As an animal lover and co-owner of a menagerie of furry and feathered creatures, I was excited to hear about an upcoming cheese and wine tasting to help the 4Paws animal shelter.
Organised by the non-profit initiative Judd and Clawds Helping Hands (see the December 2010 issue of CLEO for more), it’ll take place at the Walkhaven Dog Park in Muldersdrift on the 27th of November 2010, 6pm for 6.30pm.
And it’s not just a tasting – there’s a special buffet dinner, followed by Chasers chocolate shooters and the awesome live band Seven Car Pileup. There’ll also be great prizes up for grabs and auctions and raffles on the night. All this for only R120 per person!
So come and have a fun-filled evening in the countryside knowing that you’re doing your bit to help animals in need.
• For more info, contact Claudia on 082 828 5597 or 082 568 7525. Email
jchelping.hands.sa@gmail.com• For more about 4Paws or if you’re interested in making a donation or adopting an adorable furball, contact Merinda on 083 377 3219 or email
merinda@4ourpaws.org.za____________________________________________________________________________
Food, wine but so much more!If you still haven’t got your tickets to the Good Food& Wine Show taking place in Durbs from the 25th – 28th November 2010, then hurry up or you’ll really miss out!
There are a whole lot of new and exciting stalls that go beyond what you’d expect at a food expo.
This year they’ve got the cocktail championships where SA’s finest bartenders will be competing against one another in a display unlike anything you’ve seen before. And this competition is huuuge! The winners will go on to represent SA in the World Bartending Competition.
Want to meet your favourite
7de Laan stars? Then Oppiekoffie Coffee is where you need to be. This is an awesome hang-out where you’ll be sure to find Charmaine, Annelie, Kabelo, Aggie, Lukas, Clara, Zinzi, Felicity and Bernard.
If cooking is your thing then head down to the interactive food theatre set up by the Good Food & Wine Show and BBC Lifestyle. You get to cook alongside BBC celebrity chefs, as well as our local chefs. A chance in a lifetime!
Speaking of cooking and chefs, we got to chat to our very own Jamie Oliver, Durban-born Justin Bonello recently. In the past seven years, he’s directed and presented several series including the very well-known
Cooked, aired on BBC. He has published three books –
Cooked in Africa, which is a bestseller,
Cooked Weekends Away and
Out of the Frying Pan on shelves soon.
Justin, we’ve heard you’re pretty much self-taught – where does your passion for food come from?I’ve just always loved food – I remember when I was a kid, I raided some strawberry fields and didn’t realise the evidence was on my mouth – rings of strawberry juice! I also used to catch fish and collect mussels and then there was my gran who taught me to make pancakes.
Do you ever consult recipe books?I’m more of a “
gooi together” person. Just the other day, I created a real hit by
gooiing things together for my 16 friends who came round for lunch. It was an Italian potjie (!) with lamb and gnocchi. But I’ve also worked in professional kitchens and there are just some things you need to know from a recipe book like how to make a Hollandaise sauce or a proper crème brûlée.
What are your favourite dishes to make?Any pasta dish and spaghetti and meatballs!
What are your favourite cuisines?I love Thai food – I’ve been to Thailand as my father lives on Ko Panang. What appeals to me is that they use super fresh produce to cook with.
What will you be up to at the Good Food & Wine Show in Durbs?I’ll be part of the food theatre and this time around, I’m on a mission to educate people about where their food comes from. I’ll be getting them to taste food so they can identify for themselves the difference between free-range and not, for instance.
You’ve got a new book about to hit the shelves called Out of the Frying Pan. Can you give us a heads up what to expect from it? It’s about my journey with food to where I am today. There are some difficult and easy recipes to work through, some home truths about food, and I believe if you work through this book, you can become an accomplished cook.
What advice would you give to someone who really wants to learn to cook?Think of cooking as food alchemy – playing with flavours, textures, combos. Throw things together to see if they work. Learn through trial and error about timing – like cooking veggies too long in the steamer will make them mushy etc. Mostly, just have fun!
Tickets for the Durban Good Food & Wine Show 25 are available online through Computicket and
www.gourmetsa.com
I just love cocktails in summer – Fino in Parkhurst makes the best Mojitos and The Office in Greenside makes an awesome Gingerbread Mule! But I digress… Last weekend after a bit of “cocktail hopping” around Jozi, I realised how hectically expensive it can get. So, this December holiday, I’ve decided to perfect a few fab cocktails recipes at home and impress my friends! It’ll be such fun to experiment and won’t break the bank.
So I thought, why not share these fab ideas? Then we can all be sipping on cocktails like the rich and famous. Here are my three personal favourites and I hope you enjoy making them and drinking them. Nasdrovia!
