Knysna’s third annual Gastronomica festival will take place from Sunday September 23 until Monday October 1, drawing together both international and local chefs and food enthusiasts to celebrate an appreciation for fresh and fine food.
Gastronomica is a culinary festival for the general public, food enthusiast and professionals. The emphasis is not only on good and honest food but also on the freshest, seasonal ingredients, the practices of the producer and training and education at all levels with music and dance on the side.
The festival will culminate in a Chef’s Gala Dinner at which top South African and international chefs will each plate one of the five courses. Guests will have the opportunity to watch and learn gastronomic secrets of these culinary wizards via large screens before tasting the final product.
Gastronomica is a food-lover’s paradise of 10-days crammed with hands-on workshops, discussions, demonstrations and includes a food comedy show by celebrity entertainment chef Franscois de Kok. The festival will once again bring together a diverse spectrum of food lovers – from international and national chefs, restauranteurs, cookery enthusiasts, tourists and locals to the artisans and farmers who produce the ingredients.
Main attractions include The Secrets of a Chocolatier – a hands-on workshop for professionals from restaurants, hotels and guest houses as well as students of the culinary industry by world-renowned Fechlin Chocolatiers. Another treat for lovers of fine chocolate is The Decadent Chocolate and dessert afternoon. Nicholas van der Walt of the Saxon Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg will give a demonstration using chocolate as the main ingredient for his recipes which will include cakes, desserts, pastries and even drinks. This demonstration will also consist of chocolate exhibits and tastings for the food enthusiast with a sweet tooth.
International baker and author, James MacGuire, is to host a series of workshops and demonstrations on the art of bread baking. A baker with over 27 years experience of kneading and transforming dough into the perfect loaf of bread, James will share his knowledge and trade secrets with industry professionals, culinary students and food lovers.
Garth Stroebel of the South African Culinary Academy will demonstrate recipes from his book, Modern South African Cuisine, where he combines traditional South African culinary heritage with intriguing new flavours and influences of contemporary cooking.
Fathers and sons will have the opportunity to take part in a “reel” fun expedition as part of the “Fish for Tomorrow” Fish Day. Visitors will be able to learn about off-shore, coastal and in-land ecosystems and responsible environmental practices that help to protect them. Throughout the day a series of chefs will host demonstrations and give talks focusing on the cleaning, de-boning and filleting of fish as well the best way to prepare the different varieties using seasonal, fresh produce to enhance the natural flavour of the fish.
At the Food with Integrity Market visitors will meet farmers and artisans from the Garden Route and Klein Karoo and taste and test their natural and organic produce. Children will be able to put their budding culinary skills to the test in the Kiddies Cooking workshop while moms and dads can watch demonstrations on preparing modern South African cuisine by chefs from some of the country’s top restaurants. Throughout the market there will be tastings and testings, art on display, music by local musicians, food puppet shows for the kids and mime and dance shows.
Aside from celebrating a love of good food, the festival has a larger agenda: to encourage participants to adopt a lifestyle which encompasses food with integrity. This lifestyle will be showcased at Knysna’s top restaurants which will offer festival menus featuring ingredients which are in season such as blue berries, strawberries, artichokes, mushrooms and asparagus, and presented in dishes which contain no preservatives, additives, colourants, frozen or long-life ingredients or MSG.
“Gastronomica is about honest, true, good, fresh and bio-diverse food; a showcase for both talent and products. The aim is raise the bar at all levels. The chefs are chosen for their passion, talent, dedication, constructive attitude and positive energy rather than “show” without depth, false representation and preparation with preservatives and colourants,” said Pat Mulder, MD of Gastronomica.
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