Last week I took some time off and went up to Natal to visit my mum.  The day I arrived I had the good fortune of being invited to a traditional Hindu wedding with over 800 guests!  I was really excited about the food.  You may or may not know that the largest Indian community outside of India reside in South Africa and a large percentage of South African Indians live in Natal.  As a vegetarian I was really excited about the food.  Hindu weddings are usually vegetarian and the food is often cooked over an open flame which really adds to the flavour.  After the ceremony which was filled with so much inspiring wisdom we were served Vegetable Biryani – a simple and humble dish which when cooked right is full of yummy flavour.  Portia has served an excellent Vegetable Biryani in the restaurant in past years.  Try out this recipe for yourselves:

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice

1 cup Mixed Vegetables (cauliflower, potato, carrot, french beans)

150 gms Green Peas

3 Finely Sliced Onions

2 Finely Sliced Green Chillies

Salt to taste

1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon(dalchini) and Caraway Seeds(zeera)

4 Cloves (laung)

1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder

4 Tomatoes

1/2 cup Yogurt (curd)

4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

3 tbsp Dry Fruits (cashew nuts, raisin)

Method :

Wash the basmati rice well before cooking.  Take rice with 3-3/4 cup water and a little salt added to it and 2 tbsp of dry fruits.  Cook it in a pot on the stove.

Cut all the vegetables into small thin pieces and fry in oil. Fry the green peas also.

Take 1 tblsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, green chilli, cinnamon and caraway seeds powder, cloves, black pepper powder and stir for about half minute. Then add onions and saute them for a minute ot till they get pink in color.

Add salt and red chilli powder and stir.

Add fine chopped tomatoes and fry till they are properly cooked.

Take the yogurt and make it fine by putting in a blender for just 2 rotations. Add this fine yogurt and stir well.Heat it for about 10 seconds.

Add all the fried vegetables.

Add the cooked rice and mix well with very light hands so that the rice grain doesn’t break. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Take this vegetable biryani out in a rice serving dish.

Garnish with dry fruits and green coriander leaves.

Serve the vegetable (veg ) biryani hot with raita and pickle.

Recently I spoke a little about our dynamic night manager Luthando.  Here is a picture of him:

Luthando Matsolo

Recently we realised that Thenji needed some assistance at the front desk – and some much needed time off! – and so you may now find Cynthia with a warm greeting when you arrive:

Cynthia

Richard Mkandawire who hails from Malawi has been with The Africa Cafe for many years and knows all of the systems inside and out.  He, together with Nandipha, who has been introduced before, is assisting Luthando as a supervisor so look out for his gentle face when next you have a question or request in the restaurant.

Richard

At Africa Cafe we always strive to make our home feel like your home and our staff like your family.

Happy New Year.  Yes it is late I know.  I tend to fall into a festive season slump.  That is probably closest to the truth.  However were I to offer justifications or excuses for the absence of any posts recently it would go something like this:

Luthando who manages the restaurant most nights took 3 weeks leave.  Those of you who have dined with us over the past 8 years may have met him and will remember him for his sweet smile and easy going attitude.  Easy going he may be but slow he is definitely not!  We are always trying to get him so slow down as he rushes up and down the stairs trying to make sure over a hundred people are getting what they want when they want it.  So without Luthando around Jason and I were sharing the nights and the late locking up.  And that’s my excuse – too many late nights left my brain feeling tired and mushy .

Here we are then in 2010 with a wonderful buzz in the restaurant as we are almost full still every night with lots of couples and families from all over the globe, many of whom are trying to escape the snow in Europe.  It definitely feels like a year of celebration.  The credit crunch will hopefully come to and end and the start of a new decade is always something worth getting a little tipsy over.  Of course everyone in South Africa is feeling excited about the World Cup Soccer later in the year.  I try to remember to celebrate something each and every day because we truly do have so much to be grateful for.  Mostly I am grateful to our beautiful planet for sustaining our existence and I hope that as we enter a new decade, we as a species learn to respect not only one another, but all life and remember to live each and every day for the highest good of all, remembering our oneness.

As we enter this new decade, may your hearts be filled with joy, love and laughter!

At The Africa Cafe we are not only famous for our food but for our decor as well.  We include our vibrant tableware in this category as each piece is carefully and caringly hand-painted at our ceramic studio with bold colours and patterns, bringing some of the art of Africa on to every table top.  Having the opportunity to also be involved in the creative process of these beautiful wares is a real privilege, but most of the credit has to go to those who work for us and do the painting. Our craftspeople come from the winelands, the city and the township. Some are trained and some learnt on the job. One picked grapes for an estate, another painted gold-leaf onto a lion on top of City Hall for six weeks.

Our head of design is Mfuneko Dingiswayo who was born in Langa, a township of Cape Town, in 1979.  His passion for his craft has been shown numerous times in the awards he has won for his beautiful one-off works as well as the success of the designs he creates for our various ranges of tableware and functional art.  Currently the Hornbill Bird Jug which Mfuneko created as a menu for the restaurant 3 years ago has been flying out of the studio faster than it can be produced!  Those who have recently dined with us will definitely have noticed the baby that was born of the original idea and which we use for our salad dressing.

Mfuneko Dingiswayo

This morning I was walking in Newlands forest and staring at my favourite section of the mountain with great fondness in my heart and I thought I must whip out my cell phone and snap it to share on the world wide web.  Cape Town is one of the most diverse cities in the world with world class beaches, mountain ranges, forests and spectacular valley’s all within 15 minutes drive from the CBD.  This is just one of the many reasons why I love living here and why I believe Cape Town is definitely a destination every nature-loving traveller should visit.  I invite you to sit back, take a long, deep breath and let the joy of my sky, my forest and my mountain fill your heart with peace as only nature can.  Happy Friday! Remo

The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Chief Seattle – 1853

“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it, as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us.

As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you.

One thing we know – there is only one God. No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart. We are all brothers after all.”

Imitation is the highest form of flattery or so they say.  Over the years we have been very very flattered.  Lately we noticed that people have been trying to imitate the recipe of our delicious wings and they can be found as close as right around the corner.  But the copy is never as good as the original.  Portia made up the recipe for these wings while on a family holiday in Namibia – Jason tells the story below:

“We were two weeks out on a four week trip ’round Namibia when we discovered an idyllic camping spot at the source of the Tsauchab River. This is the source of all the water that flows into Sossusvlei between the giant red sand dunes. We set up camp in a valley over-looked by steep, rocky cliffs, shaded by Fever Trees. We had Guinea Fowl to wake us in the morning and the barking of baboons to send us to bed at night. Occasionally a startled Kudu would stand in the path as one rounded the corner; in a word, it was very remote.

On the the day after we set camp Portia discovered the chicken wings had defrosted completely and were about to go off. Supplies of fresh meat were hard to find and she new that Lumai, Leo and I would be looking forward to a braai that night. She had to do something urgently!

As usual Portia always travels with a good selection of spices and condiments. Out came the spices, soya sauce and honey. Into the bowl went  the wings and the mixture and that’s where they marinaded until evening.

The day was spent lolling in pools and exploring the fresh spring as the sun baked down. That night as the day cooled off we lit our fire and braai-ed the wings. Leo ate one wing and said to Portia; “This is good. Where’d you get the recipe?’ Her reply,’Out of my head,’ seemed to please him. He loaded his paper plate and worked his way through about ten more.

Portia’s Sticky Chicken Wings became an all-time favourite and she put them on the next menu in the restaurant.”

As I write this I realise that the end of this year heralds the dawn of not only a new year but a new decade!  It feels like just yesterday that Y2K had us all in the grip of fear of a massive computer meltdown and various clever tricksters out there made millions virtually over-night getting everyone Y2K compliant.  Yes that was 10 years ago!  I feel I could begin philosophising about the past to no end but I have always preferred looking forward and so in the spirit of that here is the menu that we will be serving from December 1st that will see us into 2010 and beyond.  Some of the current dishes are remaining behind because of their mass popularity and others are returning for very much the same reason.  Happy Monday!

THE AFRICA CAFÉ

COMMUNAL FEAST – SUMMER 2009 & 2010

Cassava Bread

Baked tapioca & cheese flat bread

Channa Fish

Dusted with chic pea flour and fried

Moroccan Lamb Stew

Tender lamb stew sweetened with dates

Kenyan Coconut Chicken

Strips of filleted chicken breasts in a coconut milk sauce

Portia’s Sticky Chicken Wings

Grilled with honey & herb marinade

Kenyan Irio Patties

Spinach, potato and pea patties

Malawi Mbatata, Cheese and Sim Sim Balls

Sweet potato & cheese balls rolled in sesame seed

Ethiopian Aib

White curd cheese with home-grown herbs

Congolese Spinach

Spinach cooked with peppers, onion & tomato

Basmati Rice

Cape Malay Dhal Curry

Medium strength lentil curry

Zambian Bean Pies

Crispy pastry with red bean filling

Senegalese Stuffed Papaya

Scooped out halves filled with savoury rice & topped with sweet red pepper relish

Chic Pea Bites

Spicy chic pea, onion and dhanya bites

Mozambican Piri Piri Dip

Hot, spicy dip of crushed red chillies & lemon juice

Egyptian Om Ali Dessert

Thenjiwe is one of the most important people at The Africa Cafe.  Ok we are all important but Thenji is the first person people see when they walk in the door as she is our front desk hostess.  Look out for her on your next visit and if she is not there you might be in the wrong place!  This is her story:

Life is very short.  Right, wrong, life is what you make of it and for how long depends on you.  Why start my story like this?  Well that is how deep and true it is.  When I left home I had goals I wanted to achieve.  It’s been six years now and I have not set even one!  I think it’s high time I did, don’t you?  God is on my side – I know because He has blessed me with a loving, supportive and go-getter husband who is going places, but he is a story for another day.  He (God) has also blessed me with the most lovely, adorable and cute thing that one would ever wish for – a baby girl named Prudence, now aged 5 – but a naughty one!  I love her with my whole heart.  With those two by my side I think I can do what I came here to do.  Pursue my dream of becoming a writer.

I come from the USZ, United States of Zimbabwe.  Second and last born to a lady who though she is no more, I respect and love and very honestly take my hat off to and without hesitation I bow down for her.  That too is a story for another day.  Fashion design is my hobby right after writing and reading.  I did half a year of a journalism course and quit because I was just tired.

Last but not least The Africa Cafe is one happy family.  Actually guess what?  So are you because you are reading this, so come back and meet each member of the family and then soon, very soon, come visit us in person.

We are hoping to have many of the vegetables used on our menus 100% organic and sourced from our own gardens which we have planted at our home and ceramic studio both of which are in Plumstead.

The Vege Garden at home is well into the 1^st Cycle, meaning we have LOTS of baby plants popping up between the straw mulch and amazing us with their eagerness to rise up and greet the sun as the days grow warmer.

Yesterday Ben from Urban Harvest, the company who set up our home garden, Slydan and their team came for the first Edu-Maintenance visit. We decided they should pull out some more flowers and make another bed. They replaced a boarder of Irises, dotted some wooden disks around and laid more straw mulch. No planting yet. That will happen in two weeks time when the earlier plantings are nearer to harvesting in order to have a cycle of crops. Ben is very chatty and full of tips and reminders;

‘No garlic, onion, citrus or potato peels in the Worm Farm.’

‘Flush out the Farm with a bucket of water whenever you need more ‘tea.’

‘‘Tea’ can be diluted 1 to 10 and poured on to vegis 2 x per week or more, this helps put nitrogen into the soil; but not for the root crops, like carrots.’

‘When the Cumfrey is established I will be showings you how to make another ‘compost tea’.’

I have to pass on this knowledge to Henz, who will be doing a lot of the weeding and pest control. All manually done. But Henz and I don’t come close to Portia in her snail catching zeal. Portia is out there at night with her head torch, a small stick and a plastic beach bucket lifting leaves, nudging aside mulch and generally tracking down anything that leaves a slimy trail. Sometimes I have to shout into the darkened garden and remind her of bedtime or she loses track of time.

An unexpected garden pest is The Cat. Frankie, the cat, has decided that there’s nothing quite like a bed of hay mulch to loll on on a warm summer morning. I looked out of the upstairs window while brushing my teeth this morning, and there was the cat sprawled out, licking his furry belly and crushing the coriander! I think he’s decided that the little nest where the baby plant is peeping out of the straw makes a perfect hollow for him. No amount of rapping on the glass with my toothbrush or bellows of rage, once I had the window open, had the slightest impact. After a brief stare from those golden eyes he simply continued licking himself.

The home garden under construction

The finished garden