There was a time when food in South Africa was fairly simple and straight-forward. We were the land of tripe and polony. Gourmet wasn’t a commonplace word, and fancy food was all about special Sunday roasts or hotel buffets, or if you were of another class, the stuff people ate in restaurants like those in the Carlton Hotel or The Mount Nelson. Masterful chefs were the preserve of a small elite – not the every man and woman.
Fortunately times have changed and gourmet foods, products and processes have become much more democratised thanks to television and the interwebs. As the media discovered that human beings love to watch other humans cooking, all things gourmet have seeped into our popular culture.