two years. I started the blog as a collection of the once-offs that are too good not to tell about and to have record of it to come back to. But now I keep the camera handy to take a picture or two to put on the blog if something nice comes about. I also try not to just fill up the blog with the usual stuff, there are millions of recipies for the same thing out there. I also try to impart some of my experience in and around preparing the specific dish or at least something interesting about it.

 3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?

Getting feedback without a doubt. Finding out that friends are actually reading my scribbles. I also enjoy the writing.

4. Any downsides or frustrations?

I would love to know when somebody read the blog and enjoyed it or found something interesting, but people not used to blogging are usually too scared to leave comments, so blogging sometimes is a lonely exercise.

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?

For cooking it is the food itself and people that I love and that like my cooking.

6. Where and when do you like to blog?

My blogs are usually not done on a specific time or place. I might take some pictures of a dish and only weeks later write a blog about it. I do not blog as often as I would like and I do not want to write about the eggs and toast I had for breakfast, so I will only blog if I feel that I want to share this one.

7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?

Potjiekos. I just love cooking in a potjie over an open fire. And bredies. Same thing actually. And maybe my braaibroodjies.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?

There are quite a few that I read sporadically. I enjoy the personal element that food bloggers put into their blogs, it is not only about recipies and they give a lot more value than just reading a recipe book. If I want to make something nice I usually do my research and reading about it on food blogs.

9. Favourite restaurant?

A restaurant for me all depend on the occation and atmosphere more so than the food. Recently I enjoyed Blond in Cape town and if I do not want to cook it is the Eastern Bazaar in Cape Town for take-aways.

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order…

I hope I do not really have to choose as it would take me a couple of days to decide. But it would probably be braaivleis. Porkrib or lamb loin chops and a nice boerewors… and braaibroodjies… and ice cream. Ok stop now.

Isn't it funny how you can exactly pinpoint the moment when you first decided that somebody had crossed the line from acquaintance to friend?  With some people it's such a gradual process that you can't say when the tipping point was; and with others you remember the precise moment – maybe a conversation, or an emotional crisis or a weekend away together.  I had only "met" Ishay of Food and the Fabulous on Twitter when she joined a group of my other online friends to watch a DVD and chat live on Skype about it. I had a feeling we had a lot in common but did not really know her and then during the course of conversation she said it:  "I'm also a reformed lawyer."  And that was it – the bond of friendship between us was sealed!  I have subsequently met her a couple of times in person and I can assure you that fabulous is only the half of it 🙂  So let's get to know her a little better:

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world? 

Sunny Cape Town, South Africa

2. How long have you been blogging? 

Since September 2010

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?  

I enjoy sharing the simple food I make in my kitchen- it's an incredible compliment when someone tries a recipe and likes it and it's also useful when someone offers a tip/alternative way of preparing something. I feel this cooking, eating and blogging journey is a new aspect of my education and I'm very eager to sharpen and hone the knife and the cooking skills.  I find myself evolving as a writer and this is an important aspect to me. I've also enjoyed the interaction with food bloggers and food eaters immensely; engaging in events and projects also make one feel part of a living, breathing community.

4. Any downsides or frustrations?

There are some at this stage: it is time consuming, and a blog needs to be 'fed' regularly, I've heard someone say. I do have a large backlog of interesting blogs- I try to keep it fun for myself though. Who needs a hobby that's stressful?
 
5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write? 

I think cooks, like my Mother who try to offer variety within means, but never compromise on flavour are worthy of praise. I'm also besotted with Julia Child (her 1950's glory was the inspiration behind my blog design), Nigella Lawson with her 'if there's a simpler way, why strain yourself" attitude, Chef Nobu san- whom I was very privileged to talk to last year, for his humility and love of simple, clean flavours. I also take my hat off to all the food bloggers who churn out creations worthy of their own restaurants, in my opinion, and who are gracious enough to share these recipes, family secrets, images, and the know-how with us, every day. More and more I realise how travel and exploring different cultures inspires my love for food, drink and words. Hunger is also a good motivation.

6. Where and when do you like to blog? 

Inspiration is a funny creature, it strikes at any hour and I either make a mental note or reach for some paper to make a few scribbles- this could be at any time of the day. Most times, I'm a night owl, which the rest of the house (read: my husband), is well familiar with.
 
7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?  

It's incredibly hard to chose one signature dish, it also depends on the season. Chances are if it has a bit of garlic, ginger, coriander and chilli in it, it's my style.  My Sri Lankan Crab Curry has gotten rave reviews.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?

I keep stumbling on new, quirky and creative blogs. I regularly enjoy Scrumptious SA, Cooksister, What's for lunch Honey, LifesaFeast, and Tiny Urban Kitchen  
  
9. Favourite restaurant?  

Ohh, it's not possible to pick one. For good homestyle meals any day of the week: Societi Bistro, Orange Street, Cape Town hits the spot. For a dim sum fix (variety is staggering here) but respectably fancy too: Haiku, Church Street, Cape Town, for Moroccan (also fancy dining out): Pasha in Kensington, London and for a romantic and very special night out: Gramercy Tavern, New York or de Librije in Holland. Barcelona can't be beat for sea food and Molecular Gastronomy genius: Tickets and Commerc 24 right up there.

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order… 

Mother's lamb breyani, with all the trimmings: raita, pickles, tomato sambals.

It's always interesting meeting somebody on the internet – some of my friends still think my body is going to be discovered in a ditch one day because of my obviously deranged habit of meeting people in this way!  But it adds that extra layer of surrealness when you chat extensively to somebody on Twitter, and then realise that they are the very same person who writes a blog that you already know – when two social media worlds collide ;o)  Or maybe this only happens to me?? Anyhoo, this was pretty much what happened with the lovely Ms Kamini of Deelishuss.  I knew her by one name on Twitter but didn't connect her to Deelishuss blog until I read the fine print and saw that she was in fact the Deelishuss blogger.  D'oh.  To help you make the connection faster than I did, let's catch up with her for a little Q&A: 

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world?  

I'm in Cape Town, South Africa. I was born and grew up in Durban, but have been here for 4 years and I love it!

2. How long have you been blogging? 

Since August 2010. I've always been a huge foodie, but have finally decided to commit to a blog just recently.

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?  

The way that irrespective of who you are and where you're from, food (and wine) has a way of uniting people in a truly sincere way.

4. Any downsides or frustrations? 

I have had to increase my exercise regime.

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?  

A few fellow foodies that I am in contact with inspire me to taste more, write better and live the way that I believe. Those people are Sam Woulidge and Andy Fenner (JamieWhoSA). Other people that I admire are Nigella Lawson and Joanne Harris who both have a way of writing about food in a way that is just simply beautiful!

6. Where and when do you like to blog?  

These days, I try to post everyday, which means that I blog whenever I can. I often have draft copies floating my brain in almost all situations. But I officially blog at my desk in my apartment in Green Point. I like to think that I am a disciplined creative, besides which, I like to hear the words as I type them, which only happens with an amount of quiet.

7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?  

I like to experiment with a lot of different recipes, but I think my show stopper would be a Yoghurt Pannacotta with Rose Water Raspberries (by Bill Granger). I'm still bluffing my way through the wine list.

8. What other food or wine blogs/sites do you read?  

JamieWhoSA, EatOut, EatIN, Taste Magazine, The Foodie, Tasteologie

9. Favourite restaurant?  

Myoga at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town. I love their ode to the wing back chair!

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order… 

A chicken curry and avo sandwich on toasted sour dough bread.

It's always great to meet somebody talented who is tremendously passionate about what they do – and there is no denying that Andy Fenner, the talent behind the Jamie Who? blog, is just such a person.  In the relatively short time that he has been blogging he has built a reputation for himself as an exciting new voice in SA food writing – and when you meet him in person you will know that the voice on his blog is a true reflection of the man himself.  Pull up a chair – let's chat to him:

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world? 

South Africa. Based in Cape Town and the Garden Route but I try and write about JHB too, as I am up there fairly often. 

2. How long have you been blogging? 

Since about mid-2009 

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?  

I believe anyone can fall in love with food – you don't need to be famous. I love de-mystifying food and showing people that they need to try things. I also love explaining to people that they need to start appreciating where food comes from. I like to ask people to visit markets instead of shopping malls. Pick up a butternut, feel it and smell it. Don't buy it already cubed and in a plastic packet!  

4. Any downsides or frustrations? 

There are some malicious people out there and with success comes jealousy. I have been lucky enough to have been able to turn food writing into a career and I am always shocked that certain people seem to resent me for that. Also, being linked to certain brands doesn't mean you have "sold out". I hate it when people use that phrase.

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?  

My readers. The fact that I know I have people reading my blog everyday means I can't be lazy or boring! Which is awesome and something I don't take for granted.

6. Where and when do you like to blog?  

My blog is part of something a bit bigger but it is still my "basecamp" where I load most of my content. I spend most of my time on deadlines for magazines but the blog is my personal space without editors, briefs, deadlines etc. so it's super-important. I give myself an hour in the morning every day to make sure it's current. 

7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?  

Signature dish at home is tuna steaks on the Weber for summer, and braised lamb shanks which I shred into gnocchi in winter. I absolutely love entertaining and often have friends over. For the wine I'll take a chilled Chardonnay or any Shiraz/Syrah.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?  

There are loaaaaaads. CookSister course! Then Rossouws Restaurants, Eat Out, Eat In, Scrumptious, Nina's My Easy Cooking and too many more to mention

9. Favourite restaurant?  

That's like asking a mother of three who her favourite child is! If I had to choose it would probably be Bizerca Bistro, or Massimo's Pizza Club.

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order… 

The roasted scallop and pig's trotter dish from Bizerca Bistro. And a big glass of the Galpin Peak Pinot Noir from Bouchard Finlayson to wash it down. I would die a happy man.

Every now and again you run across a food blog that inspires you on every level – visually, verbally, intellectually and creatively.  It doesn't happen often, but it does – like when I first discovered the wonderfully talented Marie through her principal gardening blog, 66 Square Feet .  So I was understandably thrilled when she created a secondary blog especially for her food.  Reading Marie's eloquent posts from New York City and Cape Town always make me feel as if I have been on a short holiday – so pack your bags and come on a little mini-break with me as we enter Marie's world on 66 Square Feet (The Food)

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world? 

Currently I live in New York with my French husband and Dominican cat. I spend time in South Africa every year and we are considering a move back…

2. How long have you been blogging? 

I started 66 Square Feet, a blog about my small terrace, small apartment and New York life,  in May 2007. Then last year I created 66 Square Feet (the Food) as a food-only adjunct to the main blog.

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?  

Blogging is a wonderful way to communicate one's enthusiasm about the world immediately, and to an audience from all corners of it. I tend to focus on what is beautiful despite having an outlook which says that life is mostly pain. We know that, so why dwell on it?

What I did not anticipate when I started blogging was that some of the best things in my life would enter it through the cyberportal of my blog: my husband, good friends, and work.

4. Any downsides or frustrations? 

Time, time time 🙂 It takes time.

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?  

Where to begin?

If we are receptive or perceptive, every day that we live we see or taste or smell or touch something new that is added to our conscious or subconscious and comes out either in the kitchen or on the page, or through the camera.

But:

A clear influence would be my mother, Maureen Viljoen, who gave me a fundamental reference point for very good food. So I grew up with a strong French provincial Elizabeth David influence (in Bloemfontein!). She also has a very good and critical eye for what looks good and how to make things beautiful.

My attraction to drinks perhaps comes from my father, Henri, who has always had a flair for showmanship and the shaking up of an old fashioned, Cary Grant-era cocktail. And he will appear after a long lunch with a bottle of dessert wine in one hand and a handful of small glasses in the other. There is something effortlessly graceful and generous in the gesture.

People: Bevan Christie and Mustafa Candan used to run and cook in Anatoli in Cape Town, in its good old days. I absorbed so much from them in my late teens and early twenties, after we became friends, that it became part of me. About how a thing ought to be done (perfectly, effortlessly, generously, casually). They live in Turkey now. Aside from my mother they are the best cooks I know.

And books. I see Raymond Blanc, the Roux Brothers, the brothers Troisgros, Paul Bocuse, Roger Verge, Marcella Hazan as my early teachers in technique, in my late teenage years. I read their books cover to cover and then cooked my way through substantial parts of them.

Good food writers and observers: MFK Fisher, Hemingway, remain inspirational. Mr Bourdain was great until he became really famous.

And interesting food people  – local foragers, wine makers, butchers, gardeners – I am fascinated by why they do what they do, and love to hear their stories, photograph them and write about them, and learn from them.

6. Where and when do you like to blog?  

I blog daily, usually at home, whenever I can.

7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?  

Friends know me best for bouillabaisse. But for me it's just roast chicken with potatoes under it, as a comfort food fallback, green salad with a perfect vinaigrette, and probably white wine at the moment: I love New Zealand Sauvignon blancs, finding them less astringent and puckery than many South African ones, but had the best rose of my life from Waterkloof in Somerset West this year, and am partial to Spanish Verdejo. But my tastes change often. Different mood, weather, different wine and food. And I love picnics. Can a picnic be a signature dish, or is it a signature past time?

In my next life I would like to be a picnic.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?  

Voer – I love that it is in English and Afrikaans. It is very well written, idiosyncratic, and has a voice (voices) of its own.  Last Night's Dinner was the first food blog I loved, and I still read it. It is based out of Rhode Island.

And I often drop in at Cooksister 🙂

I should read more but I don't have the time. There are so many very good ones.

9. Favourite restaurant?  

Al di la, in Brooklyn, New York. Northern Italian, simple, delicious.

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order… 

If I knew it was going to be a last meal I would be far too nervous to eat anything! The last thing I want to do when I am sad or upset is eat and drink. If the world is too much with me I do revert to a childhood meal of boiled eggs, toast with marmite and strong tea with sugar in it…

Rather ask me what I'd eat with people I like and who like to eat. The list would be endless, or very simple. Like a perfect baguette, thin ham and fresh butter. And a glass of something lekker.

Ja nee.

If you thought all trained cordon bleu chefs were as arrogant as Marco-Pierre White or as aggressively sweary as Gordon Ramsay – prepare to change your mind.  Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jaclyn (also known as @PrncessJacalini on Twitte) - the chef behind Chef Privé.  She is neither sweary nor arrogant – but she is a self-professed food nut, and the array of delicous recipes on her blog pays tribute to this beautiful obsession.  So pull up a kitchen chair and let's have a chat with her:

1. Where are you – in South Africa or out in the wide world?  

I live in Cape Town, but I was born in the sleepy town of Bulawayo, in beautiful Zimbabwe.

2. How long have you been blogging? 

Chef Privé only started in February 2010, but growing actively.  In blog-time it's the equivalent of the terrible-2's – we've found we have a voice, and this period of self-discovery & boundary-testing is a challenge & a delight for all involved.

3. What do you enjoy the most about food or wine blogging?  

I started blogging because I'm inspired by the combined creative processes involved: cooking, styling food, photography & writing.  I also love sharing my epicurean obsession with other similarly inspired folk. It's like therapy for food junkies, just without the bad coffee, cigarettes & flannel.

4. Any downsides or frustrations? 

I have a pretty full-on day job which sometimes spills over into the evenings, so finding the time to blog is my biggest obstacle at the moment. 

5. What or who are your inspirations to cook, drink and write?  

My grandmother was my inspiration when learning to cook, as she was the stereotypical food-fanciful matriarch of our family.  My mother has extraordinary elocution & an impressive comprehension of the English language, and so perhaps my inspiration to write came from her.  As for the drinking part, well, dues must be paid to Silwood Kitchen and the Cape Wine Academy, as they taught a young, hapless Zimbabwean girl to quaff a wide array of drink at all hours of the day, all in the name of getting an education!

6. Where and when do you like to blog?  

I blog at 3am when I've lost the battle with insomnia.  I also blog on the WordPress app on my iPhone when I'm out & about.  Modern technology allows us to pretty much take out blogs with us wherever we go, kind of like that Chicken Licken advert where that guy has a growing toy orangutang masquerading as his hunger attached to his back. Yeah, just like that actually.

7. What's your signature dish or favourite wine?  

I'm not really into signature dishes.  I enjoy cooking rustic, al fresco Italian cuisine, as it's so simple & the seasonal, sun-ripened, grown-in-your-back-yard ingredients are made to be the hero.  Osso buco is probably my favourite dish to make, probably because of my strange love of gremolata.  It has the same effect on me as catnip does to cats.  We'll leave it there. 

Wine-wise, my favourite wine would have to be a very cold Provençal rosé on a very hot day by the sea.

8. What other food or wine blogs do you read?   I

I just adore Béatrice Peltre's La Tartine Gourmand.  It's a feast for the senses – I love the way Béa writes.  Her stories & recipes for the Boston Globe food section entice & delight me constantly.

9. Favourite restaurant?  

I simply have far too many favourites to list.  Thomas Maxwell in Johannesburg ranks high up there. I'm part of the outdoor furniture at Jardine Bakery (sadly closing soon) – Captain Bread makes a bacon croissant that will  literally make your toes curl. 

10. For my last meal on this planet I would order… 

Kylie Kwong's book Heart & Soul contains a recipe for carpaccio of wagyu beef with Parmigiana Reggiano, baby rocket, black figs & capers.  That'd be it.  Finished and klaar.