When next in the Mother City, consider booking yourself on one of these five unique cooking experiences, says Sam Botes.
Table Mountain. Check. Robben Island. Check. Cape Peninsula. Check. This time while in Cape Town, indulge yourself and experience the city in a different way by joining one of the many experiential cooking classes available. And it’s not just tourists trying to learn something new, the locals are also getting in on the flavour.
1. Bake your own bread
There is something deliciously thrilling about smearing butter onto piping hot bread as it comes out of the oven.
BrizaBreads offer home-based bread baking classes which happen in Jeanette Clark’s spacious kitchen in Table View. Bread classes vary from soft milk bread rolls, cinnabuns and plaited breads to the popular sourdough bread classes.
All of the ingredients are provided for you; just be prepared to get stuck in and do your own mixing and kneading. There is something incredibly satisfying about taking on a few simple ingredients and creating a tasty, healthy bread.
2. French or South African cooking with Nadège
An evening spent with Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse will leave you tempted to book yourself on to one of her delectable culinary tours in France where you will eat, sing, cook and be… well, French!
Nadège conducts French and South African cooking classes from her home in Three Anchor Bay. Her cooking classes are very hands-on and each person will learn to create one starter, one main course and one dessert, from scratch, using traditional methods.
Not only do you learn new recipes but Nadège also gives content on the dishes and the areas in France or South Africa from where they come. She sources quality meat and fish and uses only the freshest seasonal fruit and vegetables in her cooking.
Nadège’s classes are fun and lively, and at the end of the evening the class will gather around her dining room table and indulge in their creations.
These cooking classes can be personalised around your individual requirements and needs; alternatively hand-pick from her wonderful dish suggestions (she has a repertoire of 300 recipes). Bon appetit!
3. Cook with Lindt Chocolate
Located at the Silo in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Lindt chocolate offers yummy cooking classes for those who simply can’t get enough of this fine Swiss product.
At the start of the class, participants are given a Lindt-branded hat, apron and jacket to wear while learning about chocolate and putting new techniques to the test during a dreamy chocolate class experience.
Master chocolatiers move continuously around the cooking studio and guide you every step of the way. There are five classes to choose from: truffles, fondant, cupcakes, macarons as well as their popular chocolate cake class.
At the end of the lesson you receive your own recipe card to take home, as well as your delightful chocolate creation.
4. Cook traditional Cape Malay food
If you have ever wandered about the dazzling, colourful houses in the Bokaap District, this is the perfect opportunity for you to satisfy that curiosity.
Gamidah Jacobs, master chef and owner of Lekkakombuis, warmly invites you into her home where she charismatically teaches you how to cook traditional Cape Malay food.
You will enjoy an insightful lesson where you will learn about spices, techniques and traditional methods on how to make five different dishes – samoosas, chilli bites, chicken curry, rotis and sambals – and you can then take your newly–refined skills home to replicate the meal.
This is a cooking experience both local and foreign travellers can enjoy. Everyone participates in creating one delicious feast and you enjoy the spoils of your work together.
Chefs are also able to pre-book an optional tour where they can explore the cobblestone streets and learn more about the fascinating history of this neighbourhood.
5. Forage for and prepare wildfood
Winner of the 2019 Cape Town Experiences, Veld and Sea claimed top spot in the ‘Most Authentic African Experience’ category.
Over the past six years, Roushanna Gray has evolved her unique cooking concept into one that encompasses education, sustainability and creativity.
As more people become conscious about the sustainability of our natural resources, and at the same time seek to use the freshest ingredients in their cooking, they are also becoming more daring in their food choices.
Depending on the season, Roushanna’s classes incorporate foraging for unique ingredients such as seaweed, shellfish, acorns, mushrooms and flowers, which are then harvested for the lesson.
Roushanna shares her expert knowledge of what is edible and how to best prepare these ingredients, as the lesson moves into her kitchen which is located at the Good Hope Gardens Nursery at Cape Point. There, a delicious meal bursting with fresh flavors is conjured up, and is enjoyed by the class.
The Essentials
Duration: Two hours (three hours including walking tour). Operating hours: Daily except for Sundays. Minimum number of people: two. Maximum number of people: 10 (larger groups on special request). Price: On request.
From Monday to Thursday at 18:00. Minimum number of people: two. From Friday to Sunday at 5pm. Minimum number of people: four. Price: R650 per person.
Pre-booked events only, Minimum number of people: two. Maximum number of people: 30. Price: Starting at R650, prices change according to the experience offering.
BrizaBreads
Classes available on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and begin at 11:00. Minimum number of people: One. Maximum number of people: Four. Price: R250 per person. Bookings: 073 8115500 (WhatsApp).
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. Minimum number of people: one. Maximum number of people: Varies per class. Price: From R395 per person; except R545 per person for the chocolate cake class.
Getting There
FLY SAA flies daily from Johannesburg to Cape Town and offers daily code-share flights from Durban to Cape Town operated by Mango Airlines. Book your tickets today.
