Warm and delicious Entering the world of Milo - a beloved malted drink that’s an essential backdrop to so many childhoods around the world. For My Recipes, September 2018 Children in Malaysia and Singapore know that dinosaurs still roam the streets. So does Godzilla. From within kopitiams (coffee houses), mobile vendors and vans [...]
The Table Ishay Govender (@ishaygovender) Until The Day– Thanksgiving Series, for Popula, November 2018 We felt like conspiratorial knights by ordering a round dining room table, its handsome surface echoing the inlaid grain and gleam of a Louis XV replica, painstakingly crafted but modernized sans the Rococo flamboyance. A good table to lay [...]
Garlic, chillies and ginger, some of the vital ingredients that go into making a delicious pot of curry These are the fieriest curries in the land. But Durban Indian food isn’t confined to just curry. Here you’ll find a unique mix of South and North Indian dishes like breyanis and pilaus, and cooking [...]
Piedmont – A Food Lover’s Italian Odyssey From Turin to Bra, Alba and the neighbouring wine valleys, Ishay Govender enjoys a taste of Slow Food’s home and the birthplace of so many iconic foods from bread sticks to Nutella. For Food & Home, March 2019. City of Mystery, Divinity & Confection During my [...]
Gregory Mutambe Cape Town sommelier Gregory Mutambe speaks about progress and inclusion for South Africa’s black wine professionals. (@IshayGovender), for Wine Enthusiast, September 2018 Gregory Mutambe, head sommelier at Cape Town’s luxurious 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa left his homeland Zimbabwe in 2006, during one of its most tumultuous periods. Moved by a growing [...]
Delicious and refreshing Port and Tonic – on late blooming and even later discoveries. For true magic, exit left at the Douro Valley. For Popula, Oct 2018 I had my first port tonic about six years ago while travelling through the Douro Valley in the north of Portugal. Ice cubes clinked around in [...]
Delicious Durban Curry Durban, on South Africa’s east coast, is known for its laid-back vibe, warm waters and liberal use of spice. While gourmands will say this isn’t the capital of fine dining, you can expect to find great value and quality ingredients in abundance. It’s the perfect place to indulge in the [...]
Georgian Supra – An Endless Feast (@ishaygovender) A version of this article appeared on Food & Home, October 2018 Bakery Ballet Nana Chivadze, a baker with flushed cheeks and a toothless grin, tips over, head first into a hot toné – the Georgian circular terracotta oven similar to the Indian tandoor. Deftly, she slaps the [...]
Beautiful city views. Image: Tbilisi The juxtaposition of old and new makes Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi , a popular long weekend-break crammed with cultural and culinary attractions. Travellers from the UAE can take advantage of the frequent flights and short flight times (just three-and-a-half hours) to enjoy the city sprawled beneath a 17th Century fortress, [...]
Image by Claire Gunn Sommeliers Pearl Oliver, Joseph Dhafana and Tinashe Nyamudoka are working closely with BLACC – the Black Cellar Club, a South African association of wine professionals, to boost the profile of Blacks in an industry once fraught with inequality and are changing the game in South Africa (@IshayGovender), For [...]
For South African Airways, Sawubona Magazine, May 2018, by Alex Matthews What, in your view, defines a curry — and what are the hallmarks of a good one? One thing I learned from the various cooks around South Africa, is that the definition of a curry is very elastic - it differs widely between regions, communities, and even families. [...]
Review by Yemisi Aribisala author of Longthroat Memoirs, Facebook, October 2018 I had an instinctive feeling I would love Ishay's book from the moment I laid eyes on it. It was most probably two things - the cinnamon and gold cover and the emblazoned word "CURRY". I didn't have time to look through it. It [...]
Creamy Mealie Meal Pap Mealie meal pap or porridge is a breakfast dish of milled white maize enjoyed across demographics in South Africa. By Ishay Govender (@IshayGovender). For Woolworths TASTE, September 2018, story: Things we Found in the Fire Mealie meal pap eaten simply with sugar and milk or with golden syrup and [...]
Guggenheim Museum by night Visit the highlights in Spain’s Basque Country to enjoy the best in architecture and cultural heritage. (@IshayGovender), for The National, Aug 2018 Three weeks in the Basque Country, an autonomous region in northern Spain, where the icy waves of the Bay of Biscay meet the misty green valleys, may be [...]
When the late U.S restaurant critic Jonathan Gold wrote about food, he invariably commented on the irrational fear white Americans have of their neighbours, forging connections along the way. Ishay Govender breaks it down in our local context. (@IshayGovender), For Sunday Times, August 2018 Recently, a well-known South African chef with a restaurant brewing beer [...]
Wolfgat, a 20-seat restaurant outside Cape Town, is leading the way in a time of drought (@IshayGovender), For Saveur Magazine, Oceans Issue, 2018 In a dry place. The salty tang of fresh kelp lifts on a crisp breeze, across the cream-colored sands of Die Krans in Paternoster, once the lookout for fishermen monitoring [...]
Lamb chops in chutney, curried tinned pilchards, leftover chicken curry shredded and served on toast. We look at the South African Indian breakfasts that shaped Ishay Govender’s childhood as she makes a case for curry for breakfast. (@IshayGovender), For Extra Crispy My Recipes, August 2018 As they say, curry is always better the next day. [...]
The indigenous South African Khoi and San drank it as tea, now the world slathers it on their faces. But who will credit the primary knowledge-holders? (@IshayGovender), For Extra Crispy My Recipes, July 2018 An ode to Rooibos. Image: Shutterstock An elderly Khoi woman follows a trail of ants, watching them roll miniscule rooibos [...]
More tourists are flocking to Lisbon each year As Portugal’s economy strengthens, more visitors are supporting restaurants old and new. (@IshayGovender), For Business Day, May 2018 Strewn across the Seven Hills, Lisbon’s azulejo (ceramic tile)-covered buildings stack together forming countless arches through which the famous yellow eléctricos, or trams pass, rickety over the cobblestones [...]
One writer traces the evolution of Durban Indian cuisine, and the role her indentured ancestors played in shaping the city’s culinary and cultural landscape (@IshayGovender), for MIC, October 2018 Fish curry, tripe curry, mutton curry, you name it, Durban's got it and it's all mouth-watering. On South Africa’s palm tree-lined east coast, within [...]
