Aminus3 - 7 September 2011 - Large image

Cass Abrahams, Robertsons Spices, and Kuier Magazine Cooking Demo

This has got to be Cape Town's best kept secret! It’s a cooking demonstration with lots of extras, and without a doubt the best value one can find today for R50!

Jacqui saw a write-up in our local community newspaper about last month's event. I think there are six sessions in total (one per month). It looked really interesting, and we duly booked for Saturday 21 August. We arrived on a cold and blustery winter's morning, but despite the cold were warmly greeted by the lovely Nazmeera, the lady who handles the bookings and manages the morning.

Just to take you through what you will get for your R50:

• Fresh scones with cheese, cream and jam, plus hot coffee and tea are waiting as soon as one completes the registration. There were two young ladies from Kuier Magazine who assisted with the registrations.

• Thereafter (at approximately 09h30) Cass welcomes everyone, introduces her helpers for the day (we had two first year students assisting), and lets everyone know what she will be cooking. As far as I know, all demonstrations cover traditional Cape Malay dishes. Our selection for the day was tomato bredie, waterblommetjie bredie (a dish made from water flowers - a delicacy only grown in the Western Cape), smoor snoek (a well-known local fish, smoked and flaked, and “smothered” with cabbage, potato, onion, and of course, various spices), and malva pudding.

• There is also information on the various spices used in the dishes, and some personal stories from Cass. A lady from Robertsons Spices, Marilyn, gave a short talk on their range.

• The chance to win some spot prizes during the demonstration. 

• A very generous goodies bag. Contents consisted of an apron, three Robertsons spices, a copy of Kuier magazine, and a CD with sounds from the Cape. The bag by itself is also a useful item.

• And then finally – a three-course lunch! Our meal started with the smoor snoek, which was served with a ginger and mussel broth, followed by tomato bredie and rice for the mains, and then the best malva pudding I have had, served with custard for the dessert. Fresh orange juice and iced water were also provided.

The event is held at the Hotel School in Granger Bay – a perfect choice for it. All in all a wonderful way to spend a few hours and very little money!

Only four demonstrations left. If you would like to attend any of the upcoming events, I would suggest you book quickly. Phone Nazmeera on 071 527 4893.

Cape Town Water Taxi

The water taxi operates between the One and Only Hotel at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, to the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) at the Foreshore area of Cape Town. The patch of waterway along which one travels is known as the Roggebaai Canal. It’s a round trip of between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on how many stops are made to load and offload passengers. The cost of the round trip (one can hop off at any of the stops and hop on again later with the same ticket) is R50 for adults and R25 for children.

We boarded the taxi at the One and Only Hotel. We waited about 45 minutes for the taxi to arrive. This is the view from the landing deck. In the foreground you can see some of the hotel rooms that are separate from the main building, and in the background some of the Waterfront apartments, and, of course, Table Mountain.

This is what the taxi looks like. The Zulu word Shosholoza means go forward or make way for the next man. It's also the name of a song very popular at South African sports events.

The water in the canal is kept at a fairly consistent level. Here you can see the spot where the sea water is pumped into the canal, and there are overflow areas for times when the water level gets too high.






This is a look at what some of the apartments look like. We were informed that some of the celebrities that own apartments here include Madonna, John Travolta, and Lance Armstrong.

Taken as we were coming to the end of the trip. It was over far too quickly. The complex on the left is the health and spa section of the hotel, with the main buildings in the background.








The trip is really recommended - it's a great way to spend 20-30 minutes, though unfortunately the time is just not enough to absorb all the information available. We had a building pointed out to us that was apparently the tallest building in South Africa way back in the 1920s, shown a site for a new shopping centre, had a look at proud Egyptian geese parents with their seven three-day old chicks, were told about the possibility that the Wheel of Excellence would move permanently to the Waterfront itself proper, etc., etc., all the time while trying to take photos (of which I missed quite a few)!

Oh, by the way, it was a calm day, but freezing. There's not a lot of sun on the canal so take some warm clothing!

The taxi is operated by Classic Cape Charters. Our guide for the day was Jacques Truter, and he was humorous and informative. Telephone contact is 021 418 0782, or you can have a look at the website at www.capecharters.co.za.