Authentic South African cuisine with a local near Worcester

Meet Jolandi

A warm and friendly host who is also a full-time caterer, Jolandi wants to help travelers experience authentic South African and Cape Malay cuisine. Her love of food and entertaining really shows through in the care with which she treats you. She hosts along with her husband George who is a worldly wine lover who helps ensure your wine pairings are perfect. As a former member of the foreign service, he is very engaging and can connect with anyone. They live with their young sons and friendly and well behaved dogs in a beautiful, historically rich, country style house in a safe and serene property. You can be treated to a beautiful view over the vineyards and mountains from the terrace where you will be served. Jolandi has a lovely garden where she grows herbs and other ingredients that she uses in her cooking. Her hobbies include running in the vineyards, taking hikes through the beautiful mountains in the region and evenings shared with friends over delicious meals and carefully selected wines. They make the most of living in one of the best wine regions in the world by spending a lot of time tasting wines and eating at some of the best restaurants. They love traveling, especially Africa and Europe and spend as much time as they can afford traveling to different places and learning about different cultures and cooking techniques. A note from Jolandi: "We love people, cooking and entertaining, sharing stories and learning from one another. We believe that there is nothing that turns friends into family as much as a meal shared together."

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

In-home meal (1 - 8 guests) Jolandi and her family will meet you on their small holding just outside Worcester, a beautiful countryside town surrounded by mountains, vineyards and wineries. Their house is situated on a 1 hectare property 10km outside of town in de Wet, which is easily accessible and situated in a safe area.

Jolandi is passionate about serving travelers authentic South African and Cape Malay cuisine. Join her at her kitchen counter and enjoy South African dishes hard to find in restaurants over engaging conversation with her and her family. Your menu might include dishes such as Bunny Chow and Bobotie accompanied by local wine pairings. Jolandi turns Bunny Chow, a traditional Durban Indian dish into a delectable starter. It is an interactive dish, as you start by breaking open and hollowing out a freshly made bun for the curry to be poured and stuffed into. Local lore says that the dish was created under apartheid so that restaurants not permitted to serve Indians could sell quick takeaways to Indian labors out the back door. For the main, Jolandi enjoys serving Bobotie in her unique way in individual ramekins with homemade sambals, heirloom tomatoes, fresh vegetable salad, and rice with raisins (cemetery rice as the South Africans call it). Bobotie is traditionally a Dutch dish that was adopted and has become a staple of the Cape Malay culture. The base is mince with fragrant but not spicy curry spices topped with a custard layer consisting of eggs and milk. You will conclude your meal with malva pudding, a caramelized sponge cake which is a nostalgic dessert for most South Africans.

Cooking experience (1 - 8 guests) Join Jolandi in her beautiful countryside home kitchen to learn to cook authentic South African dishes from scratch. You will pick up tips and techniques as you help her prepare a meal that you will later enjoy together. You should expect your South African cooking lesson to last about 1.5 hours. Your meal includes a wine pairing of local South African wines!

PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW

A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.

Jolandi is a warm and friendly full-time caterer who wants to help travelers experience authentic South African and Cape Malay cuisine. Her love of food and entertaining really shows through in the care with which she treats you. I have thought of malva pudding, a nostalgic dessert for South Africans, as a generally bland and unexciting event for me. However, Jolandi's fresh baked malva pudding with homemade custard and fresh fruit was to die for! I went back for seconds and then thirds. While I've had versions that were quite dry and bland, Jolandi's was moist and flavorful.

Evan, Traveling Spoon Ambassador