Cities are remarkably good at distancing consumers from the food they are eating. What is the impact of this? Our health suffers, the environment suffers and animals suffer. We need to reconnect with our food. We need to be aware of where it comes from and how it was produced so that we can change this system.

As consumers we have the power to change the way things are done. The slow food movement is 20 years old and convivia around the world dedicate themselves to reconnecting people with their food and those that produce it.

Dax Villanueva only became aware of the moral deficiencies and unsustainability of first world living recently. In this time he has slowly been making the transition from slacktivist to activist. He is passionate about educating others and he does this through is blog, Relax with Dax, and his involvement in the Slow Food Mother City convivium.

A delicious and affordable (from R35) brown bag lunch will be on sale at the venue.

Date: Thursday 22 July

Time: 12:45 for 13:00pm

Venue: Lobby Books, Cape Town Democracy Center, 6 Spin Street

Contact: Andreas Spath at aspath@idasa.org.za or 021 467 7606

Parking options:
Street parking in the area is safe and will cost you R3.50 per hour.
Parking garages open to the public in the area include:

Plein Park (Plein Street; to get to the entrance, turn off Plein Street into Barrack Street and then into Corporation Street).
Mandela Rhodes Place (entrance in Burg Street, off Wale Street)

Via IDASA

Executive Chef Garth Almazan explains the concept, which is about more than simply using free-range meat: “The creation of the ‘Free Range Fridays’ menu was inspired by the concept of ‘Nose to Tail Eating’ trend, which celebrates the tradition of making a delicious virtue of using every part of the animal. Although many people who have savoured organ meat, advocate its intense flavours and tastes, it is also very much in line with the trend for healthier eating, with organ meats boasting an impressive range of health benefits.”

Pan-fried calves liver, on the Catherina's menue for Free-range Fridays

This a chance to try delicacies ranging from pan-fried bone marrow with bulgar wheat stuffing, and poached lamb’s tongue with parsley puree and truffle dressing; to confit of miso sake pork belly and riz de veau (pan-fried sweetbreads) with oxtail rillette. Local producers providing the humanely raised meat include Steve Jeffery, who has long been supplying Catharina’s with fine charcuterie.

Slow Food Mother City loves the idea of nose-to-tail eating. No part of an animal should be wasted. This, along with the nutritional benefits of eating vitamin and mineral-rich organ meat, is why offal is a part of most traditional cuisines. It’s not a “trend”, it’s just something we’ve forgotten how to do!

Bookings essential. Contact 021 713 2222 or visit www.steenberghotel.com.

Dr Nicky Allsopp tells us that pretty much all of these mushrooms are inedible...

Exciting finds for kids of all ages!

Look sharp - it can be easy to miss perfect specimens

White gills - be afraid...

Rainbow fungi nation!

Yum! Yes, you can eat pine rings.

Mushroom soup - hot from the boot!

Mushrooming meets high fashion

If you’d like Dr Nicky Allsopp to help you identify a mushroom you’ve found, e-mail a photo of it to her.

Mushroom soup recipe

Serves 4

25g butter
1 large leek, white part only, sliced
400g brown and/or Portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 tbls flour (or brown lentils)
100ml red wine, sherry or brandy
Squeeze of lemon juice (about ¼ of a lemon)
½ tsp dried thyme and/or rosemary
10g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 250ml warm water
750ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
50ml sour cream (optional)

1. Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 250ml warm water for about half an hour.
2. Fry the leek gently in the butter until soft, then add the mushrooms and allow to cook down for a few minutes.
3. Add the flour. You can also use brown lentils to thicken the soup, and they’ll enhance the mushrooms’ nutty flavor.
4. Add the booze and cook for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
5. Add a large squeeze of lemon and the herbs, and stir for a minute or two, then add the porcini mushrooms with their liquid.
6. Add the stock, bring soup to the boil, turn the heat down, and then simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Take the soup off the heat, puree until smooth and season with salt and pepper.
8. Stir in the cream, if using (you can also substitute milk for some of the stock if you want a creamier soup). Gently reheat the soup. Serve with buttered seed bread.

A ruffled mushroom (not poisonous!) popping up from the leaf litter

By the time we drove into the estate, the rain had abated, but the clouds were swirling and lurking in the mountain peaks overlooking the farm. We made our way to the unusual-looking Earth Centre building, with a living ‘green roof’ covered in grasses, where we were greeted by Simon and Pia. Inside we found chilled jugs of water filled with berries from the farm, which delighted the Danish and English friends we had brought with us.

A group of 20 Slow Fooders assembled and started the day sitting comfortably in the Earth Centre, while the rain resumed outside, and Simon gave us an introduction to Backsberg and its environmental initiatives. Just as we needed to set out on our walk, the rain stopped, and we enjoyed a half hour of strolling about the farm, with Simon showing us the interventions that have been made to help Backsberg achieve its status as the first carbon-neutral winery in South Africa.

We saw simple things like smaller, more fuel-efficient tractors (which Dax did a fine job of posing next to like a tractor calendar model) and experiments with various types of bamboo which could be used to offset carbon. Everyone loved the wedding venue on the farm, which we all agreed will probably grow in popularity as more brides begin to demand ‘greener’ weddings, as well as the glass workshop which had beautiful pieces for sale from recycled glass.

We had a brief squizz into the cellar, dodging the bats who live there, before Simon left us in the capable hands of the Cellar Door Manager, Danwin James. Danwin was the highlight of the tour for many of us – aside from being very knowledgeable about the wines, he kept us throroughly entertained and laughing all the way through the tasting. We all know the correct method for tasting brandy now and the taste of the world champion ten year old left some of us gasping with delight!

After a frenzied spending spree after the tasting, and clutching boxes of the delicious wines, we staggered back to the Earth Centre where a delicious finger lunch buffet awaited us. The sun had made its way through the clouds and we lolled about on the lawn in front of the Earth Centre munching and chatting. There was a sense of gentle camaraderie among all the attendees by this stage, and we eventually left, full and happy, having learnt and tasted for ourselves how Backsberg is trying to lighten its footprint on our planet while still producing wines of the highest quality.

On 6 March 2010 a group of Slow Fooders visited Spier to learn more about their biodynamic farming methods. In particular, we wanted to know about their egg-laying and broiler chickens – we’d heard they lead happy lives, by chicken standards.

Spier farm manager, Christo, led us out into the pastures to meet the chickens and cows, who live in a fascinating symbiosis on the pastures.

Into the yonder... to the chicken coop! - Pia Taylor

This piece of land was almost destroyed by conventional farming methods, but is now being rehabilitated using biodynamic principles: the cows graze the grass, trampling some of it flat and churning the earth. They leave behind pats, where larvae grow. A few days’ later the chickens are moved onto the same piece of land, where they disperse the pats by scratching for grubs and further fertilise the soil with their own droppings. After a few rounds of this, the srubby pasture starts to look green and lush – it’s revitalised.

Cows doing their good work on the Spier pastures - Liz Metcalfe

Spier’s egg-laying chickens are completely free to run around at will (though Christo has specifically chosen ones that don’t like to range TOO far) and spend their evenings roosting a large coop (decorated by local kids), where they’re free to lay their eggs as and when they feel like it.

Egg-layers' mobile coop painted by local children - Liz Metcalfe

They’re also free to indulge in all sorts of poultry peccadillos, including chickens’ absolute favourite past-time: a feather-fluffing dust bath. These chickens will be good layers for up to five years (compared to less than two years for exhausted commercial hens).

Spier chickens taking a very enjoyable dust bath - Liz Metcalfe

The broiler chickens – the one omnivorous humans eat – are moved through the pastures in large cages, partly covered in shade-cloth. While they don’t run free – predators are too much of a danger – they’re still chirpy, as The Littlest Slow Fooder found out when she was introduced.

Toddler meeting her first real-life happy chicken - Pia Taylor

These broiler chicks come from the same place that commercial chickens are bred, and are ‘saved’ at one day old. “I see the crates of chicks being loaded onto the big trucks, and look at our couple of hundred chicks, and I think ‘this is your lucky day, guys’,” says Christo.

The chicks spend their first three weeks in this roomy shed, before going ‘out to pasture’ for another three weeks. During this time, they grow up to twice as big as conventional chickens – as much as 2.6kgs – eating bugs, seeds, some special feed, and getting strong scratching around in the dirt. Right now, the chickens are slaughtered at a site about 90 minutes away that has the requisite humane approach, but Spier has nearly finished their own slaughterhouse on the farm, which will mean chickens will be far less stressed at the end.

Reverent poem on the wall of the in-progress slaughter house - Liz Metcalfe

The poem on the wall, by Kahlil Gibran, reads in part:
By the same power that slays you, I to am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.

In the biodynamic tradition of ‘closing the circle’ on a farm, all inedible by-products of the slaughter will go into the Spier organic veggie garden compost heap. It will feed the soil that fed the chickens that fed us.

Strains of Mozart waft out over Spier's organic veggie garden... - Pia Taylor

“Yesterday evening, we attended a Slow Food function at & Union Beer Saloon/Charcuterie in Riebeeck Square off Bree Street, in the basement of the old St Stephen’s Dutch Reformed Church. We were there to taste their wide selection of imported beers and see how the flavours matched some of their charcuterie. We then ordered a light supper, very necessary after a beer tasting. As they say in their publicity, the Beer Giants (in SA and elsewhere) have forgotten how to be passionate about beer. The lads at & Union have lots of passion. They stock artisan beers from some of Europe’s’ oldest family run breweries. We started with an unfiltered lager, slightly cloudy and full flavoured, with a lovely creamy head; a good match for hard sharp cheese with mustard. Then a Gabriel Pils matched with some salametti which we dipped in chilli – it does indeed stand up to spicy food. Next came their Weissbier, which was a tinge light for us, but was a perfect match for some really excellent local smoked salmon which made it come alive. A dark lager from barley followed which went well with biltong and finally a Touro Triple Blond – fabulously deep and fruity, absolutely our favourite of the night. Sweet liquorice flavours with spices and fruit, this is a perfect match for spicy food, even fruit desserts and really nice to drink. It does have 10% alcohol, so you can’t (shouldn’t?) drink as much as you would of a lighter lager. We have to mention that we tasted a small sample of each beer – we’d not have reached home safely after full glasses. They also sell a small selection of quite pricy wines and tequila and the most expensive Whisky in Cape Town (they say) but they can’t have looked far – we know of far more expensive bottles of old whiskies in other places.

We ordered their Chalmar Beef & Coppa Ham Prego roll which comes with potato crisps, a tiny bowl of baby salad leaves and some more chilli sauce. Wonderful, tender beef, hot Prego with lots of flavour and a good deal for R60. Other items are a Cheese Bowl for R20, Cheese Board for R75; Paté for R35; Weisswurst for R30; Charcuterie Board for R65, etc. Prices of beer on the menu vary from R40 to R125 for the Touro. They train all their staff themselves and have taken 10 completely untrained men and given them a very good grounding, experience and careers. There is a lovely cheerful, friendly and helpful spirit about the place. And, when it’s not raining – it was yesterday – you can sit outside on the fenced off square.”

Sounds divine, hey? To join the Main Ingredient mailing list, e-mail johnford@iafrica.com.

THE EARLY AIMS OF SLOW FOOD MOTHER CITY
The aims for a new convivium in Cape Town were discussed and initially brainstormed at the first steering committee meeting, held 22 September 2009.

They are:
A convivium which organises regular, affordable events, focusing on taste education, relaxed meals and visits to food artisans and producers in the wider Cape Town area.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE: The new convivium should be transparently and effectively run by a small committee with 4-6 committee members, elected by its membership, but all members should feel welcome to attend committee meetings, and establish projects and organize events in their capacity as members. To this end, the committee should consider naming itself something less hierarchical, such as the working or planning group.

NATIONAL COOPERATION: The convivium should also unite with other convivia in South Africa, with a long-term aim to forming a regional body (Slow Food South Africa) to promote and coordinate the movement’s principles on a national level. Initial action would include placing all contact and event information on one website, to improve public access and awareness, and so that Slow Food members throughout the country are aware of and feel welcome at Slow Food events in other cities.

CREATING A NETWORK: The convivium should not be limited to monthly events or a traditional organizational structure. Ideally it will act as a network and meeting place for Capetonians, to meet like-minded people, mobilize on Slow Food issues and create their own interest groups and casual gatherings. For example, a Slow Food book club, a monthly beer tasting group, regular group outings to local markets, etc. An active, user-friendly website where members can connect and advertise such events and outings is essential to realizing this concept.

WIDENING MEMBERSHIP AND PUBLIC IMAGE: A key mandate of convivia is to promote public awareness of Slow Food values and the movement. An important aim of this convivium will be to attract new members, especially from demographics that have not been tapped locally, such as young families and students. This convivium will strive to have a vibrant, active and appealing image, and will purposefully market and publicise its events, ethos and membership.

Slow Food celebrates, protects and promotes foods that are good, clean and fair.

Good food is delicious, natural and part of our cultural heritage.
Clean food is grown sustainably, in an environmentally responsible manner.
Fair food is produced by farmers and artisans who have food sovereignty: they are free to choose how, when, where and what food they produce, and are properly remunerated and respected for their work.

We achieve this by:

• Safeguarding local and indigenous dishes, made according to traditional methods
• Giving preference to foods that are grown and produced sustainably, by small farmers and producers, using traditional skills and methods
• Regarding meal times as an opportunity to celebrate our relationships and cultures
• Believing the enjoyment of food is a right of all people

We offer monthly activities to promote these values. These events include meals, tastings, farm outings and producer visits.

Slow Food Mother City is run by a committee of elected volunteers. Guests are also welcome to attend our events.

How you can get involved:

• Join our mailing list.
• Join Slow Food Mother City
• Read more about our events