South Africa
Gastronomy and Wine tours
The program is under preparation.
In the meantime, a few words
About south african cuisine
South Africa’s culinary arts are colourful, diverse and varied, thanks to the colourful cavalcade of people who live there. Meat is at the heart of the meals, but the way it is prepared is very varied, with chicken, beef, lamb and local specialities such as ostrich, antelope, crocodile, not forgetting the variety of fresh and delicious ocean fish. A large variety of vegetables and salads play an important role in their dishes.
Their preparation is a special blend of the influence of the country’s diverse cultural population: from Cape Malay to Indian curry, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, English, Dutch, German, French, Italian, even Moroccan or Mongolian. Excellent restaurants, including international cuisine, can be found all over the country with Michelin-starred restaurants – especially in major cities – and some have also won international awards. This year, for example, a small restaurant in the charming fishing village of Paternoster was awarded the latest international gastronomy prize of the year in Paris.
South Africa’s wine culture
Viticulture was started by Dutch settlers in the 17th century, but began to develop when 150 Huguenots arrived in South Africa at the end of the century, fleeing persecution in France. After grape production was decimated by phylloxera in 1886, South Africa’s own grape variety, pinotage, was born in 1925 from a cross between pinot noir and cinsault. The first Cape Wine exhibition was held in 2000, after which wine exports began and in 2010 it overtook the French in some international markets.
Two Hungarian winemakers, Gyula László from Transylvania and Tibor Gál from Eger, have also contributed to the widespread recognition of South African wine production with their valuable work. Top-quality wines include sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, shiraz, pinot noir and pinotage. South Africa is also a brandy powerhouse, with the most important brandy centre in the town of Barrydale on the R62 brandy route. Wine tasting and brandy tasting programmes are popular with tourists, especially when red wine and brandy are paired with chocolate.
