Jottings from my African Kitchen Table: My secret life

I have just sent off Draft One for Susan to review. To make sure I am on the right track, which can be tricky when your word count is only 200.

Yes, my confession this week is my secret life as a freelance food and wine writer contributing to several lifestyle magazines here in Kenya. My launch into the world of journalism came in September last year when my friend Susan asked me to do a wine review aimed at Christmas quaffing. This led to a write up of my 50^th birthday dinner, which I really enjoyed as I could advertise the guys who had supplied the marquee, tables etc and also my florist Dedan, who I and my cousin have been buying flowers from for years.

Next came cook book reviews, reviews of gourmet suppliers around town and recipes. Most get used, a few don’t make it to the final print but it is all good fun.

A couple of months ago I did an interview with my friend, Neil, who owns a catering company, The Creative Kitchen and is the Chef at the Aero Club restaurant. A very enjoyable morning was spent visiting Neil at home, drinking coffee and learning about his early career. In the end he pulled out the pans and made his fried courgette slices for us to nibble on. Then we had to photograph the recipe that was going to accompany the article. One Friday afternoon I arrived at the restaurant and Neil whipped up his special Ratatouille. Of course, being a French dish, we had to have a glass of wine and then just to finish off, his excellent cheese cake and apple pie.

This most recent article is a person favourite. Not just because I am in the process of my Wine Appreciation Course but also because it is great to be part of helping Kenyans to understand wine and how to enjoy it to the max with really good food that complements rather than just chucking down the nearest ‘headache maker’ glass after glass. I was asked to attend a Spanish wine and food pairing at the wine bar where I am attending the course and hosted by the Spanish Sommelier, Juan, who is taking the course. I had to sit up the back as the extra person but did not feel out of it as the majority of the group consisted of my friend Devan and 11 of his chums, several whom I know. Unfortunately, as it was such short notice, Jim could not be accommodated but he spent the 2 ½ hours in the lounge bar with one of his pilots who was staying with us, enjoying the Australian red that I had recommended. I sent a couple of tasters out to him of the wines that I thought we might purchase.

We had delicious tapas that had been specially chosen to complement the wines and I was so surprised at how careful pairing really does influence the flavour of each.

So not just do I get paid to enjoy good food and wine but also to learn. Which will hopefully also improve the content quality of my articles in the future.

My next wine class is on Saturday and we are starting on grape varieties. I had to delay my attendance due to a memorial service last Saturday. I have told Susan that I will be bringing my wine appreciation experience to you all in as much glorious technicolour as blogging can provide and suggested that I also somehow transform this into an article as well. She has asked me to put in an outline.

Maybe Australian Gourmet Traveler or Vogue needs a full time food writer in East Africa – I can but dream….