Mossel Bay chef cooks for elGourmet
Mossel Bay last week hosted a television crew from elGourmet.com - which has been described as the South American equivalent of BBC Food.
The crew filmed Stonehill Restaurant's executive chef, Tim Casten, cooking for Argentine celebrity chef Pablo Massey, and also videod a typical South African braai at the home of the owner of Stonehill, Allan Robertson.
"We wanted to show the team that we could produce a superb meal using local ingredients," said Robertson.
"Chef (who's a spear fisherman) went out and hunted a red roman the day before, and then went diving again for oysters on the morning of the show. He also picked the vegetables, herbs and flowers that he needed from our own organic garden at Stonehill," he said.
The meal included an aperitif of fresh Mossel Bay oysters with lemon juice, mussels mariniere as a starter, and a main course which Casten called "fish and chips with a bit of a twist" - pan-grilled fillets served with fondant potatoes, and a green pea jelly topped with a salt-and-vinegar ice-cream.
Desserts included fruit caviar (a dish which, Casten said, was not served at any other local restaurant); lavender jelly; a mint, lime, and yoghurt parfait served on a brandy snap; and lavender biscuits.
The director of the shoot, Julio Hormaeche, said that the show would be broadcast to the entire South - and Central American region - where 16-million of the 350-million inhabitants subscribe to elGourmet.com.
"The significance of shows like this is immense because they showcase the town and the region in ways that we could never afford - and because viewers tend to see the information they provide as being reliable," said Mossel Bay Tourism's Marcia Holm.
"Also, the fact that the series will be broadcast in South America will give a huge boost to our South-South Strategy, which is designed to build bridges between the people of Mossel Bay and the Mercosur countries," she said.
Hormaeche said that his company would likely produce two episodes about Mossel Bay, "because it's a very rich place, and it offers a lot of things for us - for the issues in our show. It's extremely easy and comfortable shooting here,'" he said. "Wonderful lighting, wonderful climate - there is no difficulty at all."
Asked if Mossel Bay's food had impressed, Pablo Massey said, "yes, because your products are very, very good; they're of a high quality; your place is very nice (you are behind the ocean, and I feel it in the products); and your vegetables come from an organic garden. It's a wonderful experience."
He said, too, that he'd enjoyed working with Casten. "He's a great chef," he said.
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