Tag Archives: Bullipedia

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 15 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Ultimate Braai Master Season 3 is being filmed, with the announcement that two changes are taking place: the series of 15 episodes will be broadcast on e.tv for the first time, from 11 September onwards, and a third judge, Chef Petrus Mudetlela returning to South Africa from London, has been added.  Fifteen braai teams are vying for the prize package of R500000 in cash, a Renault Duster 4 x 4, two Big Green Eggs, and a holiday tour of India.

*   The impact of the European High Court’s decision on Wednesday to allow private individuals living in Europe to have outdated and inaccurate personal data removed from Google searches on request is unclear, potentially leading to the ‘whitewashing’ of profile information.

*   The USA has overtaken France as the country with the highest wine consumption, at 29 million hectolitre, closely followed by France, Italy, and Spain. Worldwide consumption declined by roughly 1% between 2012 and 2013, with consumption in the European countries and China declining too.  By contrast, consumption in South Africa, Argentina, and Brazil increased in the past year.  Despite the decline in volume, the value sold increased slightly to reach €26 billion, with 71% being still wine in bottles and 17% sparkling wine.

*   Regarded by many as the best chef in the world, Ferran Adrià closed down his number 1 World’s 50 Best Restaurants elBulli in Continue reading →

Top Spanish Chef Andres Condé moving to Cape Town, joining Harbour House Group!

Andres Kitchen Vixen Screen-shot-2012-09-15-at-3.03.13-PM-300x209Amazing news for the restaurant scene in Cape Town is that Chef Andres Condé , who worked at the former elBulli, the former number one restaurant on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, is moving to Cape Town in June, and joining the Harbour House Group of restaurants belonging to Michael Townsend, as Group Executive Chef.

As his first priority Chef Andres will focus on La Parada, the two tapas restaurants based in Kalk Bay and on Bree Street, and will revamp their menus.  If La Parada weren’t already the most Spanish tapas restaurants in Cape Town, they will now become super-Spanish and genuine tapas restaurants.  He will also work with the Harbour House restaurant teams in Kalk Bay and in the V&A Waterfront.  He will not be involved with the Lucky Fish restaurants in the Harbour House Group.

Chef Andres won an award as best young chef in Navarra, a Spanish wine region.  His prize was an internship at the former elBulli near Roses in Catalonia, a Michelin 3-star restaurant run by Chef Ferran Adrià, who many would say is the world’s most creative chef, being associated with Molecular Gastronomy, and having written cookbooks.   The internship was for two months, but Chef Andres stayed for more than six years!  He worked in Continue reading →

Culinary trends: 20 years past, looking into the future!

Ferran Adria Culinary Conclave Ryan KingLooking at the past 20 year’s of our country’s democracy yesterday, I chose an article written about a recent ‘Culinary Conclave’ (or Indaba or Kosberaad, as we would call it) held by one of the world’s greatest chefs, Ferran Adrià of the former El Bulli, for inspiration for today’s blogpost.

Adrià and fellow chef Andoni Luis Aduriz invited 15 ‘gastronomic journalists‘ from around the world (none from our country) for a two day discussion about the past 20 years of gastronomy.  Each attendee was requested to present the gastronomic trends over the past two decades in their country, the impact of gastronomyFerran Adria Culinary Conclave group Ryan King original_ferran-conclave-group on society and culture, how the media has changed and influenced gastronomy, and how the definitions of ‘great cuisine‘ and ‘dining experience‘ have changed.

These were some of the gastronomic trends identified: Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headline: 21/22 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   South Africa has 38 organic and 10 biodynamic wine producers.

*   ‘The Beautiful South’ tasting of South African, Chilean, and Argentinian wines was so successful with over 1000 visitors earlier this month, that it will be held in London again on 10 and 11 September 2014.  The three countries’ wines will also be featured at Prowein 2014.

*   A municipal strike is due to start in Cape Town from tomorrow (Monday 23 September).

*   Snow fell on the Helderberg Mountain in Somerset West twice in the past month, the latest snow falling on Thursday evening.  The last snowfall was recorded in 1978!

*   The world’s first Avozilla has been grown by Westfalia Fruit Estate in Limpopo, a maxi avocado being five times larger than a standard avocado and weighing about 1,3 kg, Continue reading →