Episode 2: What You Can’t Tell From Your Couch

There are so many colourful goings-ons behind-the-scenes that I feel like everything would be two dimensional if I didn’t share a few snapshots with you about each episode.

Episode 2 starts with us visiting the Tokai Earth Fair Market, who very made us very welcome while we moseyed around and bought delicious bounty like chorizo and freshly pressed olive oil. It then finds me back home, and feeding some of the simplest but most lovely food of the series to some of my favourite people. It’s also the first time I’m joined in the kitchen by anybody other than Rob (who happens to be away) and which resulted in a few off-camera hysterics and more than enough on-camera not-always-witty banter.

In the kitchen you’ll meet Rita, who you already met in Episode 1, who helps me with the chicken skewers even though she’s a vegetarian (what a rockstar), and Jenks, who gallantly basted our lamb chops with the rosemary basting brush for what seemed like 2 hours while we worked our way through various takes. Jenks and I were at school together back in the sleepy little town of Gweru in Zimbabwe, and we’re old friends.

You’ll also meet the Traffords, who are British friends of ours and Noordhoek imports, the Princes who are amazing American missionary friends of ours, and a whole happy gang of gorgeous kiddies (Thandie, Tommy, Kieren and of course Sophie).

In my kitchen you will also see some of the most beautiful crockery known to man (including one of my favourite mugs), and it comes from The Pause Room in Cape Town. Michelle was amazing at sourcing beautiful bitten-esque pieces for us and they were all well-loved.

Because each episode is filmed over two days, that meant we usually filmed all the non-guest interactions and cooking parts on day 1, and then towards the end of day 2 the guests would start arriving, watch a bit from behind camera, do their bits on camera under the very capable guidance of our (astonishingly amazing) director Chris Lotz, and then we’d end up with a very jolly and very real feast, tucking into all the food. It was ridiculously fun.