Renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson has received more accolades at age 37 than most chefs receive in a lifetime. In 1995, after training in Sweden and apprenticing in Switzerland, Austria, France and the United States, Samuelsson was hired as the Executive Chef of Aquavit. Just three months after he joined, the restaurant received a three-star review from The New York Times. Samuelsson is now co-owner of Aquavit as well as co-founder and creative director of Townhouse Restaurant Group which includes New York's Ringo, AQ Kafe and August and Chicago's C-House and Marc Burger. Samuelsson's success has expanded into other projects including five highly-acclaimed cookbooks and host appearances on BET's Urban Cuisine and Discovery's Inner Chef. His multi-faceted partnership with Starbucks is considered revolutionary.
Marcus Samuelsson has received three awards from the prestigious James Beard Foundation: "Rising Star Chef" in 1999, "Best Chef, New York" in 2003 and "Best International Cookbook" in 2007. He was also celebrated as one of "The Great Chefs of America" by the Culinary Institute of America.
Samuelsson is a graduate of the Culinary Institute in Gothenburg, Sweden and received an honorary Doctorate of Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University in 2006. Samuelsson is an ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICENF and serves on the Board of Directors of Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP).
Marcus Samuelsson's Tale
Introductions and Injera
I landed at OR Tambo International Airport outside Johannesburg on a Saturday afternoon for the start of a whirlwind tour of South Africa. I was there to experience the rich culinary tradition of South Africa, which includes some of the world's best food, wine and genuine hospitality. As I began my trip, I reflected on the special place South Africa has in my heart… I was born in Ethiopia and adopted by a Swedish couple, and so I am a citizen of the world but also a son of African soil.
My first stop was surprisingly familiar. Abyssinia in Kensington, an Ethiopian restaurant, is a reflection of the incredible culinary diversity of South Africa. Epicurean entrepreneurs from across the African continent come there; immigrant food now found in smart suburban restaurants and delicious inner city dives alike.
At Abyssinia, Chef Amsale Debela prepared all the Ethiopian classics as she told us her own amazing story. To escape political persecution, she literally walked to South Africa from Ethiopia - the journey only took her one month!
Amsale and I made an instant connection in the kitchen as we chatted about the strong vegetarian tradition of
Ethiopian food, ideal for non-meateaters. We served a variety of dishes an injera flat bread. This sourdough bread wonderfully counterpoints the rich flavours of the berbere spiced stews and kitfko steak tartar.
Eating is a social activity, and even more so at Abyssinia; you share the food with your fellow diners on the communal flat bread "plate" which you then also eat. Our evening ended with a traditional Ethiopian coffee
ceremony and I took the time to savour the aromas of slow roasted African coffee. It was the perfect way to get settled in and discuss, with much excitement, the plans of the week to come.
Our host that night was the the internationally acclaimed Saxon Boutique Hotel and Spa. This award-winning hotel is situated in the pristine Sandhurst suburb on a sprawling six acres of land. It is known as a home away from home to many visiting celebrities. Nelson Mandela lived in this all-suite hotel while he wrote his autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom.
I would have loved to linger in the pampered luxury of the Saxon for longer, but we had places to go, people to meet, and food to taste. Nevertheless, I insisted on seeing the Saxon's kitchen and was duly impressed. I was roped in (without much resistence on my part) to the preparations of Karoo lamp chops with samp (dried corn kernels, first crushed until broken, then boiled and served as a starch accompaniment). The feast was an extra special brunch for all of us…
Culture and Gemmer
We left the Saxon and drove through the urban forest that is Johannesburg, with autumn's colour pallet in full display, in a south-westerly direction. Our destination: Soweto (from the acronym for South Western Townships).
The area has spawned many political, sports and cultural personalities, including Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu – two Nobel peace prize laureates, who both once lived in the now famous Vilakazi Street in the Orlando West neighborhood (the only street in the world that has this claim to fame). Recent years have also seen Soweto become a site of massive development projects and a major tourist attraction in the country. I agree with those who describe Soweto as a living monument, for it is a true testament to the past and present of South Africa's peaceful transformation. Following an overview tour, I find myself at our main stop for the day: The Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square.
Situated in Soweto's oldest neighborhood, Kliptown, and adjacent to the national heritage site where more than fifty years ago the Freedom Charter was signed, this four-star hotel offers world-class accommodation to more than 200,000 tourists who visit Soweto every year.
I immediately noticed the astonishing mosaic portraits in the hotel's reception area. They feature some of Soweto's famous residents, notably a young Nelson Mandela, smiling broadly. The décor is a mix of innovative South African chic and township history: huge black-and-white Alf Khumalo photographs, gogo (grandma) blankets, and faux maize-bag cushion slips make this an authentic yet modern Soweto experience.
I was there to learn more about a national tradition, consumed in gallons at parties and family gatherings: gemmer (ginger, as in short for ginger beer). Traditional ginger beer is a beverage that spans South Africa's
cultural diversity. It came from Europe in the 18th century and has played a principal role at many traditional festivities. The recipe for ginger beer is fairly simple and, after tasting it, I promised myself I would try to make some for family and friends back home.
I requested the kitchen staff to prepare one of Nelson Mandela (or Madiba's) favorite dishes, which he lovingly referred to as "Ouma's Chicken." This is a chicken curry made the way the icon's grandmother
once made it. Delicious. I also tackled another traditional festival favourite, a ginger cake and peach desert. Amidst all this good food, I also found myself on a steep learning curve in terms of new words which seemed to be flying thick and fast. Potjie was one such word; the diminutive of "pot" in the Afrikaans lanague, a potjie refers to all cast-iron, traditionally round, three-legged pot. I loved the word and immediately asked where I could acquire such striking kitchen accessories. Our visit to the Soweto Hotel ended with a hearty lunch in
the Jazz Maniacs restaurant followed by digestifs in Rusty's Cocktail Bar, named after Rusty Bernstein who assisted with the drafting of the Freedom Charter.
The afternoon, filled with discovery and history, is one I will always remember.
Caves and Roots
We continued on, a short drive to our next destination. The Cradle of Humankind (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) lies about 40 miles (60km) northwest of Johannesburg. The Cradle of Humankind contains many
limestone caves, including Sterkfontein Caves, where a 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (fondly known as "Mrs. Ples") was found in 1947 by Dr Robert Broom and John Robinson.
Excavations still take place today.
I could see why why contemplation of life's deeper questions happen when you visit a place like Forum Homini (meaning "cradle of humankind" in Latin). Forum Homini is amazingly real, well worth leaving the bustle of the city to experience. The design, the detail and the sheer feel of this place encourages visitors to both assess and rejoice in their place in the universe.
Forum Homini Boutique Hotel and Roots Restaurant is situated in the Letamo Game Farm – a privately owned residential estate located within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Forum Homini's architecture is astounding primarily because it is so unobtrusive. The twelve luxury suites seem to be carved into the landscape, like caves or ancient dwellings, blending into the African savannah.
At Forum Homini, I was introduced to Chef Patron of Roots, Philippe Wagenfuhrer, and Executive Chef Jason Francisco. We were there to indulge in their highly acclaimed pairings: six sumptuous courses with six finely selected South African wines. I find the interplay between the caringly crafted dishes and the equally flavourfully fashioned wines sublime.
The combinations of food and wine have so many permutations. The tastes complement, at times challenge, or merely wink at each other. Initially, it seemed odd to me to experience such refinement in a place of such harsh beginnings. But I quickly came to understand the juxtaposition; only at a restaurant called Roots would one discover the apex of taste evolution. Later, Philippe shared with me some of the secrets to creating this flavour and taste sensation. He regularly meets with South African winemakers, sampling wine daily and taking time to understand the nuances while making extensive notes. Together with his team, he then sets a new menu every day. It is a gastronomic experience of astronomical proportions.
I ended the day in a beautiful room, welcomed by a roaring fire in a modern hearth and an open-aired shower which made me feel as though I could touch the African night sky.
I rose with the sun, was met with fresh coffee and croissants, and went off to the Brookwood Trout Farm, one of many fly-fishing establishments in the area. Although I had done plenty of fishing before, it was all in the sea, and so this wasy my first attempt at fly-fishing. Philippe's crash course pointed out the finer intricacies of the art, but I have to admit I wasn't very good at it. The three-pound rainbow trout I cought was undoubtedly
beginner's luck!
Philippe escorted us to the second part of our food hunt at the Teak Place; a farm that doubles as a skills
development and community upliftment project. We went into the fields at Teak Pick 'n Veg and picked a basket full of fresh, organically cultivated vegetables (costing less than $7) with the assistance of the friendly staff.
Our final stop on the hunt was at Lucania Diaries on Basilicata Farms. I met Giovanni Scarcella, an Italian by
birth and cheese maker extraordinaire, who curated a sampling of his cacioricotta matured on hay, smooth goat's milk cheeses and matured hard caprino.
Back at Roots, Philippe and I prepared lunch. We dug a hole in the ground, made a fire and infused it with local herbs. We cleaned the fish we had caught earlier and smoked it to perfection in this earthbound vessel. Combined with the fresh salads, risotto and Italian cheeses, our hunt was a huge success.
Cheetahs and Braai
My stomach full and my head even fuller, I reflected as we bade the Cradle of Humankind farewell and drove north. The Entabeni Safari Conservancy is situated in the Waterberg Biosphere World Heritage Site. Entabeni, meaning "the place of the mountain," is less than a three-hour drive north of Johannesburg. This 22,000-hectare game reserve features an impressive five eco-systems. The upper escarpment offers majestic rock formations and rolling savannahs; 600-metre cliffs separate it from the lower plateau, which is approximately three degrees warmer and comprised mainly of sandy wetlands.
Upon arrival, we had a late dinner at the main lodge of the Hanglip Mountain Lodge. Hanglip (meaning "hanging lip") Mountain has a distinct shape, reminiscent of some of the formations in the Sierra Mountains. As the lodge area is not fenced in, a ranger had to accompany me to my room and when moving between buildings (in case an animal was wandering about). I heard the mating calls of the antelope throughout the night, which only increased my anticipation for the next day.
I have been to Africa on many occasions and to South Africa a number of times, and yet I had never
been on a safari. I was very excited for my first real game drive and hoped I would spot one of the Big Five. (I had learned earlier that the term Big Five was coined by hunters in reference to the animals most difficult to hunt on foot: The African elephant, the Cape Buffalo, the lion, the leopard and the rhino.)
Up bright and early, adrenaline had me on high-alert as we caught site of warthog, impala, wildebeest
and kudu. Something bulky moved in the tall grass, and we came upon a female rhino with her small calf – the baby was little over a month old. I had never seen these animals before, not even in a zoo, and I was completely enthralled. And the discoveries only became more spectacular. We found not one, but two, cheetahs, feeding on a fresh kill. Although not part of the Big Five, these predators are impressive in their own right. The cheetah is the fastest land animal, with the ability to go from zero to over 100km/h (65mph) in three seconds (that's quicker than a Porsche!) The cheetah's hunting speed is about 120km/h (75mph) in short bursts, covering distances of about 400m (about four football fields). Impressive indeed. I was transfixed.
I was also a little scared while watching the cheetahs feed. We were in an open 4x4 vehicle, with one ranger driving and the other one spotting for animals. The spotter sits on a small, slightly-raised seat at the front and the passengers sit in the back to get as unobstructed a view of the surrounding bush as possible. I knew the rangers had assessed the situation and that we were safe, but still, the openness of the vehicle increased my awareness of our general vulnerability to Mother Nature. The cheetah's kill was still warm, and I could smell the primal, almost brutalness of it all. I realized there was nothing that actually protected me, physically, from these two deadly wild cats.
If that first game drive was all I had seen, it would have been a memory of a lifetime. But as we drove through a dense patch of bush on our way back to the lodge, we saw the most sought-after game drive prize: a lion. And then we saw another, and another. It was a pride, two males and three females, also feasting on a recently killed wildebeest.
I watched these kings of the jungle eat their fill and I think I stopped breathing.
I needed to process all this wonderment, which I did as I jogged (safely) around the Legend Golf and Safari Resort also located on the Entabeni Conservancy. Surrounded by these luxury, pirivate homes and an
18-course championship golf course designed by some of the world's top golfers (the longest in South Africa), I realized again how multi-faceted South Africa really is.
We gathered in the boma, traditional gathering place, for a traditional South African cookout, or braai, after our evening game drive and sundowners (drinks) on the savannah. Of course I couldn't resist helping with the preparations. We roasted chicken, impala, boerewors (traditional sausage) and potjies filled with pap (a maize staple, similar to grits). In the middle of an African bush, under the open skies and warmed by a cozy fire, we feasted like kings.
Indian Ocean and Bunny Chow
We left the Waterberg early the next morning and drove back to Johannesburg, catching a midday flight to Durban on South African Airways. A short twenty-minute transfer later, I was standing in my hotel room looking out over the bright blue sea. I went for a swim on the Dolphin Coast, enjoying the warm waters of the Indian Ocean despite being the end of autumn. Again, the diversity of South Africa struck me.
My home for the next two days was the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks, located in the greater Durban area. The hotel sits right on the beach and offers everything one would expect from five-star luxury
accommodation including an well-equipped gym and indulgent spa treatments. After a lazy and relaxing afternoon, I was ready for our next culinary adventure.
A two-minute stroll from the hotel and I was immersed in the island of Mauritius… well, not literally, but almost. Ile Maurice was another reflection of South Africa's unique role as a home of international cuisine and culinary mastery. Chef Robert Mauvis, together with his brother Jean and the matriarch Elsie, heads this family-run restaurant, offering the finest in Mauritian cooking. The restaurant's insignia, featuring a bird, tells me a bit of history. The flightless dodo lived only in Mauritiius, an island in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It became extinct just 80 years after it was first discovered, but lives on in cultural references such as the state's coat of arms and at Ile Maurice.
I soaked in the friendly atmosphere and evening ocean breeze and enjoyed the Mauritian feast: Vichysoise, Gratin de Crabe (crabmeat prepared in a béchamel sauce and served in a crab shell), Crevettes Calamare Creole (prawns and calamari done the Creole way with coconut milk) and the unique Prawn Chicken Curry (a typical Mauritian curry with Chinese and French influences).
The next day, we went into Durban, the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and third largest in South Africa. Durban
is also home to the largest settlement of Indians outside of India; almost a million Indians live in South Africa. This community first came to South Africa in the 17th century, brought over by Dutch settlers, followed by a second wave who arrived in the 19th century to work on British sugarcane plantations. I learned that most Indians live in the Durban area – adding their spice to the multicultural melting pot that is South Africa.
I purused the beachfront curios-sellers on our way to meet Linda Govender for an exclusive guided tour of
Victoria Street Market. Fondly referred to as "the Vic", the open-air markets first opened in the 1870s and moved to the current location around 1910. There I found the spices of India: tandoori, saffron and many varieties of curry. I was immediately drawn to the Spice Box where purveyor Sanusha Moodliar helped me select and then hand-blended authentic Durban curries. I sampled some of the provocative "honeymoon
spice" and the infamous "mother-in-law curry."
We followed Linda from the bazaar to her restaurant Spice, which she runs with partner and husband Russell Burger. Their beautiful new premises pays homage to Durban's plantation-era heritage, yet is infused with modern fusion charm. Many of the dishes on the menu at Spice could be described the same way. Linda showed me how prepares one of her signature dishes, Tempura Caraway Spiced Prawns (plump prawn, light
crisp caraway studded batter, chilli, tomato and tamarind chutney, yum!). Time in the kitchen was followed by a sumptuous lunch that also featured Roasted Duck And Port Drunken Orange salad (clove and cumin
spiced duck slivers, with Boplaas port-soaked orange segments, green leaves, and a Turkish fig dressing).
Our final stopover was the Fordoun Spa, Hotel and Restaurant outside the town of Nottingham Road in the pleasantly meandering Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. I had a date with destiny, in a manner of speaking. I met with African traditional healer Dr Elliot Ndlovu, who is both an Inyanga (medicinal healer) and a Sangoma (spiritual healer). We had a long, deep discussion on many subjects, from Zulu tradition and honouring the Ancestors, to African wisdom and natural healing. We also took time to explore Elliot's garden with over 120 different species of healing plants. These local herbs form an integral part of the spa's offerings, from treatments to the menu. Working alongside Chef Graham Neilson, I used Artemesia Afra in a lovely light cheese fritter, served with Wild Dagga (Leonotis Leonorus) smoked kudu. We drank a tea made from African Potato, known in Zulu as Inkomfe, which is touted as a miracle plant with anti-cancer and immune-building properties.
Our tour had come to an end but I insisted on eating an authentic Durban bunny chow which I had heard much about. A bunny chow is a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with a traditional Durban curry. Although the original filling was vegetarian, today lamb, chicken and bean curries are popular. The best part about a bunny chow is how the curry soaks into the walls of the bread. You eat this with your hands, and it is almost tradition to share it with friends (especially after an evening out on the town). And that's exactly what I did.
As I said my goodbyes, I reflected on the events of the last week. The divesity of experiences was extraordinary: the fast-walking Ethiopian chef, the French sommelier rooted in the Cradle of Humankind, organic vegetable, fresh rainbow trout and Italian-born cheese, Cheetahs devouring an Impala, Mauritian cuisine, Indian curries, indigenous wisdom, herbs and spices...
And yet, despite all this, I knew I had only tasted a small part of what South Africa has to offer.
