About a month ago, the friendly folk from Oded’s Kitchen asked me if I’d like to come along to one of their preserving courses at their shop in Woodstock (in the Biscuit Mill complex).  On the cards: a 4-hour hands-on workshop making 3 different types of preserves – marmalade (Brown Sugar 3-Citric), salsa (3-Tomato) and a pickle (Tannie Zelda’s).

Now, to say that I love pickles is a wild understatement, and as Oded’s pickles and preserves are amongst my very favourite (if not the favourite) on offer around Cape Town, I was uber keen to learn from the maestro himself.  So of course I jumped at the opportunity.

In case you haven’t yet encountered Oded’s Kitchen, here’s a little bit of background:

“Oded’s Kitchen is the culmination of many years of research and a deep love of ancient techniques. Cooking and food lore are used to produce innovative, vibrant and individual flavours that are designed to add an instant gourmet touch to any meal.

Oded’s Kitchen is much more than a condiment provider – it is an organically growing and creative environment which will teach, amuse and entertain with cooking classes, gastronomic experiences, tours and a range of Jewish style speciality foods…

As a company we fully promote the philosophies of the slow food movement; whenever possible we use organically produced, local ingredients and environmentally friendly packaging materials. No artificial preservatives are added and we strive to use the best ingredients around.”

Oded Schwartz is a master preserver who has written several books on the topic, including the definite ‘Preserving‘.  His knowledge is vast, and his enthusiasm contagious – he’ll try just about anything, once.

The course was great fun.  We were a small group (they take a maximum of 8 people) and so we all got to get stuck in, chopping and slicing, dicing and squeezing, as Oded guided us through the three different recipes (for the recipes visit Add To Taste).  We made a beautiful orange marmalade (with coriander in it, yum!), an awesome simple vegetable pickle, and a delicious (spicy!) tomato salsa – one of each of which we got to take home and enjoy later on.

What I loved was that even a complete preserving newbie like myself could follow the instructions, and end up with something delicious (okay, I didn’t really do that much on my own, but it all made sense to me, and I think I could probably replicate most of it now that I understand how it’s supposed to work).  Oded is friendly and ever-so-knowledgeable, and loves answering whatever questions you might have.

I didn’t pay for my workshop this time around, but I would gladly have done so, and will definitely be doing some more in future.  The R400 for the course includes 3 big jars of delicious self-made preserves to take home, and a lovely lunch of home-made pates and whatever else they’ve created for the occasion.

And if you’re not into getting hands-on, you can find Oded’s Kitchen’s wares at various markets around Cape Town, as well as in an increasing number of outlets.  Highly recommended, and there’s always something new on the go (Oded is somewhat experimental!).

Workshop details:

Oded’s Kitchen will be running all kinds of workshops in the months ahead.  Coming up this weekend is the Traditional Jewish Cooking Class on Sunday the 29th of August 2010.

Location:

Oded’s Kitchen is located at The Old Biscuit Mill, 373 Albert Rd, Salt River, Cape Town.   Visit odeds-kitchen.blogspot.com for more information or contact Lewis via email (Lewis@odeds-kitchen.co.za) or phone 021 447 0400.

Back to the pecha-kucha format with 5 minute punchy presentations alerting you to some of the extraordinary work being done by a selection of enterprising individuals and organizations.

Hotelstuff | Greenstuff
Lorraine Jenks launched Greenstuff in 2007. In three years, hits have grown from 3,500 to 190,000 a month – 22,000 page views. Her mission is to educate, change mindsets and encourage hotels and home owners to think before they buy. Greenstuff tries to identify a “greener” alternative to everything a hotel or private individual uses every day and to encourage manufacturers to implement responsible environmental standards. We are not-for-gain and we don’t sell anything or take commission. Our revenue is from subscriptions to the website and a small consulting fee. www.hotelstuff.co.za

BACKSBERG
Simon Back ,Clairë Warren and Courtney Ellis. BACKSBERG has become the first wine producer in South Africa and one of only three in the world to gain Carbon Neutral status by sequestrating its carbon emissions. They will say a few words on their various environmental initiatives www.backsberg.co.za

MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL
Mike Marriot returned to SA recently after 10 years of work and travel abroad, to work for the Marine Stewardship Council, which is a global non-profit that promotes sustainable fishing practices through a certification and eco-labelling scheme.  In SA recognition of this label is low and I’ll be talking about what it represents and why we want consumers to start looking for it on fish packaging next time they’re out shopping. www.msc.org

ProNature
Bernhard Lembeck Paints will talk about the process of producing plant-oil based wall paints, stone and wood finishes. The ProNature range is derived purely from natural ingredients. www.pronature.co.za

Green Drinks, if you haven’t yet been, is a laid-back way of getting to know more about inspiring and interesting projects on the go in Cape Town and around the country – and of meeting the people who’re making things happen.  It’s part of a global initiative to bring ‘green’ folks together in an informal setting.

The event is free – just bring cash for drinks (wine and beer are usually on offer).

Hope to see you there!

EVENT INFO:

Date & Time: Monday 19 July 2010, from 6.30pm (talks start at 7.30pm)
Location: Josephine Mill, 13 Boundary Road, Newlands (map)

This weekend (10-11 July 2010), Robina McCurdy will be hosting a workshop on ‘Local Food Reliance‘:

This dynamic workshop is an in-depth sharing of Robina’s participatory tools for creating sustainable community food systems, applied to Cape Town and surrounds.  Robina will also share a range of successful international models of local food production and distribution.

The intended outcome of the workshop is that participants leave with a sound integrated strategy for community scale food self reliance, with immediate action steps toward achieving this individually and collectively, starting at their own back doors, within their own neighbourhoods and building on existing networks.

More about Robina McCurdy:

Robina is a co-founder of Tui Land Trust & Community in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and founder/trustee of the Institute for Earthcare Education Aotearoa.  She is also the pioneer-developer of the international programme, S.E.E.D. Schools Environmental Education & Development, and of PLANET Organic in New Zealand (vocational training in bio-regional & community-scale sustainable landuse design, management and facilitation.

Dates: 10, 11 July 2010.

Venue: WESSA Barn in Kirstenhof, Cape Town.

Cost: R475-R950 for weekend | R300 – R600 for Saturday only  (cost is on income-based sliding scale)

For more details, and to register, contact Inna Alex: earthcarenz@gmail.com

An important topic, to be sure, and the line-up looks interesting, as always.

Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG)
Jessica Wilson explains how access to water and sanitation in Cape Town is a tale of two cities. How do we use the characteristics inherent in water – cohesion, flow, adaptability – to understand and help improve water service provision in our divided city? Thoughts on this question will be presented using water and climate change work that EMG has been engaged with over the past few years.
www.emg.org.za

Greenhouse
Justin Friedman introduces the For Love of Water (FLOW) Campaign that aims to to instil a deep appreciation, understanding and respect for water. Raising awareness of water quality and quantity challenges on both a local and national level, while providing practical solutions to ensure that all are provided with clean safe fresh water.
www.flow.org.za

aQuadesign
Jerome Davis talks on aqua-solutions that include natural swimming pools, grey water recycling, energy optimisation and total water management. Ponds, mountain pools and wetlands are re-created using biological innovation, authentic bio-mimicry, high aesthetics, obsession with detail and design creativity.
www.naturalswimmingpools.co.za

SAB
Josiah Mpofu shares his perspective on the positive steps that SAB is taking to conserve water and reduce demand. In particular a relationship with WWF in the catchment, the exploration of the recycling of waste water (here and in Ibhayi), the reduction of consumption in the production process and the acknowledgement of water in the Newlands – the springs in particular.

Thomas Cousins and co-adventurers share their plan to paddle from Muizenberg to Milnerton via the waterways of the Cape Flats on May 23. This has never been done before (in terms of the modern city’s built infrastructure). The aim is to highlight the importance of healthy rivers in the life of the city by drawing attention to the human and ecological dimensions of the rivers and canals that we will travel along. They will interview residents, community groups, environmental activists, city officials and ecologists; conduct water quality tests and audits of sections of the rivers; and, by having the media at various points, contribute to public debate on how we would like to re-vison the river as a feature of city life.
thomas.cousins@jhu.edu

.

Monday 17 May 2010.  From 6.30pm.   Map and further details: http://www.josephinemill.co.za/greendrinks.html

SA’s first Food Bloggers Conference will be taking place this coming Sunday (21 March 2010) at the Giggling Gourmet Cooks’ Playground (opposite the new Cape Quarter).

The conference will include talks by guest speakers such as: award-winning blogger Jeanne Horak-Druiff, the talented food styler Nina Timm, Editor-in-chief of Women24, Food24 and Parent24 Sam Wilson and professional book editor and author of the blog Scrumptious SA Jane-Anne Hobbs.

It’s a jam-packed day, with what I feel is quite a good variety of topics, and I’m looking forward to meeting fellow food bloggers!

Food Bloggers Conference Agenda:

• 09.30 – 10.00:  Registration and Champagne/Orange Juice
• 10.00 – 10.15: Welcome & Introduction by Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris
• 10.15 – 11.15: WRITING – ‘Finding your Blog Voice’ by Jeanne Horak-Druiff and ‘Effective Recipe Writing & Editorial Techniques’ by Jane-Anne Hobbs
• 11.15 – 11.45:  ‘Getting to know your camera’ by Nina Timm
• 11.45 – 12.00:  Short Coffee Break
• 12.00 – 12.45: ‘How to be a better Blogger’ by Jeanne Horak-Druiff
• 12.45 – 13.30:  Lunch Break
• 13.30 – 14.15: ‘Social Networking – Getting Connected’ by Sam Wilson
• 14.15 – 15.00: ‘Food Styling’ by Nina Timm
• 15.00 – 15.15:  Short Tea/Coffee Break
• 15.15 – 16.00: ‘The Legalities & Ethics of Blogging’ by Jeanne Horak-Druiff
• 16.00 – 16.30: ‘Monetizing Your Blog – how to make money from blogging’ by Nina Timm
• 16.30 – 17.00:  Questions & Answers with all the speakers

Tickets to the conference are R430 per person.  The event website is a little difficult to navigate, so check out the details here and, if you want to go straight to the source, email collywolly50@yahoo.co.uk.  Like I say, I’m not too sure if bookings are still open, but maybe you’ll be lucky and they’ll have one or two spots left.

This year, the gatherings are broadly themed and the topic for March is Energy:

ASPO South Africa

Roger Diamond will speak about the work and current thinking of the South African Branch of The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, a Global group monitoring our decent from oil dependency and the implications resulting from the turning point of cheap oil.
www.aspo.org.za

The Institute for Zero Waste

Muna Lakhani will give a brief “state of the nation” update on the politics and intrigues of the Nuclear lobby and the role of nuclear in the future energy mix in South Africa.
www.izwa.org.za

Retosolar

Reinhold Viljoen will give a perspective on the state of play of the alternative energy market in South Africa: – Eskom, Nersa, feed in tariffs and the state of applications for the roll-out of wind, concentrating solar and other alternative energy technologies.
www.retosolar.co.za

Alt-e Technologies

Tendai Shumbayaonda of Alt-e technologies, a commercial supplier of alternative energy and sustainable energy technology will give some real, current and practical information on what’s available, where to get it or how to get it done…Want a solar thermal hot water system, PV lighting or advice on how to uncouple your life from Eskom?
www.alt-e.co.za

Map and further details: http://www.josephinemill.co.za/greendrinks.html

Food being one of my very favourite enthusiasms, of course I couldn’t resist getting involved and had the privilege of helping to organise this month’s event.  It’s on tonight from 6.30pm, and I think the lineup will appeal not just to greenies, but to anyone interested in finding out more about food provenance – getting to the source of the food you eat.

Here are the details:

GREENDRINKSCAPETOWN – February 2010

Dear Friends
Here we go again with the first of ten gatherings this year…This one celebrates and questions our connection with nature through food – where and what is the progeny and purpose of our nourishment. An awareness of food from its biological to political… we are back on the PechaKucha format – short presentations from some interesting do-ers, be-ers and activists

Slow Food Mother City
Slow Food Mother City is a local convivium (chapter) of the international Slow Food movement.
Celebrating good food in Cape Town is what SFMC is all about. Sharing their passion for local produce, food artisans and seasonal eating, the new convivium is organising a series of relaxed foodie events throughout 2010. Hear about what’s planned, and find out more about projects supported by SFMC, such as the Cape Town CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and a soon-to-be-launched open seed network.
www.slowfoodmothercity.co.za

Wild Organics
In addition to operating a city-wide organic box scheme, Wild Organics also offers foodies an old style organic shopping experience in the heart of Woodstock’s heritage area. In addition to fresh organic fruit and vegetables, Wild sells free range meat, cheeses and pickles, and serves meals on selected days of the week.
http://www.wildorganics.co.za/

Heart Global – Food Tents
Millions of South African children go hungry every day. In response to this ever increasing crisis, Foodtents offer a sustainable, cost-effective, low maintenance solution to provide those most in need with fresh vegetables on an ongoing basis.  Find out how Heart Global’s revolutionary, make-shift greenhouses are helping communities source and secure supplies of nutritious food.
http://heartglobal.org/

KwaLapa
Kwalapa is an organic wholefoods store in Newlands, sheltered under a very large tree. It’s a place for people to meet, share ideas, experience delicious organic foods and dip in / become part of a fantastic way of life.  Kwalapa is telling the story of food, from farm to table, reconnecting conscious eaters with where, when and how their food was created.
http://www.kwalapa.com/

If you too would like to share your dreams or what you do, please let us know (greendrinks@josephinemill.co.za). Make a presentation in the future…. and become a part of a growing, conscious–living community. Share knowledge, wisdom, skills, hope, and enthusiasm.

Map and further details: http://www.josephinemill.co.za/greendrinks.html

I’ve been watching, with some interest, the steps that the retailer has been taking towards making themselves ‘greener’ and more eco-conscious.  They are definitely making big changes, and whatever the motives behind it may be (’tis the nature of business, after all, to make a profit), I’m impressed with the extent to which they are bringing in more and more earth-friendly options.

So, whilst I may not have time to attend this talk, I do think it will be an interesting one.  And, a perfect opportunity for the skeptics to voice their concerns and open up the floor for debate.

More about Green Drinks:
Greendrinks is a free forum, open to anyone who wants to share green experiences, discuss ideas for more conscious living, network, listen to new developments and have a good time. (www.greendrinks.org).

Event Location: Cafe Restaurant La Vie, on 205 Main Road, Sea Point
Event dates and times: 10th February 2010 from 18h30

For more info,contact seaboardgreendrinks@gmail.com.

Time for a bit more sincerity (though not without the all so human endeavour of Robert Zipplies to cycle around South Africa). These awesome Cape Town individuals are pioneers in public awareness on climate change – if you want a quick snapshot of what’s really happening in Cape Town with regards to Copenhagen and at home, then this is it. GET ACTIVE…BRING A PEN.

Here’s what’s on the cards for the evening: a convivial gathering of like-minded individuals (or curious onlookers), plenty of wine, and the following four speakers:

Samantha Bailey – www.350.org
‘Learn about 350.org’s campaign to inspire creative civic action globally on Oct 24th that sends a strong, unified message to our leaders to develop an international climate treaty that meets the requirements the latest science, plus hear about the very colourful Cape Town actions planned!’

Leonie Joubert – journalist and writer www.scorched.co.za
‘Many poor communities are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, even though their contribution to the pollution causing climate change is negligible. Are we thinking about these communities, as they face the new threat of climate change along with other converging environmental and socio-economic crises?

Robert Zipplies – author and activist www.bendingthecurve.co.za
‘Editor of “Bending the Curve, Robert is turning his attention to bringing awareness of climate change to the broader community by embarking on an epic cycle ride around the country on an eezeebike.. …”

Brenda Martin 90×2030
www.90×2030.org.za and www.goedgedacht.org.za
Brenda will talk of the activities of Project 90×2030 and the work being done by her organization and the Goedgedacht Trust.

Why not attend a climate change hearing?

Oxfam International and the Environmental Monitoring Group are inviting the people of Cape Town to attend two thought-provoking and informative hearings early next week. These events form part of the events scheduled across the globe in the build up to the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which will take place in December this year.

The details are as follows:

While the Climate Change negotiations focus on emissions reduction, technology transfer, financing and other political agreements, it is important not to lose sight of the real impact that climate change has on real people – and what communities around the world are doing.

It will be an exciting combination of heartfelt testimony, performance art and input from leaders, activists and climate change experts. There will be numerous opportunities for the media to actively engage.

Pan-African Climate Change and Poverty Hearings
Monday 5th October 2009, 10h30-16h00

AND

Cape Town Hearings on Climate Change, Food and Water
Tuesday 6th October 2009, 8h30-14h00

DATE: 5 & 6 October 2009
VENUE: Common Ground Church, 23 Milner Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town
ORGANISERS: Oxfam International and the Environmental Monitoring Group

Participation is free of charge. If you would like to attend one or both of the events please register your intention to attend (stating which events) by emailing sandrae@emg.org.za