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Janine is a friend of mine from Switzerland living in Cape Town for a yearÂ*doing her masters degree.Â* She wanted to bring a bit of home to us and arranged a little fondueÂ*dinner partyÂ*at my house last Friday night.I have never owned a fondue set.Â* I figured it would become a ‘white elephant’ piece of [...]

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It doesn’t get easier and quicker to make these delicious mussels that are big on taste and big on the ‘wow’ factor. I took a packet of frozenÂ*half shelled mussels purchased from the fish shop in Hout bay (aprox 400gms). Heat about 1/2 to a cup of white wine in a big pot and tossÂ*the frozen [...]

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Johannesburg – For a day, Newtown will be turned into a little pocket of India, with the exotic sights and sounds of the sub-continent pulsing through the air.

The festival of lights will illuminate Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, which will be abuzz with breathtaking costumes, live entertainment and a massive fireworks display for the second FNB Gauteng Diwali Festival.

Packed with activities from 10am till late on 23 October, the festival “is considered by far the largest attraction for Indians living in South Africa from all over Gauteng province, where one can enjoy an array of entertainment and bargain shopping,” said Naufal Khan, the festival's media liaison officer.

“Regardless of the mythological explanation one prefers, what the festival of lights really stands for today is a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple, and some not so simple, joys of life.”

In 2009, about 30 000 people turned up for the first FNB Gauteng Diwali Festival. It has been labelled an amazing success that brought together a multitude of South Africans, reports Joburg.org.

This year, it will again stress the importance of Diwali, which “symbolises light over darkness … it plays a critical role in conquering evil, creating unity and tolerance, and promoting eastern culture among all South Africans,” said Sue Reddy, the City's Deputy Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Kicking off proceedings on the day - as is customary - will be prayers, followed by a Ram Bhajan Group that will perform religious songs dedicated to Lord Rama, the deity and legendary king of Ayodhya, who is believed to have lived in 1450 BC. This is usually done by men.

Programme directors will include funny man Sans Moonsamy – known for his recent CTM advertisement – and Devan Moonsamy. Highlights will include the contribution of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in New Delhi, which will send a dance troupe from India to perform.

Dancers, musicians and almost all of the entertainment will come from many local Indian community organisations, such as the Johannesburg Yuvak Mandal, Jhankaar Dance Academy, Tribhangi Dance Theatre, Sitaare, Nritya Rupam, Tamil Association and Drisha Music Academy, among others.

Children's entertainment will be stilt walkers, jugglers, clowns and cup cake decorating. There will be competitions themed around the 150th anniversary of Indians arriving in South Africa – celebrated this year – and a sari-tying competition, as well as a Bollywood dance-off for all ages.

An exhibition will mark the 150th anniversary at Museum Africa, and authors Ashwin Desai, who wrote Inside Indenture, and Fakir Hussain, who wrote 150 years of Bollywood Encounters, will be on hand to sign copies of their books.

Towards the evening, fire dancers and African drummers will line the venue, ahead of the arrival of Executive Mayor Amos Masondo and other dignitaries. Then it will be time for the traditional – and much anticipated – fireworks display, before the Lotus FM Bhangra Bash.

About 80 food stalls will be strategically placed around the square, ensuring that appetites are sated with an array of vegetarian food. There will also be other activities such as blood pressure testing and motivational speakers for the youth. - BuaNews

Vin Sullivan Foods in Blaenavon, South Wales, is tying a Celtic business knot with the Castlebay Hotel on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, supplying high calibre produce to the hotel’s four-star restaurant.

Vin Sullivan Foods is a family-run business, celebrating 50 years of trading this year, and has an extensive range of foods to tempt the UK’s top chefs, including Welsh farmhouse cheeses, Scottish smoked salmon, live Menai mussels, fresh Hampshire trout, Devon clotted cream and Spanish saffron - more than 6,000 items sourced from small producers throughout the UK and Europe.

Vin Sullivan Foods also supplied produce to the recent Master Chefs of Great Britain lunch - one of the most prestigious events in the foodie calendar - held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Buckingham Gate, London.

“We have a busy and popular restaurant serving excellent food, so a reliable source of quality produce is essential to us,” says Castlebay Hotel manager, John Campbell.

“Vin Sullivan is the perfect partner, supplying us with outstanding produce, year-round. Nothing is too much trouble, and Vin Sullivan goes the extra mile to ensure that our culinary requirements are always met. It’s also good to do business with another Celtic company.”

Vin Sullivan’s commitment to keeping customers happy is reflected in the fact that the company has won the Daily Telegraph/BT Customer Service Award.

The Castlebay Hotel is one of the furthest flung customers served by the company - occupying a stunning location on the Hebridean island overlooking Kisimul Castle and the beautiful island of Vatersay.

“Apart from orders from the Caribbean, Castlebay and the Royal Hotel in Stornoway are some of our most remote customers,” confirms Vin Sullivan MD, John Sullivan. “But distance is no barrier to a fast and efficient service. We pioneered the concept of the third party carrier nearly 30 years ago, and our goods are despatched with a guarantee of overnight delivery - and next day, wherever possible.”

Vin Sullivan Foods is also a pioneer in the introduction of new and exotic food, and has been a market leader in importing exciting produce from overseas.

In 1969, the company imported the first cooked meats from Poland; and in 1975 brought the first maize-fed chickens from France, while in 1989 the first ostrich arrived from South Africa and in 1990, crocodile from Australia.

Picture shows Slawek Pilarski, head chef at the Castlebay Hotel on the Isle of Barra, and John Campbell, hotel manager, with a consignment of high calibre produce from Vin Sullivan Foods in Blaenavon, South Wales.

Or should I say, try and avoid drinking it as much as possible.Without sounding like too much of a goody-too-shoes, I have been recycling for most of my adult life.Â* I lived in the US for a couple of years and in Europe forÂ*a few, so this all helped entrench a behaviour that is a [...]

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Blanch the freshest possible green beans for a few minutes in boiling water and then refresh under cold water. Drizzle over olive oil, zest and juice of a lemon, black pepper and coarse sea salt.

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I had a very beautiful chunk of my favourite Cremelat Gorgonzola which was just begging to have some sugary sweet element added to it.Â*Â*Pear + Gorgonzola = heaven.I also love Gorgonzola with koeksisters, a perfect combination.Â* It also goes very well spread onto a doughnut, especially those little doughnut holes you get from Woolies.Â*So I [...]

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Last night I went to Carne in Keerom street for the first time.Â* I was looking forward to eating there as I have heard so much about the place.It’s a very impressive looking restaurant, minimalist chic Â*meets new york loft with a lot of steel and wood finishes.But I’m there for the food, or more [...]

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Ignatius Chan, one of Singapore's rising waves of culinary greats, is one restaurateur to watch. He is the owner of Iggy's , his eponymous restaurant which proudly ranks number 28 on the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2010 and number 2 in Asia in the 2009/2010 edition of The Miele Guide. Iggy's is an intimate, modern European restaurant serving degustation-only menus with flourishes of exquisite Asian flavour.

Invited by London Restaurant Show, Chan is here to speak about his experience as a Sommelier managing one of the world's best restaurants and Singapore's evolving culinary landscape.

Chan's fine palate was carved from a deep understanding and appreciation for oenology. He was selected as the only Asian member of the prestigious Grand Jury Europeen in 1998, travelling to Europe several times a year to visit and taste with winemakers and the trade. In the following year, Chan was inducted as a member of Jurade des St-Emillion, the oldest wine fraternity in the world. Since 2006, he has been judging at the Decanter World Wine Awards held annually in London.

Weaving his acute understanding of food and wine pairings, it all culminated in the much-celebrated Iggy's. The menus at Iggy's are put together by Chan and his team of chefs who present dishes that appeal to his palate; constantly evolving, the fare offered at Iggy's is based upon his own travels and experiences.

Chan epitomises the rising wave of Singapore restaurateurs and chefs making their mark on the global stage and putting Singapore on the world map as a new and exciting place for food and culinary innovation.

Chan says, "Besides the customary inkling to the usual street fare, Singapore is certainly capable of illustrating to the world that its culinary scene is much more diverse and exciting than it has been known to be. Given its global outlook, exposure to international culinary influences both locally and in the foreign context, Singapore has been able to adopt and improve on foreign cuisines like modern European cuisine".

As Asia's most innovative culinary capital, Singapore draws inspiration from its layered multiculturalism, multiethnic cuisine - consisting of ethnicities like Chinese, Malay, Indian and cross-cultural mixes like Peranakan (Straits Chinese) and Eurasian - and rich culinary history to produce flavours that entice the palate. At the same time, Singapore's cuisine is inventive and embodies an openness to change. Local chefs like Chef Willin Low of Wild Rocket have taken traditional dishes like laksa, noodles in a spicy broth, and given it a new spin by drawing on the key spicy, coconut flavours to create a laksa pesto spaghetti.

Singapore has also been attracting renowned chefs from all over the world including Daniel Boulud, Wolfgang Puck, Santi Santamaria, Susur Lee, Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon to set up their restaurants in the country.

With exciting developments in the local food scene, Singapore is definitely shaping up to be a stronger international dining destination and a growing hub for culinary innovation.