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The Good Food and Wine Show

8 May 2009

The Good Food and Wine Show 2009 kicks off at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 28 to 31 May, before travelling to Durban in July and Johannesburg in October.

This year's Cape Town edition offers plenty of attractive additions, including an outdoor exhibition area and interactive theatre.

Suppliers will showcase their outdoor cooking appliances, including the revolutionary new concept of built-in gas braais, which allow for the control of temperature when cooking, thus elevating the art of traditional braaiing to a quick, clean and convenient cooking solution. The best gas and conventional charcoal braais will also be on display.

BBC celebrity chefs

There will be interactive demonstrations with BBC celebrity chefs as well as TV, radio and sports personalities. Ainsley Harriot, the popular host of the BBC's Ready Steady Cook, will be one of the big outdoor drawcards.

Outdoor furniture, accessories, braai equipment, food, conditments and thirst quenchers will also be showcased.

A new initiative, From the Garden to the Kitchen, will be launched at the Good Food and Wine Show. It will focus on how people can successfully grow their own fruit and vegetables, combined with healthy, quick and easy meals, as part of a drive to get consumers to "go green".

Protecting the environment

"We need to protect our environment," says the show's director, Christine Cashmore. "We must start in a small way, and since we're the leading culinary exhibition, the initiative needs to begin at the Good Food and Wine Show."

Celebrity chef Skye Gyngell from the Petersham Nurseries Cafe will be part of From the Garden to the Kitchen. Reflecting on fresh, homegrown ingredients, she says: "The secret is not to mess with a great ingredient. All you have to do is turn the volume up."

The interactive theatre will be surrounded by a variety of new exhibits showcasing organic, fresh produce, including cheese, olive oils, organic wines and other related products.

Tea, coffee, chocolate

The focus on interaction continues with tea workshops, which aim to exhibit the art of making and enjoying tea. Different flavours and aromas will be on show, including herbal, honeybush, mint, chamomile, rooibos, white, black or green tea, with endless varieties.

Coffee tips will also be provided as suppliers show and market their goods. Coffee machines and utensils, cups, saucers, pots, croquery and blends will be available.

Going hand-in-hand with tea and coffee will be chocolate, with Nestle Gold, the sponsor of the the Nestle Gold/Top Billing Lounge, introducing their range of Swiss chocolates.

Great Wine Sale

Wine lovers will be able to taste over 200 award-winning wines at the Great Wine Sale. They'll also have the opportunity to stock up on some of the wines on show at bargain prices.

For lovers of the exotic, the Bartenders' Workshop and the National Cocktail and Flair championships will be exciting attractions. Consumers will be able to try their hand at making well known cocktails.

Barmen will rock the crowds with tandem flair techniques, varieties of colour and fruity concoctions that include some of the best loved flavours - from Curacao, to cherry, to peppermint, strawberry and grenadine, garnished by sugar crystals, lime zest and maraschinos.

The National Classic Cocktail and Flair Championship will determine who represents South Africa at the world competition to be held in Shanghai.

Chefs in Action Theatre

The Chefs in Action Theatre will include Top Billing presenters, Ainsley Harriot; Brian Turner, like Harriot a long-time star of Ready Steady Cook; Skye Gyngell; Marcos Georgiou, the executive chef for Jamie's Italian; Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi from the Return to Tuscany BBC programme; 'The Giggling Gourmet' Jenny Morris; Yudhika Sujanani; Ramona Taljaard; Matthew Gordan, Conrad Gallagher, and Gabriel le Roux.

The Spekko Hands-on Workshops will allow visitors to work with BBC celebrity chefs. Booking must be made online for this.

South Africa's leading chefs will be action in the South African Best Restaurants Chefs Theatre. Many different styles and kinds of food will be represented. For a list of the chefs and restaurants they represent who will be demonstrating their skills, check the schedule on the Good Food and Wine show website.

Books will be on sale, and many of their authors will be on hand to sign them.

City Bites will feature various Cape Town restaurants offering a selection of their signature dishes, along with carefully chosen signature wines.

Experience Halaal will also cater for Muslims and for non-Muslims eager to experience halaal food.

The Good Food and Wine Show travels to Durban from 23 to 26 July, and to Johannesburg's Coca-Cola Dome from 29 October to 1 November.

SAinfo reporter and The Good Food and Wine Show