Gwynne Conlyn | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

The author brings together in Delicious travel a collection of her culinary wanderings through some of the most remote and unchartered parts of South Africa - places we thought we knew - in different and completely unexpected ways. The author has an eye and ear for the idiosyncratic and the quirky, in her quest for great cuisine, she uncovers the eccentricities of the people who live - and cook - in the countryside. 'Great cuisine' isn't necessarily haute cuisine, but rather the ingredients, chefs and places, all conspiring to make an experience memorable. It rediscovers bits of history and paints vivid pictures of people and their stories as it traces culinary treasures down hidden paths. This is intelligent travel with a twist! We learn how to make mealiepap pie in Victoria West, and conversely, the most sublime of seared tuna with a tantalising Far East-flavoured topping in a remote Eastern Cape town.
We discover how, just outside De Rust, Jans Rautenbach, the godfather of Afrikaans film, got to sport a cathedral window in his house; how the breeding of Arabian horses on a stud farm influences the cuisine in the area and what really happens at a Karoo cattle auction when everyone buys jerepigo in support of church coffers. We discover how Mpumalanga's Robbers' Pass got its name; how the creative writing process imposes on cooking; and we find out why writer/artist Braam Kruger is more famous for his perfect fish and chips than for his art and possibly most importantly, how to mix the perfect Bloody Mary or Martini.