Eat for the Earth prize winners 2012

Hanno Kemp

“Our meal was fully vegetarian (well, I guess “lacto-ovo-vegetarian”, if you want to be technical), with only in-season and organic produce used (literally all the vegetables, eggs, butter, flour, fruit etc. was organic).We have learned such a lot from this experience. From discussing products with the producers at the market, to researching seasonality of products online, to finding producers of locally produced and organic products (whom we will certainly frequent in future), to just seeing first-hand how much better the food tasted when approached in this way. It is interesting to reflect that we have a bag of store-bought apples (packed in plastic) in the house that just doesn’t seem quite as appealing any more…We cooked with 98% organic products (and where they were not organic – in the case of the olive oil and sugar, it was because we purposefully avoided imported products), all locally sourced or picked from our garden,with no animals being harmed (not even slightly offended), using only seasonal products, avoiding packaging at all costs (fruit and veg were bulk-packed in boxes) and we did not for a moment stop talking about the food, where it came from and how DELICIOUS it was all evening!Thanks so much for allowing us to have such an eye-opening experience.  We simply cannot wait to keep on cooking the way we did on Tuesday. By the time next year’s “Eat for the Earth” date comes along, we’ll be “naturals” at this…”

Ashleigh Hamilton

“I invited 5 long lost friends/colleagues who I haven’t seen in AGES, for a full on catch-up gossip session over YUMMY food…I made my own veggie chips and guacamole dip! But I was in such a rush after getting home late from work, I forgot to take pics! The girls arrived eagerly early and devoured them before I remembered my camera. I then made a veggie soup which I made from Spatula’s recipe, was DELICIOUS!! Served with health rye rolls and a self made garlic bread 🙂 YUM

For desert I made Spatula’s apple and pear crumble with my mothers famous recipe for home made vanilla custard, also lacked the photographic evidence as I was so excited to serve it!

To top it all off I made Spatula’s chilli hot chocolate with cream on top! Went very well with the warm cozy fire and pouring rain outside.”

Caylee Scholtz

“This was my second year taking part. Last year we had roast chicken, butternut salad with roast almond and parmesan crunch and pecan nut pie. This year there were only three of us due to cancellations and we had warm butternut soup and a fruit pavlova. The meal was 100% vegetarian and the soup was vegan (unless you added cheese). The ingredients were all organic and local.”

Hester van der Merwe

“We had a great time eating for the earth – mid week and mid exams! The last mentioned resulted in a VERY relaxed no nonsense evening: no fancy table settings no fancy food. We had soup and sherry and everybody pitched in to help. This was also Chris’ first introduction to the family as the new boyfriend of Karin (see if you can id the happy couple in the pics J). As it was a charity dinner, we could only be nice to him, so thanks to you guys he will probably be back! One was the soups was made by Johan – his first contribution to our table as a married man – so it might not be that easy to pick the right couple as Johan and Marili only just returned from honeymoon!”

Petro Meiring

“We have committed ourselves to this very exciting project and have hosted a meal at our home on Tuesday, 5 June. The decision was to keep the meal as simple and “Earth friendly” as possible.

Our starter was aubergine stuffed with herbs(fresh from the garden – food miles = 20 metres!) and cottage cheese. Considering that we have just returned from France where we experienced a delicious French peasant’s meal, we decided on a Cassoulet for our main dish. It originated in the small town of Castelnaudary as a healthy, yet nourishing meal. Our assumption was that this meal, by definition, would be”earth friendly” – this works if you live in France. In standard Afrikaans: ‘n Boer maak ‘n plan. So we had to adapt it to lessen the food miles significantly. Hence, Toulouse pork sausage made way for “porkies” from our butcher down the road. Duck, not your everyday meat in SA, made way for good old chicken thighs. Beans are beans, are beans – hence no problem to find good haricot beans. In fact the number of ‘likes’ and ‘share’ this recipe on my Facebook page, suggests that I might have discovered an Earth friendly alternative to ‘pap and wors’. We are looking forward to another Yuppiechef challenge for next year’s Eat for the Earth.”

Jane Wollaston

“Our investment club met on Tuesday and had the most wonderful evening. We had Spicy Morrocan soup to start ,vegetable lasagne for mains and pears, mascarponi with maraschino cherries and chopped hazlenuts for pudding….divine.”