South Indian Sour Porridge in South Africa Sunlight streams in the early morning over the vessels on the wood fire outside; the drums with water heating for bathing, the pots with the day’s lunch. A version of this appears on Roads & Kingdoms, August 2016. sour porridge with spring onions Sunlight streams in [...]
Koreatown in Manhattan may be a long way from Seoul, but its restaurants serve up delectable national dishes, from bibimbap to bulgogi. For Business Day WANTED, August 2016. K-Town Pops The steeply vertical expanse of Koreatown in Manhattan, fondly nicknamed K-Town, crams an intense scrapbook of neon signage, supermarkets, general stores, beauty parlours and restaurants [...]
Tropes on Starving Kids from an 80s Kitchen - Things We Were Told Ishay Govender-Ypma reflects on an 80s youth of big hair, Band Aid and misguided rhetoric. Tropes on Starving Kids. This essay was written for Mail & Guardian. author with neighbourhood kids in the 80s It was the time of Halley’s [...]
Cherae Robinson Since launching Rare Customs in 2014, which facilitated foreign investment in African SMEs in the fields of agriculture, tourism and market entry, founder Cherae Robinson (nominated a “woman to watch” by the U.N. in 2014) has continued on her upward trajectory. In December 2015 she launched her start-up mobile app Tastemakers [...]
Mexico City – colourful, chaotic, and a crash-course in street-food, as Ishay Govender-Ypma learns, tasting her way through markets and curb-side stalls. Fine dining your north star? Check! But you’ll soon be drawn back to the abuela-style dishes found in the simple diners and homes around town. My Mexico City Food Guide For Taste Magazine, [...]
Riga, the cultural capital of the Baltics is offering up lighter, more refined versions of Latvian staples. Written by Ishay Govender-Ypma (@IshayGovender) for Fine Dining Lovers. Riga, image Shutterstock Often referred to as the pearl of Latvia in Central Eastern Europe, capital city Riga lies at the mouth of the Daugava River and along [...]
Taste of the Swahili Coast - Swahili Food The Swahili Coast runs from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, a unique cultural melting pot that reflects in the cuisine. For Fine Dining Lovers, July 2016. In the village of Alfeneseni, outside Zanzibar, an east African island popular with holidaymakers for its pristine white shores and [...]
World's 50 Best Restaurants with South Africa taking spot number 22. South Africa’s The Test Kitchen continues to dominate taking spot number 22 on World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Ishay Govender-Ypma reports from New York City. For Business Day, June 2016. Last night at Cipriani Wall Street, Manhattan, New York welcomed its first World’s 50 Best [...]
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen - South African Soul with a French Touch Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, owner of JAN in France, is the first South African to be awarded a Michelin star. Ishay Govender-Ypma (@IshayGovender) chatted to him on his recent visit to South Africa. For Fine Dining Lovers, April 2016. Jan [...]
Bree Street has, over the past five years, become the restaurant/bar/fun street in Cape Town. It's tough to pick, but these are five of my favourites. Do you have any must-visit spots on Bree? Read about the transformation on Bree Street for Business Day Chefs Warehouse & Canteen Chefs Warehouse with my friend Linda [...]
Beyond the glittery resorts in Zanzibar, Tanzania, we meet a family in a village who allow us a glimpse into Zanzibari food culture. For Business Day WANTED magazine, April 2016
Although very small, Reykjavik is bustling with bars, brunch spots and bistros that pay homage to Iceland’s rich, and sometimes objectionable food traditions. For Fine Dining Lovers, 28 March 2016. Reykjavik from the main church For a capital city this small, home to around two-thirds of Iceland’s total population of 323 [...]
Brooklyn Dining Tour - New York There’s more to Brooklyn’s culinary scene than Williamsburg. Ishay Govender-Ypma (@IshayGovender) started in Greenpoint and kept walking on a Brooklyn Dining Tour. For SAA Sawubona Magazine, March 2016. Brooklyn Dining Tour featured in the SAA Sawubona Magazine North of Hip What used to be, if the travel [...]
The Baltic regions are on the rise. We explore the splendour of nearby Poland, still shedding the cloak of communism and forging a new identity. Poland - More Than Pierogi & Vodka for Food and Home Entertaining Magazine, March 2016. Fall of the Iron Curtain Classic Pierogi If it’s pierogi – the eponymous Polish [...]
Travelling along Bree Street and meeting the locals who are bringing the street back to being 'The place to be'. A Bree Street Food Guide For Business Day 4 March 2016. Crammed at the portside since the colonial days, with seedy dive bars and brothels frequented by sailors, and a mere hundred meters from the sea [...]
Réunion Island Food, where culinary and cultural exploration meet Culinary and cultural exploration are deeply fused, Ishay Govender-Ypma (@IshayGovender) discovers on a visit to the volcanic French island, Réunion. For The National UAE, 4 Feb 2016. Author (2nd left) with a family of local farmers - they titled this: "The Malabar returns home" - [...]
A foraging walk with Loubie Rusch of Making KOS teaches the importance of learning about local plants and how to grow them to sustain us - Kalk Bay, Cape Town. For The Times, 19 January 2016. At The Studio in Main Road, Kalk Bay, an unexpected art installation is spread across a beautiful weathered wooden [...]
Summer in South Africa means platters of crayfish and local oysters, and glasses of local Chenin Blanc enjoyed by the water’s edge. *Olive Magazine asked me for my top ten defining Cape Town bites....not an easy ask. Out in Dec 2015 issue* Prime Position Luke Dale-Robert’s The Pot Luck Club, headed up by rising star Wesley [...]
We had the opportunity to learn some cooking tips from a Zapotec woman, a Mexican indigenous group who settled in the area of Oxaca, Mexico. We were shown the true meaning of slow living, loving and eating. For Fine Dining Lovers, 20 Nov 2015. At Teotitlán de Valle, 25 kilometres outside the colonial town of [...]
Chennai market A return to the Motherland - Chennai, India. For TASTE Magazine. It dawns on me at the Georgetown market in Chennai, that the locals find me perplexing. Amid ox-drawn carts piled with fresh vegetables, the vendors sit cross-legged in front of their tidily arranged wares, offering me a smile and a [...]
