Author Archives | Michelle Matthews

About Michelle Matthews

A report back on fabulous fig picking at Hoogwater

February 13, 2012

Comments Off

A barrel of Ladera shiraz with notes by Charles Osche

Raining? In February? We had to risk it – the fig season is over by the end of the month. So a bunch of Slow Foodies trekked out to Hoogwater farm in Wolseley. Hoogwater has an old, rather wild fig orchard, as well as peach and pomegranate orchards, a handful of cows and a donkey [...]

Continue reading...

Hoogwater fig-picking: 11 February 2012

February 6, 2012

Comments Off

Join us for a convivial lunch in the shade of the peach trees at Hoogwater Farm in Wolsely, followed by a stroll through the fig orchards where you can chose the juiciest fruit for yourself. Hoogwater farmer Charles Osche also makes wine, and will give us an introduction to them in the cellars before we [...]

Continue reading...

Plum pickings!

November 9, 2010

1 Comment

Avondale's ducks clear the vineyards of snails

Christmas is plum pudding time – yet the dark, rich pudding (with its restorative brandy tang) has always felt too heavy for our sunshine-filled holiday. So, instead, Slow Food Mother City will be celebrating the season in the orchards, eating the juicy fruit fresh from the trees!

Continue reading...

To the heart of good eating

June 27, 2010

Comments Off

Pan-fried calves liver at Catherina's at Steenberg

When Catharina’s started running a Meat-free Mondays menu late last year, some restaurant reviewers thought they’d gone nuts (and lentils). But the initiative (which ties into a global movement) has been a success, and now Catharina’s is once again making a quirky stand by introducing Free-range Fridays. Executive Chef Garth Almazan explains the concept, which [...]

Continue reading...

Fungi Foray

June 26, 2010

Comments Off

Tiny mushroom

Father’s Day dawned gloriously with perfect mushrooming weather – a crisp, clear morning after half a week of soaking rains. More than thirty slowfooders of all ages joined us to forage for fungi at the Tokai Arboretum… here’s a review with photos, and a recipe for mushroom soup!

Continue reading...

Honeysuckle

April 25, 2010

4 Comments

I always imagined mead as a rough kind of beer, something dark, brewed from hay and potatoes (or something like that), that would go well with a haunch of wild boar. So the mead tasting at Touch of Madness on Friday 23 April was a revelation.

Continue reading...

Salt and vinegar

April 11, 2010

1 Comment

Preserving is an ancient culinary technique that has recently been experiencing a revival. On Saturday 10 April, Oded Schwartz gave a fascinated group of Slow Fooders a ‘potted history’ of preserving, from why the root of ‘salt’ and of ‘war’ are so similar in Hebrew to why the origin of marmalade has more to do with quinces than oranges.

Continue reading...
Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes