Cookbook: A Kitchen Safari

the appetizer:

Take a trip around Africa with A Kitchen Safari by Dumi Ndlovu and Yvonne Short, featuring recipes like Smoked Springbok Carpaccio with Summer Greens; Zanzibar Fish Soup; and Botswana Beef.

A Kitchen Safari
Stories & Recipes from the African Wilderness

by Dumi Ndlovu and Yvonne Short

Click to buy A Kitchen Safari

A Kitchen Safari is an enchanting, heartwarming encounter with the characters, chefs and cuisine of 35 camps and lodges across Africa.

Not just a cookbook, it contains anecdotes of bush banquets scuppered by hyenas pilfering dinner from the fire; of vegetable gardeners called Laborious Gherkin; of keeping a herd of 200 elephants at bay with a pot and ladle; of myriad mishaps, misadventures and miraculous metamorphoses that are commonplace when producing ground-breaking food in a wilderness location.

Endearing hand-written notes penned by rural chefs appear as trace pages throughout the book, which is peppered with their colourful stories of what goes on behind the scenes, before your perfect Pistachio Pastries are served in the boma of a remote and wild location.

Author of the book, Yvonne Short, is CC Africa's flamboyant, culinary genius who has inspired generations of rural people, often erstwhile unskilled farm labourers or poachers, into becoming masterful chefs delighting the palates of CC Africa's discerning, well-travelled guests.

In 1998, Yvonne Short and Nicky Fitzgerald set off on an African gastronomic journey of discovery. They felt that lodge food in South Africa was becoming too formulaic and predictable, featuring the ubiquitous buffet and bain marie. Their search-and-research reconnaissance of Africa and its food inspired the Pan-African cuisine subsequently served in CC Africa's lodges—the hallmark being the joy of cooking, feeding and sharing of food. Their epicurean odyssey unearthed both authentic ingredients and local serving platters and vessels such as the tagines that characterise CC Africa's tables. They also observed and absorbed the manner in which food was served from region to region—the rituals and customs that make mealtimes special.

A Kitchen Safari captures the spirit of that journey and the spirit of African cuisine, as reflected in CC Africa's indigenous lodge menus.

About the Authors

Yvonne Short is the food fundi (in Swahili, fundi means a craftsperson or skilled technician), responsible for CC Africa's lodge cuisine, which under her guidance has developed into an exciting fusion of world cuisines. She has a natural talent for mentoring rural students into world-class chefs and Dumi Ndlovu is just one of her protégés who has excelled in the field of cuisine.

Dumi Ndlovu started his career as a waiter at Londolozi where he revolutionized the kitchens, producing food that is homely yet exotic and tantalizing, with innovative combinations and a strong focus on local products. Today Dumi is head chef of Ngala Private Game Reserve.