There are quite a few South African chefs dotted around the US, quietly infusing their dishes with typical South African flavors. One of our favorites is Koren Grieveson, who is the Chef de Cuisine at Avec Restaurant in Chicago. Besides creating amazing dishes for Avec, she has made Quesadillas for the Obama family on the White House lawn, and also participated in the Iron Chef TV show.

If you’re dining in and need some inspiration, here’s Koren creating an entire South African Dinner – yum. This really got us in the mood and we wasted more office time looking up other South African recipes on YouTube. We found out how to make Warthog Kebabs; Bunny Chow; Springbok with Apricot Chutney; and Salmon a la Steenberg. A common theme is the South African penchant for mixing meat with fruit whenever possible. It must be one of the few countries where chutney is more popular than ketchup.

And if the chef isn’t South African, the next best thing we look for is a South African who owns their own restaurant. Stanton Du Toit used to be a wine maker in South Africa and now owns The Sojourn Restaurant in New York. The Sojourn serves “small plates” from all over the world, very appropriate since that’s basically the foundation of South African cuisine. We actually like The Sojourn so much we’ve chosen it to be the venue for our next dinner event (more on that later).

Speaking of events, of course the Savor South Africa Contest is drawing to a close, final entries need to be in by March 20th. To find out if you’ve won our Gourmet Safari for two, we’ll be announcing it on Facebook and Twitter, so do sign up.

Just a two weeks left until we announce the winner of our Savor South Africa contest. We’re very excited. And just to prove that South Africa really is the best culinary destination in the world, we wanted to share some of the food and wine festivals taking place in the next few months.

WitblitsFees – March 14-15, 2010

Not for the feint of heart, this little South African festival celebrates Witblits, (white lightning) a South African moonshine. It’s a true Afrikaner gourmet experience with traditional food served along with old-fashioned entertainment on the side. The festival takes place in Philippolis, the oldest town in the Free State. More details…

Tonteldoos Country Festival – April 3, 2010

The Tonteldoos Country Festival is held in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province (home to Kruger National Park). It started life as a Peach Festival in 1996 and has grown into a larger affair with 17 food stalls serving local delicacies and gourmet dishes. More details…

Lambert’s Bay Kreeffees – April 22-24, 2010

Fish lovers unite at this wonderful foodie feast dedicated to the crayfish. Lambert’s Bay is on the Western Cape coast. As well as food and wine, there’s music and bungee jumping. We highly recommend you bungee jump before you eat your crayfish and visit the beer tent. More details…

The South African Cheese Festival – April 24-27, 2010

The South African Cheese Festival brings together food artisans and cheese makers from all over South Africa. All you turophiles out there rejoice, you can eat cheese, make cheese, bake cheese and play with cheese. You’ll get to taste creamy goat cheese, piquant blue cheese, and nutty gruyeres, accompanied with bread, wine, music and other treats. There are lots of attractions geared to both adults and children, so bring the whole family. More details…

Prince Albert Town Olive Festival – and the Riebeek Kasteel Olive Festival, 30 April – 2 May, 2010

You may not be aware of this, but South Africa produces some of the world’s best olive oil and its worth celebrating. You actually have a choice of olive festivals. Prince Albert Town in the Karoo, will celebrate their liquid gold, with food stalls, circus performers and dances. Riebeek, in Western Cape’s Swartland valley, will showcase its famous olives in all their forms, along with lots of other gourmet delicacies, Swartland wine and music. More details about: Prince Albert’s Olive festival, and Riebeek’s Olive festival.

Cape Gourmet Festival – May 13-16, 2010

The Good Food and Wine Show comes to Cape Town once a year along with a host of celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsey, Willie Harcourt-Cooze, and Anjum Anand. The show will be held in the Cape Town International Convention Center. Nine state-of-the-art kitchens will be set up with a world-class chef working their magic at each station. You can taste, watch and learn from the gourmet experts at hand. There will be experts blending wine, making beer, tasting teas and an entire theater dedicated to chocolate. Yum. More details…

Sorry to say, we just missed the Prickly Pear Festival in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, but check this site for 2011 dates! And if you can’t make it to a particular festival, many of South Africa’s towns have fresh, organic markets serving fantastic food every weekend. Ask us about them when you book your culinary tour to South Africa!

Around half a million newborn wildebeest calves are currently trying to keep up with their mothers on the Serengeti Plains, as they begin the 1800 mile migration circuit in search of food and water. The great annual migration of 1.5 million wildebeest, around 200,000 zebra and thousands of gazelles usually starts at the beginning of March. The reports out of Tanzania right now are showing small pockets of herds moving west towards the western corridor of the Serengeti. The main herds are still happily grazing in the Ndutu area, but are expected to start moving towards Seronera in the coming weeks.

In the coming months, the most spectacular scenes will unfold as the herds gather in ever larger numbers and make their way from the Serengeti and Ngorongoro areas, to Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve. They will have to cross the Grumeti River and the Mara River in search of the sweet grasses of the Mara plains.

The river crossings can be very rough and dangerous, with thousands of hungry crocodiles lying in wait. And once the herds have reached the other side, they still have to contend with the hundreds of predators that follow this migration. Hyenas, lions, jackals, leopards and wild dogs really like the taste young wildebeest.

Experiencing any part of this incredible natural spectacle is truly the greatest safari experience you could wish for. Whether you’re enjoying watching hundreds of thousands of young wildebeest calves on the plains of the Serengeti in February; witnessing the great river crossings in July; or simply enjoying the vast numbers of wildlife on the Mara plains in August — it’s all pretty fantastic.

Because the timing of the migration is dependent on the weather, its somewhat unpredictable. But we know the migration patterns and keep up to date with field reports. This allows us to make sure that when we book your safari we’re looking at the right camps, in the right place, at the right time.

It was nail-biting watching the wild fires rage out of control in Franschhoek a few weeks ago. They were so close to our favorite lunch spot in the world – La Petit Ferme. Luckily guests were evacuated in time and no one was hurt. The restaurant was spared the worst due to the quick action by local firefighters.

La Petit Ferme is a lovely little restaurant that’s been run by three generations and considered to be one of the best in South Africa. Where else could you enjoy a starter of bite-size Springbok Bobotie, served with peppered poppadums and sambals? And while your taste buds are savoring the food, your eyeballs will be lapping up the gorgeous valley views. If you’re unlucky and La Petit Ferme is fully booked, we’d suggest lunch at the Bread & Wine. Their charcuterie platter with its array of home cured meats (chorizo, salami, ham and more) is just a delight.

Both of these wonderful restaurants are located in Franschhoek, the gourmet capital of South Africa. Franschhoek is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains in the heart of the Cape Winelands region. The Franschhoek valley was first settled by French Huguenot refugees in 1688. The refugees were given the land by the Dutch and they wasted no time planting vineyards. The original farms are steeped in history, each one has a story to tell (usually accompanied by a great glass of wine and excellent food).

Once you’ve had your fill of gourmet cuisine and excellent wine, it may be wise to move around a little, especially if you’re planning on staying for dinner. There are lots of activities you can enjoy in Franschhoek to to aid your digestion. There’s golf, horseback riding, swimming, paragliding, hiking and mountain biking to name just a few. And what a dinner choice you have. We recommend you try either The Tasting Room or Reubens.

Franschhoek is particularly close to our hearts because a chance meeting with an American tourist at La Petit Ferme, was the catalyst that propelled Yvette into making a move to the US. Of course she didn’t leave without first finishing her favorite bottle of Boschendal Blanc De Noir. And you won’t be surprised to hear she’s been back many times for more.

Want to savor Franschhoek for yourself? Then enter our contest and win gourmet safari for two, click here for details.

With Valentines day on the horizon, we thought it would be fun to share some of the ways to say “I love you” in Africa. No mean feat considering there are more than 2000 languages spoken, and therefore 2000 different ways to say “I love you”. But we’ve narrowed it down a little, and here’s what we found…

Botswana – Setswana: Ke a go rata
Egypt and Morocco – Arabic: Ana Behibak (to a male) and Ana Behibek (to a female)
Kenya and Tanzania – Swahili: Nakupenda
Malawi and parts of Zambia – Chichewa: Ndimakukonda
Mozambique – Portuguese: Eu amo-te
Namibia – Herero: Mbeku suvera , Oshivambo: Ondiku hole and Afrikaans: Ek is lief vir jou
South Africa – Zulu: Mena tanda wena, Xhosa: ndiyakuthanda and Afrikaans: Ek is lief vir jou
Uganda – Luganda: Nkwagala
Zambia – Bemba: Ndikufuna
Zimbabwe – Shona: Ndinokuda , Ndebele: Ngiyakuthanda

Of course, saying “I love you” is the easy bit, if you really want to show someone you care, how about planning a trip to Africa and saying “I love you” when you’re there? For many of our clients, a honeymoon trip is their first introduction to Africa. And what an introduction it is. While we customize most of our itineraries, we have a few that really don’t need a lot of tweaking. Our Best of The Seychelles trip is a good example. In simple English, without losing too much in translation, this trip means — “7 incredible nights of paradise at two world class beach resorts that you will never want to leave, ever”. More on this …

A honeymoon safari is also very popular. In fact, they’re so good, we sometimes worry that clients want the excuse to repeat the experience. I guess that’s the risk we run when we’re fusing romance and adventure in a single package. Take our Southern Africa Exclusive Trip. 14 nights under African skies enjoying the absolute best South Africa, Botswana and Zambia have to offer. Once couples have experienced the sheer beauty of Kruger, Victoria Falls, Cape Town and the Okavango Delta, they’ll fall in love all over again. More on this…

Going on safari is an incredibly enriching experience. Whether it’s your first or your tenth safari, you’ll learn something new and fascinating every time you step outside your room. We at African Portfolio are fortunate to have enjoyed numerous safaris, and thought it would be fun to share some wildlife tidbits with you.

Did You Know …

• Hippos secrete a natural sunscreen that is colored red and eventually turns brown
• Baby giraffes drop six feet to the ground when born but manage to stand up just five minutes later
• Leopards are strong swimmers and sometimes eat fish
• A lion cub may nurse from other females as well as its mother
• Warthogs graze on short grass by kneeling down on their padded, hairy knees
• A Zebra’s stripes are as unique as fingerprints—no two are exactly alike
• Hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs
• Impalas can cover a distance of 10 meters (33 feet) in a single leap
• An elephant’s trunk contains about 100,000 different muscles
• Jackal males and females mate for life

Amazed, Intrigued, Want to Know More?

Enter our Savor South Africa contest and you’ll be able to see all this with your own eyes. Tintswalo Safari Lodge in the Manyeleti Game Reserve is one of our favorite places to stay on safari in South Africa, and is featured in our contest itinerary. The air-conditioned suites along the banks of the seasonal Nwaswitsontso River provide supreme comfort and privacy, effortless birding, as well as the opportunity to view a large variety of big game right from the deck. The perfect spot to see that amazing elephant trunk in action. The indoor/outdoor showers lead off spacious bathrooms which open out onto a private plunge pool and loungers for relaxing under the African Sun. Ideal for checking out hairy warthog knees.

Find out more about Tintswalo …

South Africa is unique in knowing the exact date on which their wine industry began, thanks to the diary entry of Jan Van Riebeeck, who wrote on February 2, 1659 — “Today, praise be to God wine was pressed for the first time from Cape grapes.” . Van Riebeeck was sent to the Cape in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company to establish a victualling station for ships rounding the southern tip of Africa between Europe and the East. He established the first vineyards on the slopes of Table Mountain.

In 1685, Simon van der Stel (the Cape’s first Governor) was granted a large farm just outside of Cape Town which he named Constantia. He planted orchards and vineyards which flourished. After van der Stel’s death in 1712, the farm was divided among several families, who each built their mansions, cellars and farmed here for generations. Some of the best wines in the world, favored by the likes of Napoleon were produced in the valley, and they are still being produced today.

The Constantia Wine Route is one of the best trips to take when visiting Cape Town. Visitors have made a bee-line for the valley since the 1700’s. It only takes about 25 minutes to drive from the city center so you can spend most of your time marveling at the gorgeous landscape, tasting spectacular wines and appreciating the beautifully preserved Cape Dutch architecture.

There are eight wine farms in the valley, the best known include: Steenberg, Groot Constantia, Constantia Uitsig, Buitenverwachting and Klein Constantia. Each wine estate produces unique tasting wines so it’s worth visiting several of them. While Constantia became world renowned for its sweet white wines, today you can enjoy Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinotage, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir.

Once you’ve built up an appetite touring the cellars and tasting wine, you can head for a local restaurant and enjoy some of the finest cuisine on offer in South Africa. Several of Constantia’s wine estates have transformed their mansions into lovely hotels complete with excellent restaurants to compliment their wines. For an informal lunch we recommend ordering a picnic basket that you can enjoy on one of the great estate lawns. For dinner you can’t go wrong with La Colombe, Catharina’s Restaurant, or the Constantia Uitsig Restaurant.

We highly recommend you spend a few nights in the valley, it’s close to everything in the city, but so much more peaceful. There are two hotels in particular that we love: The Steenberg and the Constantia Uitsig. Both offer a luxury, boutique hotel experience in an historic building on beautiful estate grounds. There are great restaurants on site as well as spas and swimming pools to further relax you. There’s no doubt you’ll be asking for a late check-out.

Check this blog next week for more on South Africa’s award winning wineries in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. And don’t forget to enter our Savor South Africa contest so you can experience South Africa’s beautiful wine estates for yourself.

We’ve been having fun asking people to guess what exactly “Bunny Chow” might be (without looking it up on Google!). We can give you a couple of hints:

1. It’s a typical South African food
2. It originated in Durban
3. It can’t be cooked on a braai*

*Braai is the South African word for Barbecue. You can never underestimate a South African’s love for meat (or anything really) cooked on a braai. There’s even a National Braai Day in South Africa — September 24, 2010, mark your calendar. But no wonder really when the braai has been elevated to such a culinary art form. Check out some of these Braai tips by Sonja Jordt, who writes for Go!

Braai Tips To Braai For…

1. Butter the Steak. If you enjoy steak with a sauce, consider serving it with flavoured butter instead of your regular mushroom sauce. Try herb-and mustard butter, anchovy and-caper butter or gorgonzola butter.

2. Flavour a Mielie (Corn on the Cob). Mix some honey, grated fresh ginger, chopped red chilli and sesame seed with olive oil. Paint it on fresh mielies before you braai them.

3. Paint your Vegetables. Mix equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and add a little sugar. Liberally paint vegetables such as butternut, big brown mushrooms and halved red onions while braaiing them on medium-hot coals.

4. Wrap an Onion. Quarter red onions, but don’t cut all the way through. Put a sprig of rosemary and a dollop of butter inside each onion, wrap it in tinfoil and put it on medium-hot coals.

Find out more about Bunny Chow.

Our very own senior consultant Yvette de Vries was interviewed by her local paper earlier this week. The Norwalk Citizen visited African Portfolio’s office in Connecticut to find out more about our Savor South Africa contest. Here’s a little peek:

What was nice for De Vries in putting the proposal together is that it combines what she used to love doing in South Africa–working in the tasting room and in public relations at Stellenbosch Winery–with what she loves doing in America, working for African Portfolio putting together custom-designed safaris for clients.

Click here to read the whole interview.

Given the quality of restaurants in South Africa, it seems odd that there aren’t too many places you can enjoy South African food in the US. It would take less time to fly to South Africa and dine there, than to find a little nook where you can enjoy some bobotie washed down with a Peaock Ridge Merlot.

Perhaps it’s because South African food is hard to define, unlike Ethiopian or Moroccan. South African food is really a mixed bag of world cuisines reflecting the country’s history. You’ve got a fusion of French, Portuguese, Dutch, Malaysian, Zulu, Xhosa and German influences all blending in harmony on a single plate.

Here’s a list of South African Restaurants in the US:

• Braai in New York. We’re regulars here, it’s a nice restaurant, the menu is decent and the wine list is extensive. Our favorite dish is the ostrich.
• Madiba Restaurant in Brooklyn NY, offers traditional South African food, in a relaxed setting. It has a slightly more elaborate menu than Braai, but the food can be a bit inconsistent. Their grocery shop is a bonus though.
• Shebeen in Charlotsville, VA offers all the goodies and more: boerewors, sosaties, sadza cakes, and peri-peri shrimp along with an excellent selection of wine.
• 10 Degrees South in Atlanta is a small, contemporary restaurant serving fun and inventive South African cuisine including bobotie spring rolls as an appetizer.

There used to be a South African vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, it unfortunately closed down. Instead, you can always enjoy eating some delicious dishes at Bar Bambino, prepared by executive chef Lizzie Binder who originally hails from Durban. And if you’re planning a party and need a little South African catering, On Safari Foods does a fabulous job in the Seattle area.

South African Food Stores in the US:
If you’d like to try some of the recipes we’ll be featuring on this blog, or just miss a taste of home, you can stock up here …

• African Hut
• South African Food Shop
• Shop South Africans

Of course, nothing really beats actually being in South Africa and eating there. If you haven’t entered our contest to win a gourmet safari for two, click here and do so now!