We Went Cooking In The Karoo

karoo-1

A couple of weeks ago, I headed out to the big blue of the Karoo for a weekend of recipe sharing and cooking demonstrations at the recreational cookery school, African Relish. And I think I came back without my heart.

African Relish is nestled in the artisan town of Prince Albert in the Karoo, it’s an oasis village, full to the brim with interesting and intriguing characters from far and wide, and it’s a place to fall in love with. And the enchanting cookery school itself is the love child of Jeremy and Di Freemantle, and their business partners Philip and Lisa Key.

The weekend of feasting, meeting new friends, reuniting with old friends and completely wonderful food and wine was one of my favourite, well, ever. There’s something totally magical about the peace and quiet of the Karoo, the slow pace of life (says almost every city slicker who ever spent time in a small village, but it’s a cliche for a very good reason), and being in a room full of people who are all there to celebrate and learn about the same thing.

My co-host for the weekend was none other than our much loved and esteemed South African food and wine guru, Michael Olivier who didn’t just arrive with the most amazing arsenal of recipes up his sleeve, but with some of South Africa’s best wines too, which we gladly enjoyed all weekend long. We’re hugely grateful to all our food and wine sponsors for spoiling us.

We very ably assisted in the kitchen by Sue Barber, who I love for her straight-talking-quick-thinking sharp wit and buckets of warmth. And of course, our most amiable and endearing host, Jeremy Freemantle, who is himself an accomplished chef and connoisseur. Jeremy is well supported by his kitchen team, headed up by the lovely Simone, who showed us all a thing or two about staying calm in the wake of happy kitchen chaos, and how to tame a sourdough loaf into crusty, bready glory.

Our weekend kicked off with Jeremy hosting Michael, Sue and I at his home, along with his daughter Julia (who’s also one of my favourite friends from university), and a whole slew of colourful and character-filled Prince Albert locals. Jeremy served up home made pasta sheets with nasturtium and cashew nut pesto, incredible slow-cooked chicken cacciatore with creamy polenta, and then beautiful rose-water creme brulees. It was all done with admirable unflustered aplomb and we went to bed in our little Karoo cottage with very happy hearts.

On Friday morning Michael, Sue and I headed to the school first thing (braving the Karoo chill) and started on our prep along with Simone and Jeremy’s kitchen team. Sue soon showed us that she’d be invaluable to our little trio, and from that minute until the last she worked tirelessly to keep everything flowing smoothly. Our wonderful guests arrived on Friday at lunch time, and we kicked off the welcome with beautiful Simonsig bubbles, and then a simple lunch before heading into the kitchen to get cracking on the first of our demonstrations, which ran through until Sunday morning.

So, a huge and heartfelt thank you once again to all the wonderful guests who joined us with so much interest and enthusiasm, and to the African Relish team for making us so welcome, and of course to Michael and Sue who were the very best kitchen couterparts a girl could wish for.

You can see all my photos from the weekend on my Facebook page.

Here’s how the menu rolled out
(And then you’ll understand why we all headed home vowing to eat nothing but soup for a week)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Sarah Cooked
Tomato and Goats Cheese Tarte Tatin
Slow-cooked Chicken with Chorizo and Parmesan Dumplings
Roasted Brandied Clementines

Michael Cooked
Tuscan-style Chicken Liver Toasts
Roast Stuffed Shoulder of Lamb with North African Flavours
Hazelnut and Apple Galette with Glazed Clemengolds

SATURDAY MORNING
Sarah Cooked
Balsamic Mushroom & Barley Salad
Roasted Butternut & Lentil Salad
Quinoa, Pea and Goats Cheese Salad
Grilled Honey & Soy Trout with Sweet Potato & Dill Salad, and Avocado Mayonnaise

Michael Cooked
Barley, Roasted Cauliflower, Almond and Feta Salad
Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Apple Salad
Sicilian Baby Marrows
Tuscan-style Brick Chicken

SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Sarah Cooked
Lamb Chops with Minty Gremolat and Rosemary Polenta
Rosemary Panna Cotta with Spiced Clemengold Syrup
Braaied Yellowtail with Bo-Kaap Spices
Barbequed Marinated Rib-Eye Steak

SUNDAY MORNING
Sarah – Spicy Baked Breakfast Eggs
Michael – Goats Cheese and Broad Bean Frittata

karoo-2
Michael Olivier and Sue Barber