Johannesburg - Airport Layover

Stuck in Johannesburg airport for 5 hours there aren't too many diversions to kill the time unless casinos are your thing. Well needs must. The Emperors Palace casino is a quick 10 minute free shuttle bus away and is in the mould of the best examples of this genre found in Las Vegas. A Casino joined to three hotels with mock roman statues alongside a fast food court and more formal dining options.

Tribes restaurant is an example of one of the restaurants at Emperors Palace. The menu? Meat and game. Does South Africa have any vegetarians? Surely that would be illegal in this country.

The game skewer wasn't really game but all beef and as you can see was presented in such good taste. As a final meal before taking for for the northern hemisphere it had to be chakalaka sauce. This was very much different to the previous examples and I'm not talking about subtle differences such as Heinz v Branston. This was a whole different sauce completely. Probably less beany and definitely more spicy. Ideal before a 10 hour flight in economy!!

Zimbabwe - Chakalaka

The first encounter of the tourist police here in Victoria Falls is a strange experience. Initially you think it's just another hawker trying to sell some local handicraft as their only uniform is a grubby bib with 'Vic Falls Police' stencilled on the back. Well - that's if all the letters are their but usually it's a bit of a crossword puzzle. Their job? It seems to be to walk with tourists to and from the falls and ensure that the hawkers stay away.

So what is chakalaka sauce? Apparently it's a spicy African sauce used to accompany many dishes ranging from cheese to game meats. This dish of warthog with chakalaka sauce certainly was an eye opener; not because of the spiciness of the sauce but its remarkable similarity to a can of curried baked beans. Well, from memory, Heinz was a popular brand in the local supermarket!

Western Cape - Wine Tasting

When it rains in Cape Town the options available to the tourist seem pretty limited. Table Mountain, Robben Island, Shark Cage Diving are all weather dependent activities and a wind, or cloud, can easily put paid to these.

Wine tasting around Stellenbosch and the Western Cape is a fine poor weather day activity. Of course, getting a driver is essential and if he has knowledge of wine all the better. All in, 4 wine cellars were visited and probably 25 wines/sparkling wines/brandies sampled...and maybe a few additional glasses at lunch. These varied in price at places such as Saxonburg of R15 for 6 wines to R50 for 8 sommellier choice wines at Fairview. The Fairview also included oil/bread and cheese tasting into the bargain including a chakalaka wine and chakalaka cheese...both which are fantastic.

One thing which became apparent is that the South Africans are keeping the best wines to themselves rather than export them overseas. No chance of finding a Fairview in Tesco in the near future!

Zimbabwe - What Food Shortages?

The people here in Zimbabwe must be the friendliest people in the world. I swear, it seems like there is a Kris Akabusi laughing around every corner. Everyone also seems to be smiling. OK -so this is within the hotel and not so common on the streets where things are a bit different. I never realised I was such a fashion icon as I've had many offers to swap the clothes I'm wearing - shoes and shorts included - for local crafts they are trying to sell. If they get no joy selling handicrafts the conversation then moves onto the sale of ZIM$ notes which is, of course, an illegal activity here in Zimbabwe.
A couple of examples of a lunch on offer in the hotel. One example being a local take on a classic English Ploughman's lunch (sans Branston pickle) and the other being the warthog special. Both rather good in their own way but the most interesting thing was the inventive use of bread in the warthog special.

Zimbabwe - Meat Feast

The phrase 'cash is king' is really true here in Victoria Falls. There is no back-up of an ATM or a credit card should you run out of cash. It has to be cash and it has to be a hard currency such as USD/GBP/EUR/ZAR. The ZIM$ is no good at all and it's illegal for tourists to use. Fat lot of good this was when trying to buy a bottle of water at the local supermarket for ZIM$14,000 when they only take the local currency. This is similar in price to a loaf of bread. The problem is that ATMs are limited to ZIM$5,000 per day so it can take three days to get enough cash to buy a loaf....by which time it's probably gone up in price. I'm sure this explains the long queues at the Barclays ATM in town rather than any dispersions on the quality of service. The supermarket itself did seem to have a fair amount of stock even though it was completely devoid of any customers. It also seemed to have enough Heinz canned tomato puree to feed the whole continent.Luckily, a few souvenir notes can be obtained on the black market and a whole USD$1 managed to procure 4 ZIM$100bn notes one dark night.

At the Eating House of Boma, finally, a place full of people. OK -they're all tourists and it's a 'themed' place with African dancers and drummers. But what a meat feast on offer. Quite a few game meats could be ticked off at the buffet dinner. Ostrich, Crocodile, Buffalo, Warthog, Boar, Impala, Kudu, and Mopani worms. The worms weren't really worth the hype (or the certificate proving I had even them). Just seemed to be like overcooked and crunchy pieces of biltong.

http://www.edible.com/shop/browse.php?cmd=showproduct&productId=4

Cape Town - Two All Beef Patties

I've mentioned the full employment opportunities available in Cape Town. This isn't limited to just Safety Officers and Parking Marshalls but includes Toll Booth operators for toll roads which are closed. It's just not public services though. In a restaurant there is obviously a waiter / waitress and a sommelier (who are all exceedingly patronising and smug here) but also a third in the restaurant waiting staff triumvirate as discovered at Riboville on Adderley Street. after the meal was served a third member of staff was king enough to show both the salt and pepper shakers and inform me which one was the salt and which one was the pepper!! That's service for you. That's all he did!!
On offer at Riboville was Fillet Mignon and this was by far the biggest fillet I've ever seen. Yes - there are two steaks in the picture and they must have each been 150 - 200g. It was covered in a herb crust which seemed to consist of salt, pepper and mint. Mint? Well the lamb theme continued with a sprig of rosemary wedged between these all hunks of beef perched on a bed of potatoes and spinach. The meat itself was fantastically cooked (not least because the chef came out to make sure all was well and he looked more like back row forward for the Springboks) and has made me think again about the traditional condiments in the UK. Beef with mint....why not?

http://www.ribovillerestaurant.co.za/

Cape Town - Posh Peanuts

Now the Waterfront in Cape Town really is tourist central with a large number of shops, restaurants, and bars. It even has an Scottish (rather than an Irish) ale house. The selection of good restaurants available was pretty good. They even seem to have there own police force ensuring the tourist rand keeps on flowing into the local economy by scaring off any 'undesirables'.
On the Waterfront there was one fantastic grill /wine bar called Belthezar which allegedly has 600 wines on offer, nearly all South African, and a few rogue french ones on offer. Some were even on a posh 'tap' system which didn't happen to be working that night due to 'no gas'. Many of the 600 wines on offer are served by the glass at the bar with free bar snacks. In the case of this establishment...peanuts just wouldn't do.

Cape Town - Spain win again!!

Well the Spanish have had a great summer of sport with Euro 2008, Nadal at Wimbledon, and the classy Olympic photo's their basketball team posed for pre Olympics. Could a seafood paella at the Two Oceans restaurant at Cape Point also be a winner?

With all the seafood on offer it was packed with all sorts of seafood for only 165 rand. Two large line fish fillets, a succulent piece of lobster, mussels, and a couple of large tiger prawns. A real winner for the Spanish...again. Let's hope Murrays mussels can overcome Nadal tonight in the US Open!!

Cape Town - Move too slow and you're game

After more recent journeys to the far east this trip to Africa has a slightly different feel to it. it's been taking some getting used to but here in Cape Town there are always guys hanging around. Some of these guys are simply hanging around whilst others seem to part of a Government 'full employment' regime. We have 'Safety' wardens in bright yellow bibs on every street corner. The notion of parking machines is replaced by a parking marshall, in a bright bib, every 20 yards or so. There were even guys with bibs marked 'Solid Waste'. No hanging around to find out exactly what their role is!!

It must do wonders for the unemployment statistics
So the first taste of ostrich on this trip. I learnt a lesson very early after this meal and that is to get a recommendation from the staff on the most succulent cooking length. This ostrich I just plumped for medium given that is how I have my beef but for ostrich medium was probably far too long. The meat was coarse and a touch chewy. Not at all succulent. Probably suited much more to a medium raw cook. Well - it's all a learning experience. Just wish there was a guy in a yellow bib employed and available to advise!!

Cape Town - Cheese Board Xtreme

One thing you can say about eating out in Cape Town is that the Rand goes a long day. The price of a wilting Pret sandwich will get you a feast here with huge selection of meats available. Most of game meat available are animals you've never heard of and the range is huge.
But whats better after a large meal of meat than a palate cleansing cheese board. Clear out those meat sweats with some cheese and crackers and a glass of port.
Here, the cheese board was something out of this world. A selection of 6 cheeses drowned by olives, gherkins, sun blushed tomatoes and enough nuts to keep a family of baboons happy for weeks. These were all, though, superfluous having just consumed a small herd of various meats on the course before.