The Washer Up feeding the elephants in an attractive green poncho and bandana combination…

Stunning cakes at Ile de Pain in Knysna….

A delicous pink sparkling on Valentines Day….

A stunning tomato risotto at Sand at The Plettenberg….

Startled monkeys….

Baked Camembert with green fig preserve, honey and almonds amongst the vines at Bramon Wine Estate Plettenberg.

Exotic birds…

Beautiful hotels…

The best Portuguese custard tarts in the world…

Meet Piccolo, the cutest dog in Montagu….

A sweet potato brûlée tart with asparagus at Haute Cabriere…..

An amazing tomato and boconcini salad at Reuben’s…..

A gorgeous fig and frangipane tart with goats yoghurt ice cream from Bread & Wine…..

And much more to come…..

Order a bottle of your favourite wine and unwind while the chickens wander around on the lawn and under your feet.

Your picnic basket arrives with cutlery, plates and napkins and you will be handed a checklist with all the available food. Just tick the boxes next to the items and return it to the waiter.

My dad ordered the Caesar Salad with a soft poached egg, how could he resist with all those chickens running around, you don’t get much fresher than that.

We chose a loaf of fresh ciabatta to go with the three dips that we ordered. Jalapeño hummus, feta and herb dip and caramelised onion pâté.

We also decided on some Fairview goat’s cheese that was accompanied by a delicious watermelon chutney. There is a good selection of charcuterie items and salads as well.

There are hot dishes too like enormous burgers and their extremely popular pizzas. The Gorgonzola, caramelised onion, fig, rocket and walnut was very tempting. Matt the manager was also very proud of the roasted bone marrow with oxtail marmalade, so much so that he insisted that The Washer Up and my dad tried it.

They loved it, I enjoyed the salad that came with it!

This is a relaxed and informal lunch experience, definitely book, it gets busy, especially at weekends. Apparently they do a picnic breakfast at the weekends too. I’ll be back for that, no doubt about it.

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Fruit and veg are harvested year round for use in their restaurant, Babel. The garden is divided into fifteen areas for vegetables, fruits, berries, bees, indigenous plants, ducks and chickens. Gravity feeds water into waterways from a stream into the garden as it has done for 300 years.

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You can take a guided tour of the farm, as we did, before enjoying a lunch made from freshly picked fruit and vegetables you have just seen growing. Don't forget to stop off for a fresh herb tea in the beautiful greenhouse before lunch.

You can pick your own blend of fresh herbs from the garden. I chose lemon verbena, pineapple sage and mint which was refreshing and light and made up for the beautiful rose water and strawberry cupcake we couldn’t resist to go with it.

Lunch at Babel is a joyful celebration of fresh local produce served in a natural and generous way.
The maxim of the restaurant’s creator, Maranda Engelbrecht Cape Town’s food and style guru, is that the food should be served as naturally as possible, not messed about with or chopped into oblivion. Pick, clean and serve is her approach and it works. You really get that “fresh from the garden to the table” feeling.

The restaurant is in a converted cow shed with floor to ceiling glass walls and white painted original brick. It is light, informal and incredibly chic. The menu reflects the seasons and what has been harvested that day. The salads are either red, green or yellow and abundant with beautiful produce in that colour. Speaking to Maranda she told me that she wanted the fruit and vegetables to be the main ingredients and the meat and fish to be additional. We chose the yellow which included edible lilies, passion fruit and carrot, papaya, tamarillo, pineapple, nectarines, yellow heirloom tomatoes, roasted corn and melon. You could add smoked trout, chicken or yoghurt cheese but it was perfect without.

It is the attention to detail that makes this such a memorable experience. The freshly made bread was served with a herb oil made from a mixture of herbs from the garden.

We were given an aperitif of chenin grapes and cheesecake mouse which was stunning.

I ordered the Artichoke & Goats Cheese Tart with caramelised onion, tamarillo & basil for my main.

The pastry was so crumbly and light and the filling creamy and delicious. All the main courses come with chips and vegetables. Now about those chips….

They were the best I’ve ever tasted. The Washer Up (who makes amazing chips) was not pleased to be knocked off the top spot but these were special. Thick and chunky,hand cut, very crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. The perfect chip served with course sea salt, cracked pepper and fresh lemon to squeeze over. The Washer Up insists it must be a superior potato to the one he uses. Something about the workman always blaming his tools comes to mind.

After lunch we had the absolute pleasure of meeting with Maranda Engelbrecht one of the driving forces behind this incredible concept. She let us have a look around her new venture there that is almost ready to launch. Another converted barn being made into a delicatessen and bakery selling freshly baked breads, homemade charcuterie and cheeses as well as a wine tasting area. Is there no end to this woman’s talents? She is leading the food revolution in South Africa and I, for one, am definitely on board.

Thanks Maranda, it was a pleasure….

It is a beautiful hotel with an amazing reputation and I was surprised (in a good way) that the chef Rudi Leibenberg had decided to go with the very risky idea of offering a vegan tasting menu in such a traditional hotel.

Turns out it was one the best decisions he ever made. Apparently everyone is pleasantly surprised with the success of the menu. It seems that this forward thinking, open minded chef is leading the way. There is a definite change happening. Diners are moving towards a more health conscious, lighter way of eating.

On the night we were there, he had a “chef’s table” of ten people all eating a specially designed vegan and raw tasting menu. And most of them were men!

Apparently the chef’s idea was to challenge his team, to stop them being complacent. I, for one, am so glad he did this. Each of the six courses can be accompanied by a wine pairing that is vegan too. Who knew that there was vegan wine? I certainly didn’t.

The fabulous sommelier and restaurant manager Carl informed us that he had actually embarrassed himself by laughing when a group of vegans asked if the wines were vegan too. He thought they were joking. It turns out they weren’t laughing.

The highlight for me was the raw beetroot ravioli (above) stuffed with a cashew nut “cheese” purée and served with a tomato consommé. But all of it was gorgeous and all vegan. Thank you Rudi for being brave enough to go there. The rest are following, I can’t wait….

At The Waterfront. We shared the Vegetable Tian with Tempura Prawns, delicious. The Washer Up ate the prawns… The tian was layers of avocado, tomato and roasted vegetables with a sweet chilli sauce.

I had the Butternut Squash & Feta Salad as my main course, it had lovely crunchy butternut crisps. Forgot to get the recipe…..

The Washer Up was also happy with the beer..

Pretty bleached wood interior and fantastic views of the harbour…

Hasta mañana

The houses are all painted in beautiful chalky bright colours and the smell in the air alternates between freshly roasted coffee and ground roasted spices. My idea of heaven.

This is the apartment we are staying in. I could seriously live like this.

The aloe vera plants on our roof terrace are out of control. They are in fairly small pots and they seem to produce new leaves overnight. So many leaves that the pots are actually splitting. The Washer Up decided to cut them back today which meant we had carrier bags full of aloe vera leaves.

It seemed such a shame to throw them all away so I did a google search to see how difficult it would be to make some aloe vera moisturiser. After all I buy aloe vera face cream from Mercadona. It turns out that it is really easy (if a little messy). All you do is blend the fresh aloe gel with some sweet almond oil (that you can get from the pharmacy) and there you have it. Your own 100% natural aloe vera  moisturising gel.

It admitedly looks a little bit like snot but disappears into your skin really quickly and leaves it feeling, soft, smooth and nourished. The Washer Up’s hands are reaping the benefits and I can defintely see the difference in my face.

Homemade Aloe Vera Moisturising Gel

Makes 1 jam jar.

• about 200 gr aloe vera gel  (I used about 4 big leaves)
• 1 or 2 tsp sweet almond oil
• a few drops of your favourite essential oil if you want it to be scented (optional)

You  may want to use gloves and protect the worksurface with a plastic bag or something.

The aloe starts to oxidise (turn red) quickly once it is cut so you have to do it straight away.

Split the aloe leaves down the middle, open them out and scrape the slimy gel out onto the scales with a teaspoon.

When you have about 200 gr tip into a bowl or blender with 1 or 2 teaspoons of almond oil and blend until smooth and slimy.

Tip into a sterilised jar and keep in a cool place (my bathroom is freezing) or in the fridge in summer.

This can be used as a face, hand and body moisturiser but it is also excellent for burns, sunburn, skin irritations and mosquito bites.

Things That Made Me Smile Today…….

The almond blossom is really early this year because of the mild weather we have been having up until this weekend which has been freezing cold. I love the candy floss trees with their barely pink delicate blooms. It is one of my favourite things about living here, it signifies that spring is not too far away.

I have some very exciting news to tell you. Next week we will be going to Cape Town. As many of you will already know, my Dad lives there so we are primarily going to see him but also….

We are going for three weeks, during which time I will be travelling around the Cape eating in some of the best and most popular restaurants the region has to offer.

I am a contributor to Getaway Magazine which has won South African Travel Blog of the year for two years running. They recently held an award ceremony of their own in Cape Town (which my dad attended on my behalf) and to my complete surprise I won the award for best food blog!!

I will be compiling a list of the best restaurants for vegetarian food (not vegetarian restaurants) in the area with reviews, recommendations, and a Vegetarian Culinary Journey Route.

We  start the tour in Cape Town then move on to Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Montagu, Robertson, Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and then back to Cape Town again.

We have lunch and dinner booked in a different restaurant every day. Such is the quality and choice of fabulous restaurants out there, there are still quite a few that I won’t have time to get to unfortunately.

I will be taking my camera to photograph the restaurants and food and will hopefully be posting a quick photo daily just to let you know where we are and what we’ve eaten.

I have also asked if the chefs in these gorgeous restaurants would be willing to share the recipe for one of  their favourite vegetarian dishes for me to recreate when I return home.

I have already received some fantastic recipes for such delights as, Goats Cheese & Beetroot Lollipops from Peter Tempelhoff, winner of award for Best Chef 2011. Peter is Executive Chef for three of the best restaurants in South Africa including The Greenhouse, winner of the award for Best Restaurant 2011.

As you can probably tell I can’t wait to get started. We leave on Tuesday, arrive on Wednesday morning and have lunch booked at Harbour House at The Waterfront in Cape Town.

For dinner we have reservations at The Mount Nelson Hotel’s restaurant Planet. The Mount Nelson (or Nellies as it is affectionately known) is a local institution famous for their afternoon tea. The Planet chef, Rudi Leibenberg has had the foresight and invention to create a four and six course vegan tasting menu. Yes, a vegan tasting menu! It must be the first one ever.

I will let you know the rest of our itinerary when we get there. But until then I’ve got some ironing and packing to be getting on with…

Lemons are everywhere here at the moment. I use lemons a lot in my cooking to brighten up soups, curries, salads and dips. Most of my dishes are finished of with a squeeze of lemon before serving. It just highlights all the other flavours and brings the dish to life.

I saw Nigella make a lemon polenta cake that looked delicious. Hers had quite a bit of butter in it so I thought I’d try to make it with olive oil instead. I have some amazing first press newly harvested local stuff to play with and I’m always looking for excuses to use it in anything.

You should always keep olive oil (or anything really) in glass bottles if you can. Plastic affects the chemical make up of things especially when heated.  Like you should never use cling film when microwaving things. Or drink water out of a plastic bottle that has been in the sun. Microwaves are nasty anyway. Ours broke a few years ago and we have never replaced it. I honestly don’t miss it at all.

Most recipes also use a mixture of polenta, plain flour and ground almonds. I wanted to make a gluten-free, dairy-free version so I tried it without the flour. It works…

Lemon Polenta Olive Oil Cake

Makes a 24cm/9 inch cake, serves 12. Dairy-free, gluten-free.

Adapted from A Meandering Mango

Prep time: 15 mins Cooking time: 45 mins

• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 160 gr (3/4 cup) brown sugar (or raw sugar)
• 80 ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
• 2 large lemons, zested & juiced
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 190 gr polenta (cornmeal)
• 75 gr (1/2 cup) ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 150 C and oil a 24 cm loose bottomed cake tin.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and creamy (about 4 mins). Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, continuing to whisk until all the oil is combined. Whisk in the lemon zest and vanilla.

In another bowl, stir together the polenta, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. Sieve this mixture over the eggs and sugar in 3 batches, alternating with the lemon juice, folding until just combined.

Pour into the oiled cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve with a light dusting of icing sugar. You can also make a lemon syrup to drizzle over if you think it needs it. Heat up some lemon juice and icing sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Use a cocktail stick or piece of dried spaghetti (authentic Italian version) to make holes all over the top of the cake. Pour the syrup slowly over the top of the cake letting the syrup sink in.

Buen Provecho!!

In my next post I will be making an exciting announcement about what I will be getting up to over the next month…

Stay Tuned!!

The inspiration for this dish came to me because at the moment, where I walk the dog in the mornings, they are harvesting potatoes and cauliflowers.

One of my favourite Indian dishes is Aloo Gobi which is potatoes and cauliflower cooked in a spicy masala. It is real Indian comfort food, the potatoes and cauliflower are meltingly soft, this is no time for al dente vegetables!

 Serving it in a filo tart shell just gives it a little contrast in texture. The delicate crisp filo is the perfect vehicle for the Aloo Gobi and it makes it look a bit more special too.

The recipe for this tartlet is over with Tiffany at Como Water. I was really honoured when Tiffany asked me to guest post on her blog.

I first “met” Tiffany as a friend on Foodbuzz and quickly discovered that we have very similar values and taste in food. I would even go as far as to say that we are foodie kindred spirits. I really hope that one day that we can meet in person and have a very long lunch somewhere gorgeous! This is her introduction:

When I was fourteen, I decided to defy the codes of my family and of my community.  I stopped eating meat. With a splash of age, a sprinkle of food documentaries, a dash of books about the food industry, and a bushel of life experiences, vegetarian and vegan food went from being something I approached rather nonchalantly to becoming a way of life. I started comowater.com to share information and to share my meatless meals, to dialogue with people who approach food from perspectives that may be similar to or very different from my own, and to showcase what I cook on average nights and on special occasions. This site is not about conversion or pushing an agenda. Instead, I hope that folks–vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians, pescatarians, and carnivores alike–come to comowater.com to be inspired to make their own vegan and vegetarian cuisine prepared with passion and love.

She also has a “When You Need a Boost Page” filled with really inspirational quotes. This is one of my favourites:

“Everything you could ever want or to be, you already have and are.” ~I Heart Huckabees~

They are busy harvesting leeks at the moment where we walk the dog in the morning. I like leeks, they have a milder flavour than onions and they don’t make you cry when you chop them.

Leeks are one of those vegetables that have a strong supporting role in many dishes but hardly ever get to play the lead. Seeing fields full of row after row of them made me think about making them shine.

Leeks and white beans have an affinity. They have a history of working together in such classics as Cassoulet and Tuscan White Bean Soup. Rosemary is often found hanging around in the background with these two, completing the love triangle and it is flowering beautifully at the moment. Shall I stop with the film metaphors now and get on with the recipe?

Rustic Leek & White Bean Soup with Rosemary

Serves 4, Vegan, gluten free

• Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time 20 mins
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 sticks celery, finely sliced
  • 3 leeks, trimmed, halved lengthways, rinsed and sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tin/jar (400 gr) cooked white beans, drained & rinsed
  • about 500 ml veg stock
  • salt & black pepper
  • a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

  Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Cook the leeks, celery, rosemary and thyme with a pinch of salt for about 4 minutes until softened but not browned. Then add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

  Blend half of the drained beans with splash of stock or water to a smooth puree. Add the pureed beans to the pan and stir to combine.  Pour in the veg stock and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the beans.

  Add in the whole beans, lower the heat to a simmer, season with salt & black pepper and cook  for about 10 minutes. Stir in the fresh parsley and taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

  

  Buen Provecho!!

  As promised here are some more pictures of our visit to the beautiful Alcazaba in Malaga. This is the view from the outside with the amphitheatre in the foreground.

  

  Inside is a study in  exquisite Moorish archways…..

  

  Leading through to hidden doorways and secluded patios………….

  

  Elaborately tiled ceilings…

  

  And floors….

  There are more pictures to follow on my next post…..