Your weekly dose of fantasy food sure to inspire cravings of the most delectable kind.
I’ll admit, I’m a little obsessed with Carte Noir ads at the moment, but really, after watching this, aren’t you? Rouge is just beautiful – all I want in the world right now is raspberries and chocolate!
When last did you use your avo slicer? Pizza cutter? Apple segmenter? Think back. Think really hard. Have you used it since the two weeks after you bought it? Invariably, the answer is no. I know I most certainly haven’t used my pizza cutter in a while. Though no-one I know seems to use these things much, we all have bottomless kitchen clutter drawers filled with just this kind stuff.
The old school dinner party. Image: http://www.ladlesandjellyspoons.com
Not being one for clubs, pubs or bars, I seem to do most of my socialising at dinner parties. I just enjoy them so much more than ‘going out’. You can actually talk to people, for one, and engage with interesting topics without having to shout over eardrum-piercing bass or fuzzy speakers with the volume too high. It’s so much cheaper – even for the host. If you get others to provide most of the booze, you can serve six or even eight with less than you’d spend on a drunken night out. You don’t have to deal with people you don’t want to deal with – you invite just who you please. But there are some rules, I feel, to hosting dinner or to being a guest. I found this handy article outlining the do’s and don’ts, and for once, I mostly actually agree with them!
The next installment of the Grumpy Gourmand: let the rant begin!
I am a people watcher. I stare, I spy, and I often get annoyed while carrying out my voyeuristic pastime. But why do I get annoyed? Bad habits and bad manners – especially in restaurants, drive me up the wall.
Sometimes the bad habits which irritate me so leak out of the bounds of the restaurant, into somewhere much more public, more open, and much more easily found. The internet. This week, my (rant/) column is on a particularly irksome subject: the amateur online review.
I visited I Love My Laundry a little while ago, and loved it. Because they’re so quirky and different, I decided to write my profile on them, rather than on a random semi-famous person. So, here we are
Walking in to I Love My Laundry from the streets of a bustling Saturday morning Cape Town is like breathing in fresh air. It has an atmosphere of calm, yet it is busy. There is an early morning regular here for coffee and breakfast dim-sum with her sons. Wiechert, the manager, is organising bags of laundry, fixing coffee and steaming dim sum all at once. There is much being done, yet there is not an ounce of frenzy in the room.
Braving rain, hail and gale force winds, I went searching for authentic Mexican food in Cape Town.. and found it!
Since going to America a few years ago and discovering the joy that is Mexican food, I’ve searched in vain for something authentic and similar in Cape Town. For the most part, all you get is cheese, beans, a little bit of vinegary guacamole, and more cheese. So when I heard about San Julian Taco and Tequila, an apparently authentic Mexican restaurant in the CBD, I wasn’t that all that hopeful. But the name kept coming up in magazines and blogs, and eventually I couldn’t help but take notice. It claimed to be real Mexican food, made by real Mexicans. So, finally, I decided to give Mexican in Cape Town just one last try, and even convinced a couple of fellow diners to come along.
Quirky decor, perfect lighting and good acoustics make San Julian fun but irresistibly comfortable. Image: Janet Swart
How many times have you decided to cook something classic for dinner – like spaghetti carbonara or risotto bianco – but ended up having to google the recipe because you can’t find it in any of your recipe books? I know I’ve found myself with countless recipes for everything from potato bread to raisin rolls, but not one recipe for a simple wholemeal loaf. With all the recipe books available today, many cooks, both new and experienced, feel overwhelmed, not knowing which will become firm favourites and which will be passing trends. It’s easy to be overcome by the glut of glossy, colourful and exciting cookbooks and not know where to start in building a comprehensive library. So, here’s a list of the ten classic must-haves covering all major areas to start you on your way to culinary know-how:
This is my idea for a column. I think I have enough things to grump about to keep it up for a good long while, don’t you think? This week’s grump:
Instagramming in Restaurants:
I am a people watcher. I stare, I spy, and I often get annoyed whilst carrying out my voyeuristic pastime. But why do I get annoyed? Bad habits and bad manners – especially in restaurants, drive me up the wall.
The Cape Town food scene is, it seems, a hub of bad manners. I don’t even know where to get started. Oh wait, yes I do. Instagram.
mediagourmand 